Making TIFF files using Adobe Acrobat

Vector to Image Files.
Vector files—such as those generated by graphing programs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint—can be converted to high resolution TIFF or EPS files by using Adobe Acrobat. In order to convert these files, you will need the full version of Adobe Acrobat and NOT the free version of Acrobat (called Acrobat Reader). You can also download a converter to Acrobat at the Microsoft website if you are only needing to convert from Word.

If the conversion is done correctly using the steps that follow, lettering on images will be free of “chunkiness’ or pixelation and images will remain at high resolution.

Troubleshooting.
You may, however, have some images that “drop out” or become negative images, or you may get an error message indicating that the file cannot be converted. That’s because image files have been cut and pasted into your document, or the image file formats in your document are unreadable by Acrobat. To fix this problem, remove all the images from the document and make the Adobe Acrobat file and see if everything works. One by one drop the images into Adobe, until the “corrupt” image is found.

Another problem that could occur is that is that the file structure cannot be recognized due to a change in platforms (Mac to PC or PC to Mac). To correct this follow the earlier suggested steps to find the “corrupt” file.

Some things to know about Acrobat:

• Only limited editing can take place in Acrobat using what are called “touch up” tools. It’s best to go back to the program in which the document was originally made to make changes.
• The point of Acrobat is to COMPRESS your file for the web. Thus default settings may create compressed JPEG files unless these are changed.
• All conversions to Acrobat come through the PRINT function (unless dragging to the Acrobat Printer icon on a Macintosh).
• ONLY print one page at a time to Acrobat in PowerPoint and other programs containing multiple pages of images and text.

GENERAL RULES FOR MAKING ACROBAT FILES

1. Under File in your vector application, choose Print.
2. From Printer drop down, choose Acrobat PDF Writer; or, when that option doesn’t exist, Acrobat Distiller.
3. Click on Properties, Options, or Settings button to bring up more choices. Look for Adobe PDF Settings, or Acrobat Settings or something with the word “Settings” in it (dialogue box naming conventions seem infinitely variable depending upon software and operating system). You may have to do some searching around. In many circumstances it is CRITICAL to find these settings. If these don’t exist, then continue on to the next step.
4. Be sure to choose Press when choosing Conversion Settings versus eBook or Web. Again, naming conventions change: look for a drop down box which gives you the Press selection if such a thing exists.
5. That should be the only setting you need to choose for turning off compression and maintaining resolution, but, to be sure, click on a button normally situated in the same dialogue box named Edit Conversion Settings or Edit Settings, etc. In the Compression dialogue box, uncheck Downsampling and Compression for all Color and Grayscale Images. Click Okay (you may be required to save the setting before proceeding).
6. Click Okay buttons to return to Print box and print. It may take a while to generate the file. You are prompted when it is done, but the dialogue box doesn’t close (so close the box). On the Macintosh, the prompt lets you know the file has been generated, but the prompt is generally premature and some indeterminate time needs to pass before the file is REALLY generated. 6. Open these files in Photoshop. You may see a dialogue box asking for width, height and resolution settings. Leave the width and height the same, but change the resolution to: 300dpi for images 600dpi for color graphs (re-sample as 1200dpi before saving final file AFTER cropping) 1200dpi for text and black and white graphs.
7. If necessary, use the crop tool to outline the graph or image and double click inside the outline to crop out extraneous white area (the white area is considered by Photoshop to be a part of the image, not some kind of white page in the background as in Word).
8. Flatten the image: under Layer in the menu select Flatten Image (Photoshop inserts an invisible layer into both Acrobat and Illustrator files).
9. Re-save as either TIFF or as Photoshop EPS format: the TIFF format is generally intended for images and it works best with inkjet printers, photographic printers and to publishers; EPS is more ideal for text and drawings for the laser jet printer and to publishers. These can also be saved as JPEG for insertion into Word, PowerPoint or for posting on the web.

TO BE SURE FILE HAS BEEN MADE AT HIGH RESOLUTION

• Do NOT print to a laser jet printer unless your file is saved in the EPS format.
• Do NOT check for pixelation in the image on the computer screen UNLESS zoomed in.

Screen resolution is generally poor for the evaluation of vertical, diagonal and horizontal lines. You must first zoom way in with the magnifier tool in order to evaluate resolution, or print out on a good ink jet printer.