Creating PDF Files on the Mac

Why is this Necessary?

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is the preferred format for professional graphics production. However, some popular applications do not provide a PDF Save As function that generates a high quality non-compressed and non-downsampled file. It is possible to generate high quality prints and slides from such applications by using the print-to-file capabilities which Adobe Acrobat makes available once installed on desktop computers. This method produces files whose quality is far superior to those created using the Save As PDF command in the Mac OSX save dialog.

Getting Acrobat at the NYUMC.

• To download Acrobat on a machine running Windows, install the keyserving software then install the keyserved software. Click here.

• To download Acrobat on a Macintosh on the NYU Medical Center campus click here.

• If you are in the Skirball Institute using a Macintosh click here.

Graphic File Formats

There are two fundamental types of computer graphic file: bitmap and vector. Bitmap files such as photographs, scans, and video frames are composed of rows and columns of pixels, while vector files are composed of mathematical instructions for rendering text, objects and colors in a desired arrangement. Bitmaps are typically saved as BMP or TIFF files, while vector images are often saved in PDF, EPS, WMF or PICT format. Vector files tend to be much smaller than equivalently detailed bitmap files; they can also be scaled to any size without degradation of quality or increase in file size.

Pure bitmap files containing no added vector text or graphics should be left in the TIFF format, but bitmaps which have been combined together, or annotated with text or other vector information in programs such as Macromedia Freehand, Adobe Illustrator, or even Microsoft Word should be saved in PDF format. The PDF format is particularly useful in that it permits the inclusion of both bitmap and vector information in a single file. Many programs offer a PDF option in their Save As or Export dialogs under the File menu. For those which do not, the following procedures may be used.

Although the instructions below refer specifically to the Macintosh, they are generally applicable to Windows as well. The particular commands vary, but their purpose -- the creation of an PDF file from a document -- remains the same.

Making PDF files

Installing Acrobat on your computer creates a printer named Adobe PDF in the Print Center. We will use the Acrobat Distiller application located in the Acrobat folder to add a new setting to the Adobe PDF printer producing maximum quality pdf documents from any application printing to this printer.

STEP 1.

Once Acrobat has been installed on your Macintosh computer you will find a printer labeled Adobe PDF in the Print Center. Start the Print Center from the dock or navigate to the application starting from Go (Go>Applications>Utilities>Print Center) in the finder menu located at the top of the screen. If the printer list does not open automatically you can open it under the Printers menu using the Show Printer List Command.

Select the Adobe PDF printer as the default printer by highlighting the printer and selecting Make Default. All applications will now print to this automatically.

STEP 2.

Next, start the Acrobat Distiller application from the Acrobat folder (Go>Applications>Adobe Acrobat 6.1.0 Standard>Acrobat Distiller 6.0).

Under settings select Edit Adobe PDF Settings.

STEP 3.

We will proceed to make a new setting named graphix that will produce a pdf file that is neither downsampled or compressed. Both of these operations trade file size for image quality. At the top of the settings pane that has opened are 5 tabs. Make the changes to each tab pictured below.

Finally, click the Save As button on the bottom of the pane and name the setting “graphix” and save it.

STEP 4.

Open the document you whish to make into a pdf document. In this example we use an Excel chart. However, this can be any type of document on your computer.

	Under the file menu select the print command.
	In the print dialog make sure Adobe PDF is the selected printer and then pick PDF Options from the properties drop down.
	Select the newly created “graphix” setting and finally hit print.
At this point a new dialog box opens allowing the pdf file to be placed in the file system. Name the file and save it.
This newly produced pdf file can be imported or placed in any graphics program, page layout application or sent to Media Services for processing.