Some Hints to create a better PDF file using ADOBE ACROBAT®
Contents
How to avoid font error
What is a font error? Some PDF files require font data on readers' environment. If some font data are not found on the environment, the Adobe Reader displays the warning and some characters can not be correctly displayed or printed.
That is the font error.
This error occurs when the PDF file is created on the following environments;
- Japanese, Korean, or Chinese MS-Windows
- The creators has some special font set which is not installed on the standard environment.
such as Math-Type, or any other additonal options for MS-WORD - Some figures or graphs that include characters and were created on the other environment are used in the document.
i.e. The graph is made on a Macintosh but the document is written and converted to a PDF on MS-WINDOWS.
What should be done? The solution is simple.
Please check "Embed All Fonts" option when you create a PDF file using Acrobat.
However, to avoid mistakes in operation, the following procedure is recommended.
- Open the print menu from MS-WORD etc., and select "Adove PDF" or "Acrobat Distiller" for printer, then click "Properties". Please do not click an Adobe icon on the tool bar of your MS-WORD.
(This image was captured from Adobe Acrobat version 5) - Click "Adobe PDF Settings" and check the "Conversion Settings".
(This image was captured from Adobe Acrobat version 5)
Please check EVERY TIME you create a PDF file because the "Conversion Settings" easily goes back to the default value.
Then select "Press Quality" or "Print" for the "Conversion Settings".
This setting is a pre-set option by Adobe and all fonts will be embeded.
(This image was captured from Adobe Acrobat version 5) - Click "OK" several times to create a PDF file.
How to reduce the size of a PDF file
With the "Press Quality" or "Print" settings above, PDF files seldom exceed our limit of 4MB, however, some documents are converted to quite large files.
It occurs when figures in the documents are vector graphics such as Postscript or Windows Meta File(WMF) that are direct outputs from postprocessing tools of data.
Vector graphics cannot be compressed in conversion process of Adobe Acrobat even if the resolution (DPI) is set to be a small value.
In order to solve the problem, please use bitmapped images. Bitmapped images (or raster graphics) can be compressed by Acrobat even when their original size are very large.