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Finalizing PDFs to EERE Standards

Once your PDF has been created, follow these steps to make it fully compliant with EERE standards.

  • Choose File >Document Properties >Fonts to verify that all fonts are Embedded or Subset.

    • Times/Times New Roman, Arial/Helvetica, Courier or Symbol fonts are considered 'Base 14' fonts. These fonts generally fare well with Adobe's font substitution.

    • Avoid subsetting when merging multiple PDFs together.

    • If all fonts are not embedded, then be sure to inspect for substitution impacts such as garbled/missing characters, or boxes for symbols. Select Advanced and make sure Use Local Fonts is unchecked. This forces substitution so you can view the effects of substitution.

  • Proof the PDF

    • Scroll through and LOOK at every page. Look for missing items from charts such as legends and axis titles which sometimes disappear due to incorrect object re-ordering which can result from the tagging process for accessibility.

    • Look for PDF distortions, such as patterns and shading that differ from the native file; the pattern differences may affect the content intent.

    • Look for slow-loading graphics – usually a raster image with a transparent background or a chart with complex blends or patterns.

    • Links to a different drives will default to absolute links…make sure files reside on same network drives.

    • Select the Link tool and verify that all link boxes are in the appropriate places. Verify that link URLs and files are valid.

    • Verify that bookmarks are valid and meaningful.

  • Open the Pages panel and (conditionally) Embed All Thumbnails.

    • Embed thumbnails for documents that open to Pages Panel and Page.

    • Create bookmarks and open to Bookmarks Panel and Page for larger documents that exceed 16 pages or that contain a Table of Contents, such as technical papers and research reports. Do not embed thumbnails for documents that open to Bookmarks Panel and Page.

  • Set Document Properties - Initial View
    • Set Initial View to either "Pages Panel and Page" or "Bookmarks Panel and Page" as appropriate

      • "Bookmarks Panel and Page" for documents that exceed 16 pages and/or have a Table of Contents

      • "Pages Panel and Page" for documents under 16 pages.

    • Set Magnification to "Fit Page" if document is a screen-sized presentation.

    • Set Magnification to "Fit Width" for all other documents

    • Set Page Layout to "Single Page"

  • Enter Meta field information into the Document Summary window

    • Enter Title exactly as it appears on the document

    • Enter in the Subject field a summarized description of the document contents of at least 71 characters (including spaces), not to exceed 200 characters. The most important words should be in the first 150 characters.

  • Verify accessibility for Section 508 compliance by opening the document properties dialog box (File>Document Properties) and verifying the "Tagged PDF" option displays Yes. If not, use Acrobat to tag the PDF, following the steps below.

    • Save the untagged PDF prior to using this function.

    • Select Advanced>Accessibility>Add Tags to Document.

    • If the procedure completes without an error, carefully review the PDF again for any new anomalies occurring from the process.

    • Possible errors include URL links truncating at the pound sign and corrupt layer order on graphics and charts, so elements appear to be missing or covered by something else.

    • If there are anomalies which you are unable to repair or if the process produces an error screen, Revert back to the saved PDF.

    • These changes are irreversible, so be sure not to overwrite the previous file until you are certain the PDF survived the tagging process!!

  • Optimize the PDF
    • Quite simply, do Save As to re-optimize the file. Clicking Save only does incremental saves and unused objects are not removed.