User manual

Creating Adobe PDF files using Acrobat Distiller
Acrobat Distiller provides easy and repeatable Adobe PDF creation according to your
specifications. By defining customized settings, you create PDF files that are specifically
tailored to meet your needs.
In the Acrobat Distiller window, you select the Adobe PDF settings to use when
converting documents to PDF files. You can customize the default settings supplied by
Adobe by selecting the settings that most closely resemble your desired output, modifying
the settings to fit your needs, and then saving those settings with a unique file name. This
default settings file can then be distributed to other computers and users to ensure
consistent PDF creation.
From the Acrobat Distiller window, you can open PostScript files for conversion to PDF
files, set security for the PDF files, choose font locations and watched folders for Distiller,
and get help on how to use Distiller. From the Acrobat Distiller window, you can also
control basic processing of jobs, such as pausing, resuming, and canceling, and get
feedback on jobs in the queue.
Acrobat Distiller main window (Windows) A. Menus B. Adobe PDF settings files C. Files in job
queue D. Failed job E. Context menu F. Status window
Note: In Mac OS, there is no context menu. Instead, a Clear List button clears all distilled
jobs from the list.
For your convenience, you can use one of the predefined Adobe PDF settings files
included with Distiller to create PDF files optimized for a specific medium. Once you
become familiar with PDF options, you can customize the settings to change the quality or
size of your PDF files.
To start Acrobat Distiller:
In Acrobat, choose Advanced > Acrobat Distiller. (In Windows, you can also choose Start
> Programs > Acrobat Distiller 7.0.)
To create an Adobe PDF file using Acrobat Distiller:
1. In Distiller, select an Adobe PDF settings file from the Default Settings pop-up menu. For
details, see Using default Adobe PDF settings files.
2. In your authoring application, convert your file to PostScript. (See Creating PostScript
files.)
3. Convert the PostScript file using one of the following methods:
● Choose File > Open, and open the PostScript file.
● Drag the PostScript file to the Acrobat Distiller window. (You can also drag multiple
PostScript files to the Acrobat Distiller window to convert them.)
To control job processing:
Use any of the following methods:
● To temporarily stop processing the current job, click Pause. Or right-click the job queue
(Windows only) and choose Pause. The Pause button changes to Resume.
● To resume processing the current job, click Resume. Or right-click the job queue and
choose Resume (Windows only).
● To stop processing the files, click Cancel Jobs. Or right-click the job queue and choose
Cancel Job(s) (Windows only). Cancel Jobs cancels all selected files waiting to be
distilled or failed jobs in the queue.
● (Windows only) To open the folder where the selected files are, right-click the job queue
and choose Explore.
● (Windows only) To open the selected PDF file in Acrobat, a browser, or Adobe Reader,
right-click the job queue and choose View.
To clear files in the job queue:
Do one of the following:
● (Windows) Right-click the job queue, and choose Clear History.
● (Mac OS) Click the Clear List button above the queue.
All successfully converted files are removed from the list.
To save a history of the job queue (Windows only):
Right-click the job queue, and choose Save History. The list saves as a PDF file.
To add security to Adobe PDF files:
1. In Acrobat Distiller, choose Settings > Security.
2. In the Security dialog box, specify desired security options. For descriptions of security
options, see Password security options. Not all options in this list are available in Distiller.
Related Subtopics:
Setting Distiller preferences