Help with Adobe Acrobat PDF Files

 

The purpose of this document is to show how to print the city and county PDF files along with showing a few helpful hints in allowing you to get the most out of the maps. Before following this document we recommend you download and install the most up to date version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.  At this writing the current version is 8.1.2. If you have any further questions pertaining to this document please feel free to contact:

Nick Meurer

nicholas.meurer@dot.iowa.gov

 

First we will cover the printing aspect of the PDF files:

 

1.  When you first open a city or county PDF file take note of the paper size of the PDF by looking at the lower left hand corner of your browser window:

 

2.  As you can see this will not fit on 8.5” x 11” paper so we must set a couple setting before we print the PDF.  Please click on the Print button located in the toolbar or go to File > Print…:

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3.  With the Print Dialog Box open you will want to make sure a couple settings are set appropriately under Page Handling.  You will want to set Page Scaling to Fit To Paper and also check Auto-Rotate and Center.  With these options set you will see the entire city or county map displayed in the preview window:

 

 

4.  With the above settings set you will always get a map that is complete and fills your paper selection completely.  This includes 11” x 17” paper as well.

 

 

This section covers how to select a certain area of the map for printing rather than the entire map. Also, this technique can be used to embed parts of a map into a Microsoft Word document or other such presentations.

 

1.  The tool that will allow us to complete this task is called the Snapshot Tool and is located in the toolbar. If you need to add this tool to your current toolbar go to Tools > Customize Toolbars > Select & Zoom Toolbar and then select the checkbox next to the snapshot tool. After selecting this tool and hovering over the PDF you will notice your mouse pointer changes to a crosshair:

NOTE: In newer versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader, the Snapshoot Tool is not loaded into the main toolbar by default. If this is the case, you will need to hover your mouse over the top toolbar area and then right click and browse down to “More Tools.”

 

 

 From there, scroll down until you see the “Snapshoot Tool” and put a check in the box, like this:

 

2.  The Snapshot Tool works similar to how you would do a selection set in Windows.  You will start in a corner of your selection.  Press and hold left click.  Begin to drag the mouse while holding the left click.  You will notice a rectangle is drawn.  The selection that lies in this rectangle is your snapshot. Once you have selected your area let go of the left click.  Adobe Acrobat Reader will prompt you letting you know the selected area has been copied to the clipboard:

 

3.  Upon opening the Print Dialog box, only the selection area will be displayed in the preview window.  This selection area will be printed when the “Selected graphic” option under Page Handling is selected:

 

 

This section will cover how to turn different layers within the PDF off/on:

 

The black and white county maps have the layering option enabled which allows users to turn off certain features that they don’t want to see or print. For example, if you do not have any need to see the streams or rivers, you can turn those features off and you will no longer see them. From here, you can then print the PDF and only the layers you have shown on your screen will print. To do this you simply follow the following steps.

 

  1. When you first open a PDF look to the upper left hand corner of the page. You should notice icons similar to this:

 

  1. Click the Layered PDF icon from the first step and you should get a tab that pops out and shows a named folder with a plus (+) sign next to it:

 

  

 

  1. Click the plus (+) sign next to the folder name to expand your selection options within the file:

 

 

  1. From here, you’ll see there are sub-folders that contain the Reference layers in the PDF and the main Levels of the PDF. You can again click the plus (+) sign and expand the options of these sub-folders to see the layers in each. Click the plus (+) sign next to Levels and you’ll see the individual layers in the main file:

 

  1. Click the “eyeball” icon to turn a layer OFF/ON within the PDF. Here is an example where some of the layers have been turned off in a County map PDF. The “eyeball” icon will no longer be present next to the layer name, which indicates that layer is turned off. The corresponding layer in the PDF will then turn off and will no longer be visible.

 

 

  1. Now using the snapshot tool you can copy an area to your clipboard or print a hardcopy of the PDF as is it shown with only the features you deem necessary. You can also simply click the box where the “eyeball”  icon was previously to turn the level back on.

 

This section will cover how to add comments, drawing and markups to the PDF:

 

Within the black and white county maps, we have also enabled the ability to add simple drawings, as well as comments and notes. This allows the user to “write” comments or “draw” features on the PDF map after they download the file to their local computer. These comments and markups are then able to be printed to hardcopy on the map or saved within the digital PDF for future reference by the user.

 

  1. First you will need to turn on the commenting toolbar, as it is turned off by default in Acrobat Reader. To do this, go to View à Toolbars à Comments and Markups and turn this toolbar on:

 

 

  1. You should now see a the Comment and Markup toolbar which will look like this on your screen:

 

 

  1. With the tools on this toolbar, you will be able to add Arrows, Lines, Squares, Circles, Text boxes, Callout boxes, Sticky Notes, etc. to the PDF map. For example, you could use the “polygon line” tool to highlight a route in Yellow. You could then add a note to this line so that when you clicked on it, you would get information about the line. See below:

 

 

  1. To highlight a route or draw a line feature you would follow these steps:

 

·         First, zoom to the area you wish to mark on the map.  To zoom you need to have the zoom toolbar open in your window.  If it is not open, go to the Tools menu and select Zoom from the pull down menu.  Next select Show Zoom Toolbar.  The toolbar will appear in your window.  Select the icon shaped like a magnifying glass with a + sign in it.  This will allow you to zoom to the area you need.

·         When you have found the area you wish to mark, go to the Tools pull down menu, select Drawing Markups and select the Polygon Line Tool from the list of tools.  This tool will allow you to draw lines that turn or curve.  You will add text comments and change the color after you draw the line.  The line will default to a red color that you may change later.

·         Next, click on the location to begin marking, and then move along the road to the end of your marking area.  You may click at points along the line you are drawing to add vertices, and change direction or follow a curve.  When you are done with your line, right-click and select Complete.  If you make a mistake you can right-click and select Cancel and start it over again.

 

  1. By default, your line will be red in color and a pre-defined thickness and style. If you wish to chance any of these attributes you would simple double click the line select the Options tab from the upper right hand corner of the dialog box that pops up and then go to Properties (as in the example below):

 

          

 

  1. After you click on the Properties button, the Properties dialog box will come up where you will be able to change the look of your line:

 

 

  1. When you are finished click the OK button at the bottom. To hide the Polygonal Line dialog box when you are finished, click on the x in the upper right hand corner.  The information you typed will still remain attached to your line, and can be viewed by moving your mouse pointer over the line. If you need to edit the text double click on the line to reopen the dialog box.

 

To add a Callout Box for inserting a note or other information:

 

A Callout Box is a box containing information with an arrow attached that points to a specific object.

 

  1. Select the Callout Tool and then click on the Spot where you would like the arrow to point to. The arrow and box will appear.
  2. Type your comment in the text box. When you are finished typing click outside of the text box to finish. 
  3. If you would like to move the callout box or reposition the arrow, move the mouse over the box until the mouse arrow turns into a large plus shape, this is the move symbol.  Now click on the box and you will be able to move it to a different position, resize the box, and/or move the arrow to a different location. 
  4. To change the font size, color, or thickness of the callout box, simply right-click on the box and select Properties from the pull down list.  This will open a dialog box that allows you to change the appearance of the callout box.

 

 

To add a Comment Box:

 

If you would like to add a comment without the callout box or line, you can add a text box on the map.

 

  1. To add a text box, select the Text Box Tool from the Tools > Drawing Markup pull down menu. 
  2. Then you simply click and drag your mouse pointer to create the Text Box.  A cursor will appear in the box for you to type.  When you are finished with your text click outside the box. 
  3. You are able to move and resize the box by moving your mouse arrow over the box until the move symbol appears, then click on the box and drag it to the new location.
  4. To see a list of the comments you have made go to the View pull down menu and select Show Comments List.  This will display a list of the comments at the bottom of your Acrobat Reader window (Figure 4).   You can also display the comments window by clicking on the Comments tab on the left side of the screen.  In this window you can click on the individual comment to zoom to it and click on the text to modify it.  You may also select a comment in the list and make edits or delete it with the Delete button at the top of the comments list window.  When you are finished marking your map, save it to your computer.  This will allow you to access this file anytime for your records or your own uses.