Create pdf files with Adobe Acrobat Professional

SLU-departments can supply their employees with the program for a fraction of the regular cost by making use of a campus licence agreement. For more information about software licenses contact SLU IT office.

Create the pdf file

Create the pdf file in a Windows PC

There are different ways of creating the pdf file. The quality of the created file is controlled by joboption files. To make sure you will be able to choose the correct joboptions file for the conversion, follow these steps:

1. Choose the menu command File > Print.
2. Choose printer Adobe PDF.
3. Click the button Properties. On the tab "Adobe PDF Settings" choose Repros(X) in the drop down menu "Default Settings". If you could not install Repros(X), choose "High quality print" in stead.
4. If the drop down menu "Adobe PDF Page Size" says Letter, change to A4.
5. Click OK in the dialog for properties and in the dialog for printing. Save the pdf-file.

Create the pdf file in a Mac

1. Choose menu command File > Print.
2. In thedrop down menu for printers, choose"Save as Adobe PDF".
3. In the dialogue "Save as Adobe PDF", in the drop down menu "Copies and pages" choose PDF alternatives
4. In the drop down menu for Adobe PDF Settings, choose Repros (X). If you could not install Repros(X), choose "High quality print" in stead.
5. Click Print.

Convert a thesis containing both portrait and landscape oriented pages in a Mac

The Mac will split the original file into a few pdf-files that each contains a section with portrait or landscape oriented pages. The first file, which contains the first pages in the thesis, will be correctly converted. In the second and subsequent files the text will be displaced and those files cannot be used. Do like this:

1. First convert the whole Word file but dismiss all pdf-files created except the first one (you need to do like this to include the text Doctoral Thesis... on the first page of the thesis).
2. Then convert the subsequent sections containing landscape and portrait oriented pages separately (choose page interval to convert).
3. Merge the separate pdf-files into one using Adobe Acrobat Pro (read about merging pdf files).

Control the quality of the pdf file

Install a custom joboptions file

Adobe provides the user with a number of ready-made joboption alternatives of which the one named Standard is default. When creating the thesis pdf, however, it is recommended to use one of the specially designed joboption files, created by SLU Repro. They are available as a part of the file package containing the stylesheets but can also be downloaded separately from the Epsilon Template's page. Use the one with the same version number (X) as your Acrobat program.

To be able to use Repros(X).joboptions, you must install it. Do like this:

1. Open Acrobat Distiller.
2. Go to the menu Settings > Add Adobe PDF Settings...
3. Browse to find the joboptions file, choose it and click Open.

In a Mac you can drag the joboptions file to the folder Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings.

Set the default paper size in a PC

With Acrobat pdf files can be created for different paper sizes. Pdf files from theses must always be created for A4 paper. You can set the paper size when creating the pdf but it is also possible to set the default paper size to A4. Do like this with a computer using Windows 7:

1. Click; Start > Drives and Printers.
2. Right click Adobe PDF.
3. Click Select printing preferences.
4. Choose A4 in the list Adobe PDF Page Size.