Sony PRS950BC User Manual

User’s Guide to Creating PDFs

for the Sony

®

Reader

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction

Portable Document Format x PDF Creation Software x Sony® Reader screen dimensions
and specifications x Font recommendations for the Sony

II. Creating PDFs from Word Processing Documents

Create word processing documents with optimized dimensions and layout in Microsoft®
Word and OpenOffice.org Writer x Generate PDFs with appropriate settings using
Adobe PDF or PDF Creator printer

III. Creating PDFs from Presentations

Create presentations with optimized dimensions and layout in Microsoft® PowerPoint and
OpenOffice.org Impress x Generate PDFs with appropriate settings using Adobe PDF or
PDF Creator printer

IV. Creating PDFs from Professional Layout Applications

Create presentations with optimized di mensions and layout in QuarkXPress® software and
Adobe
appropriate settings using Adobe PDF or PDF Creator printer

®

InDesign x Ensure proper font and image embedding x Generate PDFs with

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V. Doing more with Adobe

Acrobat

Reformat an existing PDF for use on the Sony® Reader x Enhance navigation of your PDF
with internal linking x Create a Sony® Reader-optimized PDF preset for streamlined PDF
generation x Import an existing Sony® Reader-optimized PDF preset into your system

®

Reader

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I. Introduction

PDF (Portable Document Format)

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a cross-platform, device-independent page
description language and file format developed by Adobe Systems. Its primary use is to
render, store, and transmit formatted pages, capturing the entire page structure of a
document just as it would have been rendered by a Postscript printer.

®

Most common file formats can be converted to PDF using Adobe
Professional or other PDF rendering applications, some of which are available at no cost.

Many professional book, magazine, and other printers prefer to be supplied with PDFs for
printing because it is a standardized format and because unless a PDF is deliberately
edited, its contents can be considered safe from uni ntended alteration. Properly
generated and handled, PDFs can basically be thought of as a faithful electronic
representation of the print version of any document.

One of the key differences between a PDF and an image file format (like jpeg, gif, etc.) is
that PDF preserves formatting elements such as fonts and graphics by embedding them
into the file in a manner that can be managed via various settings.

Acrobat® Standard or

PDF is an excellent means of displaying content from a variety of common consumer
applications, including the Microsoft
OpenOffice.org open source counterparts, on the Sony

®

Office suite of applications and their

®

Reader. The key to generating
PDFs that will display clearly on the Reader is to size the PDF properly when you create it,
and to set margins, font sizes, etc. within a range that is suited to the Reader’s screen size
and resolution. This instructional document is intended to provide all the information
necessary to create PDFs that are ready to be viewed in the Sony Reader from a variety
of common applications.

PDF Creation Software

On a computer running the Microsoft Windows
PDF creation software installed in order to generate PDFs from within the common
desktop applications covered in this instructional document. Two good options are
Adobe Acrobat (either Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Professional) and PDF Creator.

Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional, unlike the free Adobe Reader, are used to
create, edit, and add features to PDFs. (Adobe Reader can only be used to view them.)
The Professional version of the Adobe Acrobat software includes a number of features
and capabilities of interest to professional users, but Acrobat Standard is often sufficient
for creating PDFs for the Sony Reader. These applications are available for purchase at

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/

PDF Creator is an open source alternative to Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional for
generating PDFs from documents created in Windows applications. It has been released
under the terms of the GNU General Public License and is available for download at

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

Once you have successfully installed one of these applications, you will be able to
create PDFs using the print menu of your applications.

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operating system, you will need to have

.

.

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The Sony® Reader display dimensions and key specifications

SONY® READER DISPLAY SIZE

Page size in

portrait mode:

3.47” width x 4.54” height
(88.2 mm x 115.4 mm)

Page size in

landscape mode:

Pixel count in

portrait mode:

Pixel count in

landscape mode:

Pixel size: rectangular, 151 x 153

Screen resolution: 166 dots per inch (DPI)

Grayscale

capability:

4.41” width x 6.09” height
(112.0 mm x 154.8 mm)

584 width x 754 height

784 width x 1012 height

microns

2-bit (4 gray levels)

Font recommendations for the Sony® Reader

A range of fonts and font sizes will display clearly in PDFs on the Sony Reader. As a
general starting point, we recommend using Arial and Times Roman as base fonts at sizes
of 7 points. Text is legible at 6 points, though at this size it can lose some clarity. Large
fonts will tend to use up screen space rather rapidly given the maximum document
dimensions.

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II. Creating PDFs from Word Processing Documents

Following these step-by-step instructions wi ll enable you use word processing software to
produce PDFs that are optimized for display on the Sony® Reader. The first part of the
overall process is to create a word processing document with the right dimensions and
layout. The second part of the process is to generate a PDF with appropriate settings.
Instructions for further enhancing your PDF with links are available in Section V (“Doing
More with Adobe® Acrobat”).

Microsoft® Word

1. To set document size and margin settings, select File  Page Setup.

2. In the Margins tab, check that all units are calculated in terms of inches. (Throughout

this instructional document, all measurements are displayed in inches.)

3. If you need to change measurement units to inches, click the “Cancel” button, then

select Tools  Options.

4. In the General tab, change “Measurement units” to “inches.”

5. Click “OK,” then navigate once again to File  Page Setup.

6. In the Margins tab, set Left, Right, Top and Bottom margins at 0.15”.

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7. In the Paper tab, set width to 3.47” and height at 4.54”.
Under “Preview” section, select “Apply to”  “Whole document.”

Press “OK.”

6

Create PDF using Adobe PDF or PDF Creator printer.

If you have purchased and installed Adobe
have installed PDF Creator, you can create PDFs using Microsoft

Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional

1. Select File  Print.

2. For Printer, select “Adobe PDF.”

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Acrobat® Standard or Professional, or if you

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Word ’s Print men u.

3. Click “Properties” in the “Print” dialog box. (This may appear as “Preferences” ins tead

of “Properties,” depending on the version of Windows you are using.) Select the
“Adobe PDF Settings” tab.

4. Click the “Add Custom Page...” button.

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Name the custom paper size “Sony” ( or whatever name you’d prefer to use) in the
“Paper Names” field.

Set Width at 3.47 and Height at 4.54. Set the “Unit” as “Inch.” Then click the
“Add/Modify” button. (This will bring you back to the “Adobe PDF Settings” tab.)

In the future, your new custom size will be available for you to select in the “Adobe PDF
Settings” tab—no need to repeat the “Add Custom Page” routine.

5. Select the “Edit” button next to the “Default Settings” field.

6. Select the settings shown in the following figures:

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General tab

Images tab

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Fonts tab

Color tab

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Advanced tab

7. You can save the Adobe PDF settings that you just created as a preset that will be

available in all applications that can print. Click the “Save As” button and provide a
name for the settings preset. Next time you want to create a PDF optimized for the
Sony Reader, just select the Adobe PDF printer, click “Properties” or “Preferences,”
and select your preset in the “Default Settings” list within the “Adobe PDF Settings”
tab (see #3 above).

8. Press the “OK” button and provide a filename and location for your PDF file to be

written to.

9. To set the filename and author that will appear in the Sony

®

PDF in Adobe

Acrobat® Standard or Professional.

®

Reader menu, open your

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From the File menu, select “Document Properties.” Type the title and author in the
corresponding fields.

PDF Creator

1. Optimize document size and margin settings in Microsoft

2. Select File  Print.

3. For Printer, select “PDFCreator.”

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Word—see p. 5, step 1.

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4. Click “Properties” in the “Print” dialog box.
Select the “Paper/Quality” tab. With the “Color” option selected, click the “Adva nced”

tab.

5. Select “PostScript Custom Page.”

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