Step-By-Step
Scanned PDF Documents and Blackboard
(Text version)

1.PDF (Portable Document Format) files can be attached to a Blackboard content area or folder in the same manner that any other file is attached to a content area or folder. PDF files are opened and viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

2. One of the problems often faced with using PDF files in Blackboard is that many PDF documents, especially those created with a scanner, can sometimes result in extremely large file sizes. This is usually the result of improper scanner settings.

3. The following are some tips to lowering the overall size of scanned PDF documents.

• Only scan materials from 8 1/2 x 11' Xerox originals. If the original material is from a book or magazine, copy the material on a Xerox machine first and then scan the the 8 1/2 x 11 inch Xerox pages into PDF format. Many brands of scanning software automatically detect the type of image being scanned and may automatically scan books or magazines as "images" instead of "documents".
• Scan the Xerox pages directly into the latest version of Adobe Acrobat (Version 6). This version has much better compression characteristics than earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat.
• If your scanner allows you to select the "type" of scanning, choose "Black&White Document". This will provide the best scanning of a Xerox page. If you can adjust the "dpi" resolution choose 300 dpi for scanning "Black&White Documents".
• If you need to rotate the pages of a scanned document you can do this using the Document / Pages ? Rotate function. Choose the pages you wish to rotate and which direction to rotate them.
• Unlike earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat you can save the compressed (distilled) file directly in the Adobe Acrobat Version 6 application. Click on "Save As" and choose a name and file location.
  
• You can sometimes lower the file size of an old PDF document by opening it up in Adobe Acrobat Version 6 and using the File / Reduce File Size command which saves the file in Version 6 PDF format.
  
• Some old PDF files, especially those scanned in True Color setting, cannot be reduced in size using the Acrobat File / Reduce File Size function. These files need to be transformed as a series of JPG image files and then a new Acrobat PDF file is created from these multiple files.
• To transform the PDF file into a series of JPG files, open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Version 6 and go to File / Save As. Select JPG from the file type dropdown box and click on "Save". This will save each page as a JPG file and name each file with successive numbers.
• After the JPG files are saved, go to File / Create PDF / From Multiple files. This will display the Create from Multiple Document dialogue box. Select all of the JPG files and click on "Add". Click "OK". The JPG files will be assembled into a single PDF file. Choose File / Save As. Type in a name for the file and save as a PDF document. The file size will be considerably lower than the original.
  
• As a free service, ITS will transform any existing PDF file. They will also scan documents and convert them into PDF formatted files. ITS employs an automatic document feeder and will on scan 8 1/2 x 11 inch single-sided Xerox originals. They will not scan books or magazines.
• If you have documents that you would like transformed or scanned into PDF format, contact Neal Hirsig at: nhirsig@tufts.edu or 617-627-4026.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Step-By-Step procedure contact the Tufts Blackboard Administrator at: nhirsig@tufts.edu