The LLHF recognizes that not all grant applicants will have the same experience with creating electronic documents in Adobe PDF format.  Because are 2006 grant applications must be submitted using this format, we have compiled this set of guidelines and tips to help applicants who may be less familiar with the process.

Two Main Approaches

There are two primary mechanisms that most people use to create documents in Adobe PDF format.   The first approach is to purchase and install the "full" version of the Adobe Acrobat software (the free Acrobat Reader program does not allow you to create new PDF documents).   The second approach is to use a scanner that has the ability to create a PDF file from hard copy pages that you scan.

Using Adobe Acrobat to Create PDF Documents

Once you have the Adobe Acrobat program installed, there are three main ways to "convert" a document on your computer to a PDF file. 

1. You can print the document using the "Adobe PDF" printer that will have been created on your computer when you installed the software.
2. You can most likely find a "new" toolbar button that converts the currently open file (in Office Products) to Adobe PDF.
3. You can run  the Adobe Acrobat product and select "Create PDF->From File" from the file menu. 
   

Unless you have created your grant application as a single word document (combining all the LLHF form templates with the other required sections of the application) you will end up converting multiple source documents into multiple PDF formatted documents.   The next step will be combining these documents into a single PDF file.

Combining Multiple PDF Documents into a Single PDF File

Tutorials for combining PDF documents into a single PDF file are available on the Adobe Web Site.  For your convenience, we have provided links to these tutorials below. 

If you are using the current version of Adobe Acrobat (7.0), you can use the "Create PDF From Multiple Files" command on the file menu to automatically combine multiple files into one.  This method is described in the tutorial here.

If you are using an earlier version of Adobe Acrobat (5.0 or 6.0), you will need to use the "Insert Pages", "Delete Pages", "Extract Pages" commands to manually combine multiple files into one.  This methos is described in the tutorial  here.

Minimizing the Size of your Adobe Acrobat Created Application File

There are a number of steps you can take to ensure that your PDF file is a small as possible.  A smaller file is easier for you to submit online, easier to store in the Grant Application Management Portal, and easier for members of the medical review board and board of directors to download and review.  There is a tutorial for using Adobe Acrobat (6.0 or 7.0) to reduce PDF file size available here.

Scanning Hard Copy Pages to Adobe PDF Format

If you have a scanning device that is capable of producing an electonic output file in Adobe PDF format then you can prepare your grant application in the traditional manner and simply scan a hard copy into a PDF file.  Many current generation copiers have this capability as well as many scanners that are equipt with automatic document sheet feeders.  If your scanner/copier does not have an automatic sheet feeder (and you would have to place each page of the application on the scanning glass individually) then you should probably look to use Adobe Acrobat to create the PDF file as described above.

Minimizing the File of your Scanned PDF Format Application File

If you do have the ability to scan to PDF, you want to make sure that you do not set the scanner dpi (dots per inch) setting too high or too low.  Setting the DPI too high will result in a file that is much larger in terms of file size than necessary.   Setting the DPI too low could result in a file that looks more like a fax than a laser printed document.    For most textual documents 200-300 DPI is sufficient.  If there are many detailed images or photos in your doucment 300 DPI may result in a more accurate reproduction.  DPI settings higher than 300 DPI should not be used unless absolutely necessary.  We recommend scanning a few representative pages at 200 DPI and then testing those pages by printing them to a black and white laser printer.  Increase the DPI settings only if the print quality is not sufficent at lower settings.