large slide given wide right margin in PDF

[Steven Bethard]

I have a large slide (intended to be a poster -- yes, I know I should
probably have used Publisher, but I don't have it) and when I convert
it to a PDF (with Adobe Acrobat), the resulting PDF, though the
correct size, has an enormous right margin, which squishes all of my
poster to the left. It also looks like my text boxes are squished up
from the bottom (their outlines only reach down about 2/3 of the way,
even though the text which should be inside them goes all the way to
the bottom.)

On the other hand, if I convert the slide to a Letter-size PDF (with
shrink-to-fit), everything looks perfect.

I assume this means I'm setting up my size wrong or something? Here's
how I'm converting to PDF:

1) -> File -> Print
2) Set printer to "Adobe PDF"
3) -> Properties
4) -> Add Custom Page
5) Create new Paper Size with appropriate height (43) and width (35)
6) -> Add/Modify
7) Select newly created Paper Size for "Adobe PDF Page Size"
8) Select "High Quality" for Default Settings
8) -> Edit
9) Change width and height to appriate sizes (43 and 35 again)
10) -> Save As (some .joboptions file)
11) -> Ok (Adobe PDF Settings)
12) Select newly created .joboptions for Default Settings
12) -> Ok (Adobe PDF Document Properties)
13) -> Ok (Print)

Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Michael Koerner]

Why are you saving it as PDF? Do the whole thing in PowerPoint.

Print posters or other large format output
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00537.htm



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Michael Koerner [MS PPT MVP]


I have a large slide (intended to be a poster -- yes, I know I should
probably have used Publisher, but I don't have it) and when I convert
it to a PDF (with Adobe Acrobat), the resulting PDF, though the
correct size, has an enormous right margin, which squishes all of my
poster to the left. It also looks like my text boxes are squished up
from the bottom (their outlines only reach down about 2/3 of the way,
even though the text which should be inside them goes all the way to
the bottom.)

On the other hand, if I convert the slide to a Letter-size PDF (with
shrink-to-fit), everything looks perfect.

I assume this means I'm setting up my size wrong or something? Here's
how I'm converting to PDF:

1) -> File -> Print
2) Set printer to "Adobe PDF"
3) -> Properties
4) -> Add Custom Page
5) Create new Paper Size with appropriate height (43) and width (35)
6) -> Add/Modify
7) Select newly created Paper Size for "Adobe PDF Page Size"
8) Select "High Quality" for Default Settings
8) -> Edit
9) Change width and height to appriate sizes (43 and 35 again)
10) -> Save As (some .joboptions file)
11) -> Ok (Adobe PDF Settings)
12) Select newly created .joboptions for Default Settings
12) -> Ok (Adobe PDF Document Properties)
13) -> Ok (Print)

Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Michael Koerner]

Have you tried using the parameters in the link I provided earlier?

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Michael Koerner [MS PPT MVP]

Why are you saving it as PDF? Do the whole thing in PowerPoint.

Because the place that prints posters only has an 80% hit rate with PowerPoint
files, and a 100% hit rate for PDF files.

 

[Michael Koerner]

You might want to visit this page http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/ there is a
wealth of information on the creation of PDF's from PowerPoint



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<>Please post all follow-up questions/replies to the newsgroup<>
<><>Email unless specifically requested will not be opened<><>
<><><>Do Provide The Version Of PowerPoint You Are Using<><><>
<><><>Do Not Post Attachments In This Newsgroup<><><>
Michael Koerner [MS PPT MVP]

Have you tried using the parameters in the link I provided earlier?

Hmm... I guess I'm confused as to how your link applies to my problem. My page
size is not too large for PowerPoint. In fact, when I specify the correct page
size in the print options, PowerPoint's print preview displays my slide
perfectly.

Here's your link's problem:
"You have a page in PowerPoint that you need to turn into a poster or other
large-format size.
PowerPoint won't allow you to set a large enough page size."

Here's a similar summary of my problem:
"You have a page in PowerPoint that you need to turn into a poster or other
large-format size.
PowerPoint /will/ allow you to set a large enough page size, but for some reason
formats things wrong when you choose such a size."

I was already able to make a PDF at reduced dimensions using shrink-to-fit as
your link suggests. I'm asking if there's any way to make a PDF at non-reduced
dimensions.

Sorry if my problem wasn't clear.

 

[Steven Bethard]

Try it with a standard page size set in the printer driver, then use Acrobat or
Reader's scale to paper size feature when you print the final poster.

You mean save it as a smaller size and scale it up in Acrobat? Yeah, that's
what I ended up doing. And as long as you make sure you save it without
compressing any images, it works out okay. I was just trying to find out if
there was a more direct way to do this, and why it went wrong in the first
place... If PowerPoint has some weird limits here, it would be nice to know
them...

 

[Steven Bethard]

One teeny weeny little fly in the ointment: now that I've run it a few times with it
set to off and produced junk PDFs, I can't get it to go back to making GOOD ones.

Aaah! I'm like a virus. ;-)

I wonder if you've found a bug in Acrobat?

You think I should post this to some Acrobat bug list or something?