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PDF and Adobe
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Frequently Asked Questions of the ETD Initiative
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1. What is PDF? |
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PDF stands for Portable Document Format.
PDF is a hypertext file format developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated for
electronic publishing. PDF is like PostScript...only it's like printing to the
World Wide Web (instead of a printer).
We request you submit your ETD in PDF because PDF is easy for you to create, it
is easy for us to manage, and it works on multiple platforms (e.g., Macintosh,
Windows 95/NT, UNIX).
- PDF lets you have documents printed on "electronic paper."
- PDF is an open creation by Adobe Systems,
Incorporated, as a successor to its very popular PostScript.
- To view PDF files, you will need the free viewing application Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0,
available for most platforms (Macintosh, Windows 95/NT, Unix, ...).
- Creating PDF documents is as easy as
printing to paper. All you need is the Adobe Distiller product, available in many
campus computer labs and from the
campus bookstore.
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2. What are the Adobe products you are using? |
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* Acrobat Reader * allows you to view PDF files * Acrobat Exchange * allows you
to add links to PDF files, convert page views into thumbnails, and create bookmarks *
Adobe Distiller * converts PostScript files to PDF files * Adobe PDFWriter * is a
printer driver to convert word processor documents to PDF (has problem with switching
between fonts---use Adobe Distiller for ETDs) The Acrobat Exchange package (version
3.0) includes Exhcange, PDFWriter, and Distiller. Exchange is available from the
bookstore for $44.95 with student ID, (Exchange is regularly $295!). Acrobat Reader
is available free! Adobe Systems, Inc. |
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3. Non-standard Fonts |
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I am using some "non-standard" fonts (by your definition in the submission
guidelines). How do I make sure that my PDF file will contain the correct
fonts?
You need to set up Distiller to "embed all fonts."
How to embed fonts.
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4. How do I convert Pagemaker and Photoshop
documents into a PDF file? |
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The lastest versions of Adobe products all have native PDF support. From the
"File" menu, select "Save as PDF..." or "Print to PDF..."
For non-Adobe products, any file that can be printed from Windows/Macintosh can
be printed to PostScript and then Distilled into PDF.
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5. How do I include links in my document?
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Follow the instructions in the How-to section:
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6. Do Adobe products come with their own
help? |
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Yes. Help is available by selecting the "Help" menu from Exchange, Reader, or
Distiller. Also see Adobe Systems for more information. |
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7. Are the Adobe products compatible with Microsoft Office95 software? |
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Yes. First, be sure that you are using Adobe Exchange 3.0 (2.1 has known bugs).
Be sure to check carefully that the PDF conversion happened successfully.
If you are experiencing conversion difficulties:
We will ask you for the shortest possible sample file that exhibits the
error.
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8. What is PostScript? |
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PostScript is a page description programming language developed by Adobe in the
1980s. It is perhaps the most versatile and most loved language for printers
worldwide. It is also capable of drawing to computer screens and any kind of drawing
device at any resolution. However, Postscript is not interactive. It does not allow
hyperlinking or annotation |
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9. Why does PostScript work on one file and not
the other?Is it the printer? |
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Non-conforming dialects of the PostScript language have evolved. Attempts to make
a well-formed PostScript "standard" have had little success. Adobe released the
Portable Document Format (PDF) language to attempt to resolve the conflicts and solve
some of the problems inherent in PostScript, and extend it to perform hypertext. |
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10. How do I ensure that my ETD survived the
transition to PDF? |
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Use Acrobat Exchange or Acrobat Reader to review your PDF files. Get a friend to
help! Make sure all pages formatted correctly, and that all fonts converted
correctly. Make sure all pages are numbered correctly (no skipping pages), and that
the table of contents matches the numbering. Make sure you have included all the
document parts, especially your Vita.
Additionally, your committee should review your PDF before they sign the ETD
Approval Form. Once your ETD gets accepted into the library, we cannot change
it.
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11. My PDF file has strange font problems. What
happened? |
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Adobe PDFWriter is a one-pass process and will
not convert some documents correctly. Adobe Distiller, however, (a two-pass
process) generates correct PDF files more reliably.
- Using the "Control Panel," set up a PostScript printer as a printer target
(we like Apple Laserwriter), but choose "Print to File" instead of "Print to
LPT1:."
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Print each file in your ETD to this printer; save the files as
- etd.prn
- ch1.prn
- ch2.prn
- etc.
- Launch Adobe Distiller and open each file (etd.prn, ch1.prn, etc.) and create
a corresponding PDF file (etd.pdf, ch1.pdf, etc.)
- Check these files with Exchange or Reader
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12. Can I convert my PostScript file to PDF over
the internet? |
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There is now a web-based conversion service from postscript to PDF, available
at:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/ps2pdf"
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13. How can I substitute PostScript fonts for the
DVI bitmap fonts when I distill it? |
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The PostScript file (etd.ps) must contain the appropriate font information *before*
you use Adobe Distiller. The file etd.ps is created
when running dvips on your DVI file (etd.dvi).
Therefore you must install the PostScript fonts cmps.tgz where dvips can find
them.
Configuring dvips is straightforward; however, each site has different
instructions---especially Windows or Mac versions of dvips.
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