Guidelines when converting Electronic documents to PDF

(This is an excerpt from Step 2A of the Filer’s Guide to Electronic Submission- Last Revision: December 1, 2004)

The following are best practices to keep in mind when producing a PDF document to be viewed online.

Note: many of these recommendations have been incorporated into the neb.joboptions file used to configure Distiller. Download the neb.joboptions file here. Assuming a default installation, save the neb.joboptions file to \Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat\Distillr\Settings. The NEB Preferences will now appear in the Job Options list of Distiller. These are minimum requirements only, feel free to optimize to the specific needs of your document.

• DO print to a postscript file and process the file using the Distiller component of Adobe Acrobat rather than printing to Adobe Acrobat or using the PDFMaker from a MS Office application (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint). This will ensure consistent results and files that meet Board specifications if the NEB job option is selected.
• DO make your PDF file Acrobat 4.0 (PDF 1.3) compatible. This will help ensure your documents can be viewed by users with older versions of the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• DO Optimize for Fast Web View to minimise file size and facilitate page-at-a-time (byte-serving) downloading
• DO Embed Thumbnails
• DO set Resolution to 300 dpi
• DO set Compression for images. A setting of 600 dpi at Automatic and Medium Compression is recommended unless another setting is preferable to optimise file size while ensuring legibility of image.
• DO Compress Text and Line Art
• DO set Color Management Policies to Convert all Colors to sRGB, unless another setting is required to ensure accurate representation.
• DO create Bookmarks for documents that have a Table of Contents (TOC). The bookmarks should mirror the TOC items included in a file. In the case of a document broken into multiple files, each file would have bookmarks to reflect its content as per the TOC. Please consult the Acrobat Help on how to create bookmarks.
• DO strive to keep individual file size under 2-3 MB. Documents larger than 5 MB will be rejected. You may cut a document into multiple files to reduce file size. Exceptions will be made when sectioning is not an option e.g. images, maps.
• AVOID using the following characters in file names: ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * () + = [] {} : ; ' , ? | " /
• DO NOT Embed Fonts unless you feel it is necessary, as this will create a larger file.
• DO NOT activate any security settings as this will interfere with systems for the visually impaired and effect accessibility.
• DO NOT link to external sites or to other documents in the filing, as the Board cannot ensure link integrity. Linking inside a given document is optional.
• DO NOT produce a PDF if it cannot be legible output to Ledger/Tabloid size (11” X 17”) or smaller, or if it is not sufficiently legible due to resizing or low resolution (below 300 dpi). Please file such documents in paper-only¹. You will be asked to identify such documents in the online form (see Step 3 in the Filer's Guide to Electronic Submission).

1. If a document cannot be converted to PDF as per the minimum guidelines e.g. large maps, you MUST file the requisite number of hard copies.