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Windows PowerPoint 2000 & 2007

Producing high resolution PDFs


from PowerPoint guide
If you have used transparencies, drop shadows or
gradients in your PowerPoint poster it is advisable to
write a high resolution PDF file for print. This is because
as the PDF file is created (version 7) these effects are
flattened, as they would be going to print, and a lot of
visual problems, that may cause the poster not to print
correctly, show up. If when checking your PDF you see
that the transparencies have gone solid or the drop
shadows are banding you can go back through the file
and fix the errors before sending it to us to print.

(Fig. 6a)

(Fig. 6b)

(Fig. 7)

The following shows how to produce the best PDF


for print:
Either create a PDF using the in built PDF Maker plug-in:
a. In PowerPoint 2000 go to the Acrobat PDF tab and
select Change Conversion Settings (Fig. 6a). In
PowerPoint 2007 go to the Acrobat tab and select
Preferences (Fig. 6b).
b. In the PDF Maker Settings window (Fig. 7) that
will appear select PDFX3 2002 in the Conversions
Settings drop-down menu. Also tick the box View
Adobe PDF Result as you will need to check that
nothing in your design has moved and that all images
and text are of a good enough quality to print.

(Fig. 8)

c. Go into the Advanced Settings menu (Fig. 8)


from here:
Set compatibility as Acrobat 7.0.
Make sure resolution is at 2400dpi.
Adjust the default page size to match your
PowerPoint document size and therefore the
finished size of your poster.
d. Under the Image tab/folder (Fig. 9) make sure the
image compressions are as this screen grab.
e. Go to the Fonts tab/folder (Fig. 10) and ensure
Embed All Fonts box is ticked.
f. Under the Colour tab/folder (Fig. 11) the Settings
File drop-down should be set to none and the
Colour Management Policy should be Leave Colour
Unchanged with Document Rendering Intent as
Preserve.

(Fig. 9)

g. Click Save As to save the settings for future use then


OK to continue.
h. Then back under the Acrobat tab click Convert to
Adobe PDF (2000) or Acrobat tab click Create PDF
(2007).

If the PDFMaker plugin is not available create your PDF


by going into the print menu:

(Fig. 10)

a. In the first screen select Adobe PDF (Fig. 12) from


the Printer Name drop-down menu. Print Range
should be Current Slide (if there is more than one
poster/slide in a document create separate PDFs for
each by repeating the process described here).
At the bottom check the boxes Scale to Fit Paper.
b. Next to the printer name click the Properties button.
(Fig. 11)

c. Select High Quality Print/Press Quality (Fig. 13)


from the Default Settings drop-down menu and
select the correct size of your poster from the
Adobe PDF Page Size drop-down menu.
d. Next to the Default Settings drop-down menu
(which should now say High Quality Print/Press
Quality) click Edit.
e. Under the General tab (Fig. 8):
Set compatibility as Acrobat 7.0.
Make sure resolution is at 2400dpi.
Adjust the default page size to match your
PowerPoint document size and therefore the
finished size of your poster.

(Fig. 12)

f. Under the Image tab/folder (Fig. 9) make sure the


image compressions are as this screen grab.
g. Go to the Fonts tab/folder (Fig. 10) and ensure the
Embed All Fonts box is ticked.
h. Under the Colour tab/folder (Fig. 11) the Settings
File drop-down should be set to none and the
Colour Management Policy should be Leave Colour
Unchanged with Document Rendering Intent as
Preserve.
i. Click OK then Print to create your PDF.

Check your PDF

From the File menu in Adobe Acrobat reader select


Properties. Under the Descriptions tab look at the
page size to ensure you have it at the size you intended
and check the file version (aim for version 7). Under
the Fonts tab check that all the fonts you have used
have been embedded. If theyve not they may print
incorrectly.

(Fig. 13)

If you have followed all these guidelines you should


get a very good result for your printed poster.
If you would like further advice or have feedback
on this guide please contact us at
print.enquiries@sheffield.ac.uk

Producing to Scale

If you are producing a poster bigger than A0 then


it may be better to set up the file to 25% of the
finished size. Providing you follow the Best Settings
and Image Quality guidelines (e.g. you view all
inserted images at 400% to check the finished
quality) then we can blow up the poster to its
finished size at the printing stage.
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