Creating a PDF version of your thesis

Owned by Jia Wen Li
Last updated: Dec 08, 2021
2 min read

Important notes to consider

  • It is recommended that you not set any security settings on the PDF version of your thesis.

  • PDF files larger than 100MB may result in slower than optimal access.

    • If your PDF file is large, you may want to consider the format and resolution of your images (modify the format and resolution before inserting images into your thesis. A good format to consider is .jpeg).

    • You may also want to consider submitting some images separately. See procedures for submitting an enhanced thesis.

    • Other suggestions regarding reducing the size of your PDF file can be found on the Adobe website.

  • Save your thesis PDF file as Lastname_Firstname.pdf (replacing 'Lastname' with your last name and replacing 'Firstname' with your first name (without any diacritics)).

Converting your thesis to PDF

Mac

If you are using a Mac, you can create a PDF directly from all applications.

LaTeX

LaTeX and Scientific Workplace users can use GhostScript to create a PDF file from the PostScript file they created using the dvips command. In addition, LaTeX users can use the method described in the using LaTeX document to create PDF files directly.

Word

Word has a built in PDF creator. To save a Word file as PDF:

  1. Click on File/Save As

  2. Beside Save as type choose PDF (*.pdf)

  3. Enter the name and browse to where you want it saved

  4. Click on the Save button

Other PDF creators

You may use another 3rd party product; such a product for Windows is PDF Creator. PDF Creator is Open Source, so there is no charge. It can be downloaded from the SourceForge project page. It actually uses GhostScript in the PDF conversion process. However, unlike GhostScript which processes a PostScript file, PDF Creator installs itself as a printer on your system. When you want to create a PDF file from any application, you choose your application's Print command, and PDF Creator will create the PDF file.

What it will not do is translate any hyperlinks in your document into PDF hyperlinks or create PDF bookmarks.

Merging multiple PDF files into one

Once you have two PDF files it is very easy and seamless to combine them into one using Adobe Acrobat Professional. The original PDF files are not modified. Once you have combined the 2 PDF files, Adobe Acrobat will open up the 'new' combined PDF file for you to look at. See above for Adobe Acrobat's availability.

This procedure is available in the Adobe Acrobat XI Quick start guide (PDF).