User manual
Using default Adobe PDF settings files
Adobe PDF settings, which are customizable, determine the characteristics of the PDF file
created. You can choose from several sets of default Adobe PDF settings. (Options may
vary depending on the Adobe authoring application.) You should evaluate the default PDF
settings with your service provider and decide whether to use those or create a custom set
based on their prepress and post-processing requirements.
Note: Check your Adobe PDF settings periodically. The applications and utilities that
create Adobe PDF files use the last set of Adobe PDF settings defined or selected. The
settings do not automatically revert to the default settings.
To use a default Adobe PDF settings file:
1. Do one of the following:
● Start Acrobat Distiller 7.0.
● In authoring applications or utilities, target the Adobe PDF printer. (See Using the Adobe
PDF printer.)
● (Windows) In the Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box, choose Adobe PDF > Change
Conversion Settings.
2. Choose from the following options in the Default Settings (or Conversion Settings) pop-
up menu.
High Quality Print
Creates PDF files that have higher resolution than the Standard job option file. It
downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi,
prints to a higher image resolution, and preserves the maximum amount of information
about the original document. PDF files created with this settings file can be opened in
Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.
PDF/A:Draft
Checks incoming PostScript files for compliance to the proposed ISO standard for long-
term preservation (archival) of electronic documents. These files are primarily used for
archiving. PDF/A-compliant files can contain only text, raster images, and vector objects;
they cannot contain encryption and scripts. In addition, all fonts must be embedded so the
documents can be opened and viewed as created. PDF files created with this settings file
can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later. To create PDF/X-1a
compliant files, see Standards options.
PDF/X-1a:2001
Checks incoming PostScript files for PDF/X-1a:2001 compliance and only creates a file
that is PDF/X-1a compliant. If the file fails compliance checks, Distiller creates a PDF/X.
log file that describes the errors in the document. PDF/X-1a is an ISO standard for graphic
content exchange. PDF/X-1a:2001 requires all fonts to be embedded, the appropriate PDF
bounding boxes to be specified, and color to appear as CMYK, spot colors, or both. PDF/
X-compliant files must contain information describing the printing condition for which
they are prepared. For the PDF/X-1a:2001 settings file, the default output intent profile
name is U.S. Web Coated (SWOP). PDF files created with this settings file can be opened
in Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and later. To create PDF/X-1a compliant files, see
Standards options.
PDF/X-1a:2003
Checks incoming PostScript files for PDF/X-1a:2003 compliance and only creates a file
that is PDF/X-1a:2003 compliant. If the file fails compliance checks, Distiller creates a
PDF/X.log file that describes the errors in the document. PDF/X-1a_2003 is an ISO
standard for graphic content exchange. PDF/X-1a requires all fonts to be embedded, the
appropriate PDF bounding boxes to be specified, and color to appear as either CMYK,
spot colors, or both. PDF/X-compliant files must contain information describing the
printing condition for which they are prepared. For the PDF/X-1a:2003 settings file, the
default output intent profile name is U.S. Web Coated (SWOP). PDF files created with
this settings file can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later. To create
PDF/X-1a compliant files, see Standards options.
PDF/X-3:2002
Checks incoming PostScript files for PDF/X-3:2002 compliance and only creates a file
that is PDF/X-3:2002 compliant. If the file fails compliance checks, Distiller creates a
PDF/X.log file that describes the errors in the document. Like PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 is an
ISO standard for graphic content exchange. The main difference is that PDF/X-3 allows
the use of color management and device-independent color in addition to CMYK and spot
colors. For the PDF/X-1a:2002 settings file, the default output intent profile name is
Euroscale Coated v2. PDF files created with this settings file can be opened in Acrobat 4.0
and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and later. To create PDF/X-3:2002 compliant files, see Standards
options.
PDF/X-3:2003
Checks incoming PostScript files for PDF/X-3:2003 compliance and only creates a file
that is PDF/X-3:2003 compliant. If the file fails compliance checks, Distiller creates a
PDF/X.log file that describes the errors in the document. Like PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 is an
ISO standard for graphic content exchange. The main difference is that PDF/X-3 allows
the use of color management and device-independent color in addition to CMYK and spot
colors. For the PDF/X-1a:2003 settings file, the default output intent profile name is
Euroscale Coated v2. PDF files created with this settings file can be opened in Acrobat 5.0
and later. To create PDF/X-3:2003 compliant files, see Standards options.
Note: For both PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3, you can modify only those export options that
conform to the selected standard. For example, for PDF/X-1a:2001, the Color option is
unavailable. For PDF/X-1a:2003 and PDF/X-3:2003, the Compatibility setting in the
General panel is Acrobat 5.0 (PDF 1.4). Any change to the Compatibility setting changes
the Compliance Standard setting to None.
Press Quality
Creates PDF files for high-quality print production (for example, for digital printing or for
separations to an imagesetter or platesetter), but does not create files that are PDF/X-
compliant. In this case, the quality of the content is the highest consideration. The
objective is to maintain all the information in a PDF file that a commercial printer or
prepress service provider needs in order to print the document correctly. This set of
options downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to
1200 ppi, embeds subsets of fonts used in the document (if allowed), and prints a higher
image resolution than the Standard settings. Print jobs with fonts that cannot be embedded
will fail. These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.
Note: Before creating an Adobe PDF file to send to a commercial printer or prepress
service provider, find out what the output resolution and other settings should be, or ask
for a .joboptions file with the recommended settings. You may need to customize the
Adobe PDF settings for a particular provider and then provide a .joboptions file of your
own.
Smallest File Size
Creates PDF files for displaying on the Web or an intranet, or for distribution through an
email system for on-screen viewing. This set of options uses compression, downsampling,
and a relatively low image resolution. It converts all colors to sRGB, and does not embed
fonts unless absolutely necessary. It also optimizes files for byte serving. These PDF files
can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.
Standard
Creates PDF files to be printed to desktop printers or digital copiers, published on a CD,
or sent to a client as a publishing proof. This set of options uses compression and
downsampling to keep the file size down, but also embeds subsets of all (allowed) fonts
used in the file, converts all colors to sRGB, and prints to a medium resolution. Note that
Windows font subsets are not embedded by default. PDF files created with this settings
file can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.