Not all authoring applications offer a mechanism for creating Adobe PDF documents directly. In these cases, you can first create a PostScript file and then convert this file to Adobe PDF using Acrobat Distiller. Advanced users often prefer to use this method, which allows you to fine-tune the creation of the PDF file to your needs by inserting Distiller parameters or pdfmark operators into the PostScript file. For information about Distiller parameters and pdfmark operators, see Acrobat Distiller Help.
For information on how to create good PostScript files for distilling, see “Tips for creating good PostScript files for processing later as Adobe PDF” on page 33 (followed by specific directions for creating the files from each appli- cation). For information on how to add presets, see “Creating custom Adobe PDF settings files” on page 38.
Note: The PostScript language doesn’t support transparency, so all transparent artwork is flattened when the application
file is printed to disk. Therefore, to keep the transparency “live” in a PDF file so that it can be edited in the authoring application, you must export from that application and choose PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5) or PDF 1.5 (Acrobat 6) in the PDF export dialog box rather than using the PostScript method. (See “About transparency flattening” on page 11.)
To convert a PostScript file to Adobe PDF using Acrobat Distiller:
1 Create a composite PostScript file from your Adobe authoring application. (See “Saving documents as PostScript files for PDF” on page 33.)
2 If you have multiple PostScript files, consider combining them into one before distilling. (See “Converting PostScript files to Adobe PDF” on page 31.)
3 Double-click the Acrobat Distiller icon to start Distiller. In Acrobat 6.0 Professional (Windows), you can also choose Start > Programs > Acrobat Distiller 6.0.
4 In Acrobat Distiller, select an Adobe PDF settings file from the Default Settings menu. The settings are applied to the PostScript file by the Distiller PPD when it converts it to PDF. (See “Default Adobe PDF settings files” on page 37.)
5 Choose File > Open to convert the desired PostScript file to Adobe PDF. To add custom Adobe PDF settings to the Default Settings menu:
1 In Acrobat Distiller, choose Settings > Add Adobe PDF Settings.
2 Double-click the desired PDF settings file. (PDF settings files have the extension .joboptions.) The settings file appears as the selected option in the Default Settings menu.
You can also drag a PDF settings file to the default settings folder, where it becomes the selected option in the Default Settings menu.
Combining multiple PostScript files into one PDF file
You can convert different types of files, including PostScript files, and combine them into one Adobe PDF file by using the Create PDF From Multiple Files command. Converting PostScript files with embedded fonts has the added benefit of giving the resulting PDF file only one subset for each font. Although this is more efficient than combining several PDF documents with duplicate font subsets, you can also use this command to combine PDF files. After you have created a composite PDF file, you can add headers and footers, including page numbers, and a background or watermarks to improve the document’s appearance. For details, see Complete Acrobat 6.0 Help.
If you have combined and converted multiple JPEG files into an Adobe PDF file and you want to retrieve one or more of the JPEG images for editing, you can use the Export function of the Picture Tasks plug-in to export images in JPEG format and open them in an image editing application.
To convert multiple files:
1 Choose File > Create PDF > From Multiple Files.
2 Do any of the following:
• Click Browse (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS) to locate the first file to be converted. Double-click the file, or Ctrl- click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) to add multiple files from the same directory.
• Select Include All Open PDF Documents to automatically add all open PDF files to the list of files to combine. • Select Include Most Recent List of Files to Combine to add the files combined the last time the command was used.
You can add the same file more than once if you need to add blank pages or transition pages between other files, for example.
3 To move a file up or down the file list, select the filename and click Move Up or Move Down as needed. You can also drag files within the list. Files are converted and consolidated in the order shown in this list. To remove a file from the file list, select the filename and click Remove.
33 ADOBE ACROBAT 6.0 Creating Print-Ready PDF Files
4 When you have added all the files to be converted and have the files in the desired sequence, click OK to convert and consolidate the files into one Adobe PDF file. Depending on the method used to create the source files, a progress dialog box may show the conversion of the files. Some source applications may launch and close automatically. When the conversion is complete, the consolidated PDF file opens.
5 In Acrobat, choose File > Save As, and give the file a unique and intuitive name.