RIP that supports transparency
If there is transparency in a file that is going out to a printer in PDF, save it in Acrobat 4 format, unless the printer has the latest RIP from Scitex/Creo Prinergy version 2.1, which will support transparency in PDF. This new RIP is the first to support transparency and will work with all features of Acrobat 5. It is wise to know as much as possible about the equipment of the company that prints your work.
Writing history logging document data
In the Advanced tab of the Distiller Conversion settings, there is an option to Log Document Structuring Settings (DSC). This contains information about the file, including the originating application, creation date, and page orientation, and it provides a lot of PostScript information. All PostScript files create DSC warnings. There is no point in logging these warnings, and this option should always be left off.
Moving to other files
You can drag a thumbnail from one document into another if it is dragged into the receiving files thumbnail window. When dragging, place the thumbnail in the desired page order location.
When you have finished creating your Acrobat file, doing a Save As will reduce your file size. For really small file sizes, create the whole document in standard system fonts and do not embed any fonts. This will greatly reduce PDF files that include forms.
Gibberish fonts?
If on occasion you find that PDF files begin printing fine but halfway through printing the fonts change and you get gibberish text, it’s almost certainly a memory issue. You have too many applications running in the background or just too much allocated elsewhere. Try closing down everything except Acrobat and printing again. Better still, restart.
Better security with 128-bit
Acrobat security is greatly improved if you use 128-bit security rather than the older 40-bit. While 40-bit encrypted passwords can take just seconds to decode with speedy computers, 128-bit passwords (when chosen well) can take years. Use at least 8-character combinations, using combinations of numbers and letters. But remember that there is software that will either remove the password protection or reveal the password.
Full screen view
Acrobat 7 has a Full Screen View button in the bottom left corner of the screen. Clicking this hides all menus and scroll bars and places the application into full screen view. To get out of this mode, use Command/Ctrl-L. Next to this button is the Hide/Show Toolbars button. When you click on this button the Hand Tool button appears next to it where you have the Zoom In, Zoom Out, and Dynamic Zoom tools, plus the normal magnification controls. Above, the major controls can still be seen but the toolbars are hidden.
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Panther problems with inkjets
Mac users of Panther (10.3) sometimes find that inkjet printers will not print from Acrobat. If this happen to you, try printing after previewing the file. The Preview button is in the lower left corner of the Print dialog. If the problem persists in Tiger (10.4) try updating the printer's driver.
Link Check
When checking multiple links in an Acrobat file you can leave the Link Properties dialog open and clicking on each link will display the link in the dialog. This saves opening and closing between each link.
When you click on a bookmark or link you are whisked away to a new location in the same document. If you in a long document, you can end up far from where the link. If you want to return to the original spot, Acrobat has a handy way of returning you to your point of origin. Use the Previous View or Next View commands (View > Go To > Previous View or Next View (Option/Alt+Left Arrow or Option/Alt+Right Arrow). These will take you back to the view when you first opened the document. If you have two documents open at once, Acrobat remembers which moves were made with which document.
Tiger growls at Acrobat
Users of Tiger may have problems creating PDF files. If you get a message saying "Job stopped" try removing Acrobat 7.0.1, reinstall Acrobat 7.0, and then install the 7.0.1 and 7.0.2 updates simultaneously. This should fix the problem.
Macs and PDFs
Some Mac people are having problems printing even simple PDF files. Seems that they start to print and then nothing happens. There are several steps one can take to resolve problems printing a specific PDF file.
Try these in this order:
• Make sure the problem is with one file, not all printing.
• Print the PDF file as an image. In the Print dialog click Advanced and select Print As Image.
• Save the PDF file as a new file, and try again.
• Re-create the PDF file, and try again.
• If it was downloaded, download it again.
Print the PDF file page-by-page, to see if there is one page causing the problem. If so, either recreate the page or start deleting elements to find the problem, (start with placed EPS images).
If you have Acrobat Professional, adjust the transparency flattening.
Try printing with the default settings, to see if it is a print setting that is corrupted.
Merge or flatten layers (Acrobat Professional only).
Headers and footers as text
If you add a header or a footer to a PDF page with the Add Header & Footer command (Document>Add Header & Footer) and then save and close the document, the header or the footer become just regular text that can only be edited as normal text, not from the Add Header & Footer command.
How secure are your PDFs?
If you set security in an Acrobat document, remember to save the file or the security will be ignored. Also, remember to include a password. This may sound obvious, but often we see documents that have security set but do not have a password allocated, so removing the security is simple. Two levels of security are available: 40- and 128-bit. Saving for 3.0 (Acrobat or Acrobat Reader) requires 40-bit, and saving for 5 or 6 requires 128-bit. You should be careful about allocating higher levels. Even with our fairly sophisticated audience, when we save in 128-bit formats, some readers complain. These are people with older versions of Acrobat or Reader. Also, be aware that several applications will bypass even the most secure password. Passwords cannot contain !@#$%^&*,|\<>_ or double quotes.
Link variety
When creating links, you can add features to the Link tool by first selecting the tool, then right-clicking on the top tool bar area and selecting the Properties bar. This will allow you to set outline colors, line type, and weight and highlight states.
Acrobat 5 and Tiger
There have been some reports that people with older versions of Acrobat are having trouble running with OSX 10.4.1. If this happens to you, reinstall Acrobat, as the problem is not universal. If the issue persists, then it is time to upgrade to the latest Acrobat.
Smallest size possible
When you save a file for sending via email or even FTP, remember that embedding thumbnails adds to your file size (Print>PDF>Edit Settings> General). It's useful to have thumbnails for multi-page documents, especially if the PDF is made from different sources and pages are combined in Acrobat. So save without the thumbnails and then open the Thumbnail palette. Acrobat automatically generates thumbnails, so you can check page numbering and then close the file, and the thumbnails will not be retained. As long as the option is turned off, the thumb-nails will not be saved.
Web to PDF
When you import a web page into Acrobat (File>Create a PDF>From Web Page), the application will turn the main items on the web page into a PDF. What won't be imported or interpreted are multi-state Java-Script buttons, Java-Script image swaps, pop-ups, and drop-down menus. Of course, it also won't work with CGI scripts or Java applets. Java-Script bookmarks, links, and form fields import correctly.
Keep fonts live
Although you may be having font issues making a good PDF file, try to avoid the Use Outlines for Text option. It will make your finished document extremely difficult to edit (It must be done in Photoshop or Illustrator), will make the file larger, and text strings cannot be searched or saved as text by end users.
Careful cropping
The Crop tool does not actually throw away information. It just hides the uncropped information. The file will not actually get any smaller, if you check the Document properties (File>Document properties) you will see the file size remain the same but the page size will reflect the crops dimensions. If you actually want to crop the file size, you will either have to regenerate the file, open it in Illustrator or something similar, or do it with a regular PDF tool like Pitstop.
Name PDFs before changing applications
When you're working in multiple Creative Suite applications and make a PDF in any of them, don't change applications until you have allocated a file name. If you do, the dialog can get attached to the wrong application and Distiller will wait for the name to be allocated, and the dialog will not be associated with the application that made it. Can be confusing at times and slows down production.
Copying form fields
When using Acrobat to create forms, you can make an exact copy of any field. Just select the field with the form tool that you used to create it by holding down the Ctrl/Command key and dragging the field to create a new field. If you need to slide it horizontally or vertically, hold down the Shift key to constrain the direction. All the properties of the field will be copied except the name.
Stay current with newsfeeds
You can use Acrobat 7.0 as a newsreader to view RSS feeds. Choose Comments>Tracker, choose Services>Subscribe, and then enter the URL for the RSS feed you want to receive. Tracker will open each time you start Acrobat.
Link are saved
Sometimes there is a need to replace pages in a PDF document after having spent much time adding links. Rather than start again, remember that the links actually are not attached to a page, but rather "float on top of it," allowing the pages to be swapped out while leaving the links in place. To do this use the Replace Pages command (Document>Replace Pages) menu to slide new page content right under the links in your modified PDF. Choose the new PDF as the source for the new pages and then specify which pages to replace in the old document with which pages in the new document.
Music in your PDF?
When a QuickTime movie or sound is imported into a PDF, it is referenced, not embedded in the file, so the movie or sound must accompany the file to work. Once the movie is linked, the relative path and file name can not change, or it will have to be reimported. Make sure that your PDF is at 100% magnification, When placing a movie, to prevent distortion. Always place the movie by clicking, not dragging out a shape, as dragging will also distort the shape. Movies can be referenced by the link tool, bookmarks, buttons, and page actions.
Acrobat allows users to rearrange pages within a file by dragging pages around within the thumbnail views. Just click on the Thumbnail tab and expand this window to the right, until you can see all the pages you need, and drag each page to the position you want.
Floating tabs
The tabs on the side of an Acrobat screen that contain such items as Bookmarks, Pages, and Layers can be pulled off the edge of the page and become floating windows„especially useful with two monitors.By default, the Site Map in Dreamweaver displays its icons horizontally; which means much scrolling left and right. A vertical orientation can be helpful. To make it vertical: Expand the Site panel and enter into Site Map view. Choose View>Layout to show the Site Map Layout category of the Site Definition dialog. Change the number of columns to 1 from its default of 200, restricing the map to a single vertical column. Increase the Column Width from 125 to about 300. This lessens the chance that your file names will bump into the connecting lines. Click OK to close the Site Definition dialog and view the vertical site map. |
