From the bytes on disk to the pixels on the page, anchored on PDF 1.4 (Adobe PDF Reference, 3rd ed., 2001) and PDF 1.7 (ISO 32000-1:2008).
Foundations
1. The big pictureWhat PDF is, the four layers almost everything in the spec falls into, and where PDF 1.4 and 1.7 sit in its history.2. ObjectsThe eight object types everything else is built from, indirect objects and references, and streams and their filters.3. File anatomyTake apart a complete, byte-exact PDF: header, objects, cross-reference table and trailer. Then incremental updates and linearization.4. The document treeThe catalog, the page tree and the pages, inherited page attributes, page boundaries, and the other structures that hang off the catalog.
Drawing a page
5. Content streamsThe drawing instructions on each page: coordinates, the operators at a glance, resources and XObjects, and color spaces.6. Graphics stateEverything that controls how drawing looks, the q / Q stack that saves and restores it, and the parameters set through ExtGState.7. Text and fontsText objects, how strings become glyphs, the font types and the text rendering modes.8. TransparencyThe headline feature of PDF 1.4: opacity, soft masks, blend modes and transparency groups.
Beyond the page
9. Encryption and signaturesHow PDF encryption works and what changed from 1.4 to 1.7, and how digital signatures cover a byte range of the file.10. Interactive featuresAnnotations, actions and interactive forms at a glance: what a reader can click, fill in and follow.11. Tagged PDF and metadataThe structure tree, marked content and MCIDs, artifacts, and document metadata.
Wrapping up
12. What changed from 1.4 to 1.7Object streams, cross-reference streams and everything else PDF 1.5 to 1.7 added, plus a chapter map from one spec to the other.13. Further readingWhere each topic lives in both specifications, the errata, and command-line tools for taking real files apart.14. Review quizEvery question from the ends of the Learning pages in one place, to review once you have read them all.