Introduction

A PDF Portfolio combines multiple files - PDFs, images, Word documents and more - into one single PDF file that can have its own design and navigation. The original files retain their individual identities and formats, but are assembled into one PDF Portfolio file. You can open, read, edit, and format each included file independently of the other files in the PDF Portfolio. This makes PDF portfolios a great way for students to display their academic and professional work or for any professional to combine and display a group of related materials in one easy-to-share package.

Create A PDF PortfolioCreate a basic PDF Portfolio in a few quick steps.

1. Start Acrobat and In the Welcome Screen, click Create PDF Portfolio.

1ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC MEDIA CENTER TUTORIAL

Building an Adobe Acrobat X PDF Portfolio

2. Choose a layout from the left side of the wizard.The list of layouts includes the predefined layouts that ship with Acrobat.

3. Note: you can change this layout later, so you’re not locked in to the choice you make here.

4. Click Finish. 5. Click File/Save As and save your portfolio to your computer.

Add files and foldersAcrobat has two modes for building PDF portfolios: A Preview mode and an Edit mode. Acrobat will open in Edit mode with a Preview button showing like this:

To add content, it’s best to create the content in the folder structure you want to use by using Finder on the Mac and Windows Explorer on a PC. Once you have your files organized, position the files and folders you want to add in a window next to Adobe Acrobat or on your Desktop, and drag the files into the open gray area of Acrobat. (You will be able to add more files later in this same way if you need to.)

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The files appear within the PDF portfolio interface.

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For best performance, keep the total number of component files at 15 or less, and the total size of all component files under 50 MB.

Remove files and folders from a PDF PortfolioIf you delete a folder, all of the files within it are deleted from the PDF Portfolio.

In Edit mode, select one or more files or folders in the PDF Portfolio and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

For example in the Click-Through layout, click on one file to highlight it, and then hold down the shift key to select others, then press the Delete key.

You will see a dialog box asking if you are sure you want to delete the file(s).

Click the Yes button and the files are deleted.

Or click the Delete File icon on the file’s portfolio card, if available, as shown here in the Click-Through layout.

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You will receive a dialogue box asking if you are sure. Click Yes to delete the file.

Customize a PDF PortfolioIn Edit mode, you can customize the layout, theme, and color scheme. You can also customize the Details view with columns that you choose or create yourself.

Change the PDF Portfolio layoutPDF Portfolio layout options enable you to present content in a layout that best fits your needs. For example, the Click-Through layout allows readers to flip through files in the PDF Portfolio one at a time. In all layouts, each file appears on a card with an image (if available) and information about the document, such as the filename.

(If none of the layouts are exactly what you want, custom layouts are possible, but not covered in these instructions. Ask someone with the AMC for more information.)

To set the layout, click Portfolio Layouts in the Layout pane, and select one from the list.

Change the visual appearanceThemes, colors, and background images add visual interest and cohesiveness to a PDF Portfolio. Use Edit mode to change visual elements.

■ To select a theme, click Visual Themes in the Layout pane, and select one from the list.

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■ To use a custom theme, click Import Custom Theme. Navigate to the custom theme on your computer and open it. The theme is immediately applied to your PDF Portfolio and appears in the Visual Themes list as “Custom.” Unlike custom layouts, custom themes apply only to the current PDF Portfolio and are not permanently added to the Visual Themes panel. Themes are created in Adobe Flash Professional or Adobe Flash Builder and have a .swf extension.

■ To change the colors in a visual theme, click Color Palettes in the Layout pane and choose a different palette.

■ To create a custom color palette, in the Color Palettes panel, click Create From Existing and specify the colors, using color hexadecimal codes like those obtained from a graphics program like Photoshop or from Adobe’s color site: http://kuler.adobe.com

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■ To change the properties of a background color, first select a color palette, and then click Background. Specify background color properties as desired.

■ To add an image as the background, click Background in the Layout pane. In the Background Image area, select an image from the list or click Choose New to add an image from your computer. Specify image properties as desired.

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Add a headerThe header appears at the top of the layout, and can contain important information like a logo, company name, and contact information. The header can include text, images, or both, and can be arranged in various ways.

1. In Edit mode, click the empty band at the top of the edit window. The Header Properties panel appears near the bottom of the Layout pane.

2. Select a template from the list in Header Properties, such as Text and Image.3. In the header area, click in the boxes to add content. 4. To add an image, click the image box in the upper left corner of the window.5. In the lower right panel, click Choose Image.6. Navigate to a file you want to use as an image and click Open.7. To add text, double-click to show the insertion point.8. In the Text and Image Properties panels, specify size, background9. An image and text now appears at the top of the screen.

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CLICK HERE

PANEL APPEARS

10. Click the Preview button to see how the header will look in your completed portfolio.

11. Click the Edit button to return to editing the portfolio.

Working with files in a PDF PortfolioYou can sort and preview component files in a PDF Portfolio, as well as open, edit, and save component files in their native application. Some file types require that you install the native application on your computer.

View files in a listIn Preview mode, click the Files button in the PDF Portfolio toolbar.

A list of files (and folders if there are folders) is shown.

To sort file details by ascending and descending order, click a column name. Click it a second time to reverse the order.

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Edit file details in a list1. If the Edit button is showing, click it to get into Edit mode.

2. Once in Edit mode, click the Details pane.

3. Do any of the following under Columns To Display:

■ To show or hide a column in the list, click in the checkbox.

■ To add a column, type the name (e.g. Nickname) in the Add A Column box, select a data type from the menu, and click the Add button.

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■ To delete optional columns, hold the pointer over the column name until the Delete button appears, and then click the button. You cannot delete required columns, such as Name, Description, Size, and others.

■ To change the order of a column, select it and click the Up or Down Arrow. You can also drag a column in the file list on the left.

Sort, filter and change the order of files and foldersBy default, component files are arranged and sorted alphabetically by filename. Files appear and print in this order.

You can change or customize the order in which files appear. However, files always print alphabetically.

Note: Sorting files in Preview mode changes the order only for the current session. The next time you open the PDF Portfolio, it appears in the specified initial sort order.

To reorder files in a custom way, drag files in the list on the left. Reordering files creates an Order column in the Initial Sort menu on the right, and automatically selects it as the initial sort.

In a mini-navigator or Grid layout, click the Layout pane, and then drag files and folders to achieve the order you want, much like you would reorder slides in PowerPoint. The mini-navigator appears in Click-Through, Linear, and Wave layouts.

Save the PDF Portfolio.

To move a file inside a folder up a levelOccasionally, you may have a file within a folder that you want to move up a level from within the Details view.

1. Navigate to a list of the files in the folder.

2.Click, hold and drag the file you would like to move to the top of the list, right below the Name column header until the list of files changes to the next level up.

3.Continue dragging the file to the position you want it to be in and then release.

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Edit filenames and descriptions in a PDF portfolio■ In all Portfolio Layouts, you can click on the title of the file on its layout card

and edit the title text directly by clicking on the text and typing something new (e.g. type over HarrisHouseProposal.pdf) NOTE: this changes the display name, not the underlying file name. To make your portfolio easier to read, you probably want to change all of the names in this way. As a result, viewers of your portfolio will see names without file name extensions. Instead of proposal.pdf, they will see whatever display name you type.

■ If you also want to change other information about the file, the easiest method is to switch to the Click-Through Layout and click the i button.

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■ This flips the card over, revealing a form to type in more file information.

■ Fill in the additional information and then click the x button in the upper right corner to save.

Saving a Portfolio■ In the regular Acrobat file menu, click File/Save Portfolio.■ The Portfolio file appears with the generic preview page/icon.

Customizing the Preview Page/Icon■ For a friendlier and more custom PDF portfolio, you will want to customize

the cover sheet, which will result in a custom icon.■ In the regular Acrobat menu, click View/Portfolio/Cover Sheet

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■ The generic cover sheet appears

■ Click the Page Thumbnails icon (Page Thumbnails tray appears).

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■ Click the Page Thumbnails icon (Page Thumbnails tray appears).■ Click Options icon. (Menu appears)■ Click Replace Pages

■ Navigate to the new PDF file you would like to use as a cover and click Select.

■ A Replace Page Dialog box appears.

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■ Click OK■ A “Are you sure...” dialog box appears■ Click Yes■ The new cover appears

■ Click File/Save Portfolio■ Navigate to where the Portfolio is saved and you will the new custom cover

used as an icon.

Publish PDF Portfolios to a website

Acrobat can convert a PDF Portfolio to a SWF file for others to view on a website. All file navigation and video controls are available to users with access to the website.

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To preview how the PDF Portfolio appears on a website, you publish the content to the site. You can’t preview by opening the published PDF Portfolio on your local computer.

Note: You can view and extract files from a published PDF Portfolio. To edit The PDF Portfolio, open it in Acrobat.

1. In an open PDF Portfolio, choose File > Save PDF Portfolio As Web Site.2. Select a folder, or create a new one, for the saved web files. Click OK.

A new folder makes it easier to find the saved files.

The data folder contains the structure of the website and a web player.

3. (Optional) Edit the index.html file. For example, you can match the look of an existing website, or embed the PDF Portfolio within an existing web page.

4. Copy the entire data folder and the index.html file to a web server. To transfer the data, you can use FTP, mount the server as a local disk, or use some other method.

5. Note the web address (URL) of the saved HTML file.6. In a web browser, enter the URL of the HTML page, starting with http:// or

https://.

Sources:

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/pro/using/WS8AC2CE72-864F-4d65-815A-4AFCAB0B46FA.html#WS35F093A4-27FA-40d1-9C5B-79B4FA7E531F

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