Digital Submissions

[paulr]

Since editors and curators started accepting digital files, I've been sending out web addresses and cds full of jpegs, depending on what's asked for. It definitely beats trying to maintain slide pages, and trying to get them back.

But a friend just gave me a better idea. She asked if I'd design and make for her a pdf portfolio that would basically act like a little self-contained website on a disk. She got the idea from a painter who's been doing this succesfully for a while now. I'm doing one for my friend and one for myself, and have decided to offer the service to any artists who'd like it done for them.

version #1 of mine can be seen here: www.paulraphaelson.com/downloads/portfolio.pdf

Some places have very specific rules for what they'll accept, but for everyone else, this seems like a nicer way to introduce your work. It can be distributed by web link or by cd (some people just like it when you send them stuff).

Anyone have experience sending out this kind of thing?

[Ralph Barker]

For Mac, PC, or UNIX? ;-)

[paulr]

PDF should be platform agnostic. You can burn a hybrid disk that can be read by anything.

[Brian C. Miller]

You could put her in contact with Brooks Jensen at LensWork. He put his images on his website as PDF "books".

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Tried your link. I am using mozilla and it freezes the browser.....

[paulr]

hmmm .... i might have been in the middle of updating it when you tried the link. can't think of any other way a pdf file coulc freeze a browser. if you try again and it doesn't work please let me know ... i'll have some sleuthing to do.

[David Luttmann]

Which version Jorge? I'm using 1.7.3 & it seems OK.

[Steve Bell]

Downloaded OK using Safari in Mac OSX. The opening page states use command L for Mac navigation features, this only causes the page to rotate. Using OSX 10.3.9 with Preview as standard.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Did not work for me, I think I am using 1.7.8 but the pdf file opens on a browser window not in Acrobat reader....

In any case, seems like a good idea Paul, wish you success with it.... :-)

[paulr]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I was going under the wrong assumption that people would be viewing it with some flavor of acrobat.

It drives me crazy that browsers now display pdf files ... I don't think they do a good job of it. I wish I could turn that feature off in Safari, but it now insists on displaying the file unless I jump through some hoops each time.

At any rate, the real idea would be to give these to people on a CD. Which might make it possible to get the file open in acrobat (which takes advantage of more of the file's features, like opening in full screen mode).

[julian_4860]

Hi Paul, I send everything out as pdfs. Allows you to put the statement and prints sizes in an way that integrates with the images. It also allows people to flick back and forth and get an idea of the pace of the series. Some curators like having a printed version as a memory guide so I do the res of the boolet at 150. They get awful pics but enough for them to keep in a file

[Antonio Corcuera]

works fine for me, using firefox and acrobat writer (not reader). great idea Paul, navigation is straight forward and clear - provided you read the instructions of course (I didn't do so the first time, thinking it was a static pdf).
best,

[michael meyer]

I've been sending my submissions with an attached cd with a pdf just as you describe. My presentation has been an electronic brochure within a smaller printed brochure. This way the recipient can quickly get a taste for the work and then look at a broader version of the work with the attached CD. Seems to be working alright so far; several positive responses in the last couple of months. Like Julian said, it's a nice way to keep info with the images and not need a lot of flipping about.

Your portfolio looks great, but the internal links don't seem to let me click on them. I opened it in Preview though, not Acrobat.

-m

[Larry Gebhardt]

Looks very nice. I think you should add a next and previous button to the images however as it initially appears to be a web type interface. I was initially missing many of the images when I tried to treat it like a web page. Once I figured out that Page Up and Down worked I could see the whole thing.

What package did you use to create the PDF?

[Dan Jolicoeur]

It is freezing up on me also in acrobat. I usually have no problem viewing anything on the web. I have a high speed connection with a high speed bus and parallel processor; System is designed for 3d design software using Solid Edge and this thing usually flies!
Regards,

[Dan Jolicoeur]

Sorry my fault! If I click the right mouse and next page it works great. pictures come up instantly. You may want to take Larry's suggestion. That is how i figured out I was doing something wrong.
Regards,

[paulr]

Any ideas on how to get the file to open in acrobat? I could include a copy of the free version, but that doesn't seem like it will guarantee what program opens it.

If you don't know what program they're going to use, you might end up cluttering it up with several sets of navigation instructions ... not what anyone likes to see.

[julian_4860]

>>Any ideas on how to get the file to open in acrobat?

IME if they are opening from a cd it will open in acrobat. Opening from the web will open either within the browser or in acrobat depending how the preferneces of the individual are setup

[Ken Lee]

On Mac, I like the open-source browser called Camino. You can see it on the mozilla site, namely www.mozilla.org

It's faster than FireFox, and uses real OS X APIs, so it looks like a native Mac application - because it is a natvie Mac application. There is a plugin for .pdf documents, which works nicely.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Hi Paul,

Your portfolio looks great. Did you create it with Acrobat or some other app?

Best,

[paulr]

Hi Kerik,

Thanks. It was done with quark, photoshop, and illustrator, and then distilled with acrobat distiller and the links done in acrobat professional.

If you're less of a glutton for punishment, I'd recommend Indesign over quark.

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

I like it

[Nitish Kanabar]

You'll need to configure Acrobat Reader so that it does not display PDFs in your browser.
For version 7.0 of the reader:
Click on Edit on the menu-bar
Click on the "Preferences" menu-item
Click on "Internet" in the dialog-box
Make sure that "Display PDF in Browser" option is unchecked
Click on "OK"

[paulr]

NK, I owe you a beer!

[julian_4860]

Paul, another thought on this. I use an epson 2100 and design and print directly onto printable cds. I also use boxes and inserts from these guys http://www.superjewelboxing.com/ . You've spent alot of time on the pdf so a matched set of inserts would compliment it

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

NK's advice worked, but I found out the browser opening the pdf was not the problem, it was jsut that the file was too large and it took a while to down load even with DSL. Not a big deal, but if you are planning to refer people to this address to down load your pdf you might want to give them a warning.

[julian_4860]

You can make the file smaller by limiting the amount of previous versions of acrobat it is compatable with. I got mine down from 9meg to 2 by limiting to just 6 and 7

[John Flavell]

paulr:

Just so you'll know, I'm ripping off your idea. Nice and simple design and I like it. This is a good map for me to use in working on a website. The images are great and I do agreee with the idea of adding foward and back buttons. I also had trouble with the mozilla browser, but most people who use that also have the acrobat reader because mozilla doesn't automatically support pdf files. . Looks stunning on a Mac. Good job.

[Darin Cozine]

This document is HUGE. it is 17 megs, I would not reccomend posting this on a website. It is much better to just use HTML.

When it finally opened, it was very big in size, spilling outside the edge of my screen. This may be a local problem with adobe on my pc though.

If you must keep it as a pdf, please direct them to a regular web page first. Then povide instructions to first download the web page by right-clicking the link and selecting 'save target as'.
Then they can open it on their local PC.
http://www.paulraphaelson.com/downloads/portfolio.pdf

[tim atherton]

Looks very nice

One minor typo in the "Book" section....

[Mark_3632]

You should have titled this dialup beware, High Speed only.

[paulr]

"This document is HUGE. it is 17 megs, I would not reccomend posting this on a website."

oh, yeah, i only have it on the website so i can get some feedback. it's meant to be given on a cd.
i've noticed that some places take images on cds don't review work on the web (for whatever reason).
this kind of format gives you some of the functionality and organization of a website, but in a package you can hand to someone or mail to them.

Tim, what's the typo? i hope it isn't too embarassing ... i handed copies to a few galleries yesterday.

[Bosaiya]

Almost anytime you specify a specific open-able file in a URL the browser will attempt to open it - it's what they do. Your best best is, as Darwin suggests, taking them to a page and asking them to right-click to download. Unfortunately your intended audience WILL NOT read those instructions and will just click, so I've found that compressing the files (zip, etc) will force a download. You can also get some nice workarounds if you're using a web application platform such as .ASP, .PHP or ColdFusion, but that's likely to be more work than most people want to undertake.