CREATING FASTLANE PDF FILES

Adobe Distiller for MAC: Version 3.x

Adobe Reader cannot produce PDF files. You must use the Adobe Distiller component of Adobe Acrobat.

NOTE: DO NOT USE PDFWriter!

Acrobat 3.x does not have many of the versioning and font problems of Acrobat 4.x, but it also does not use the job options files. Therefore, you must first have the proper settings for Adobe Distiller.

To set the proper settings for Adobe Acrobat 3.x:

• Open Distiller and click on Distiller in the menu.
• Select Job Options and then the Font Embedding tab.
• Check Embed All Fonts.
• Check Subset Fonts and specify a value of 100% (default is 35%). Then click on OK.

Once you have Adobe Distiller opened with the correct job options, you can use either Adobe Distiller to convert PostScript files to PDF, or Distiller Assistant to convert files to PDF from within your authoring application.

Using Distiller

1. Save a PostScript file from an application to disk.
2. Start Adobe Distiller.
3. Locate and open the PostScript file.
4. Specify a location for the PDF file. Adobe Distiller then converts the file to PDF.

Using Distiller Assistant

Acrobat 3.x includes Adobe Distiller Assistant, which can be used as a printer driver. This allows a document to be saved, using the Print command, as a PDF file to the specified location.

NOTE: Adobe Distiller Assistant is installed in the Extensions folder within the System Folder on the Macintosh.

Create a document in any application (e.g., Microsoft Word).

1. Choose File > Print.
2. Select Distiller Assistant from the list of available printers.
3. Follow the application's usual instructions to begin printing (e.g., click Print).
   • Adobe Distiller Assistant creates a PostScript file in the background, and then starts Adobe Distiller, which displays an Acrobat Distiller.
   • Specify PDF file type in the filename dialog box.
4. Specify a filename and location for the PDF file and then click Save.
5. After Adobe Distiller creates the PDF file, Adobe Distiller Assistant closes Distiller and then opens the PDF file in an Acrobat viewer.

If any of the links in this document are outdated, please notify the FastLane Help Desk.
Suggestions for additions or revisions to this document may be sent to flpdf@nsf.gov.