Technical Help

We provide these helpful tips as a resource for you. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please give us a call 846-1055 or e-mail us at ncispgm@mail.nih.gov.

Portable Document Format (PDF)

What is a PDF, anyway?

A PDF is a Portable Document Format file, generated by Adobe Acrobat. It’s designed, as its name implies, to move easily across computer platforms, and to look and print identically for every user. Because of these advantages, printers and publishers often ask to have materials submitted to them as PDFs.

Can I reuse the images in a PDF?

Yes; however it may not be easy to extract those images from the document. Also, PDFs can be generated for a number of purposes, from screen display to professional offset printing. Therefore, the images in the document may or may not be usable for your purpose.

Managing Your Image Files

High resolution and low resolution versions of an image

If you’ll be using an image in several ways, say in a PowerPoint onscreen show, and for publication in a journal, it’s a good idea to have two different versions of the image, each optimized for its particular purpose. It’s also a good idea to always save and keep track of the original, highest resolution version of an image, in case you need to use it again, in the future. For instance, if you need to use an image for a poster, you’ll want to use the version that you used for publication – not the lower resolution file which was appropriate for onscreen viewing!

Choosing the right file format

Always save a good, high-resolution, original file, preferably in a form that does not use any form of “lossy” compression. From this file, you can make image files that are optimized for your immediate purpose (i.e., JPG for Web or onscreen show).