Making National Science Foundation (NSF) Compatible PDF file

By Hanz Makmur Jul 1, 2002

Laboratory for Computer Science Research - Rutgers University

When submitting a proposal for grants to National Science Foundation Fast Lane, special guidelines must be followed.   Currently, FastLane supports file uploads in a variety of formats including Word, WordPerfect, PostScript and TeX (MiKTeX1.20e). These files are converted into PDF and displayed back to the user for their acceptance. The requirements are published on the Electronic Proposal Submission document.

(https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/guides/EB_Proposal_Submission.pdf.)

   Currently, Adobe Acrobat 5.0 is the latest version available for purchase. However, Acrobat 3.0 is the standard that FastLane uses for all PDF files. Therefore, any PDF files that enter the FastLane system must be compatible with version 3.0. To make Acrobat 5.0 files compatible with 3.0, a FastLane Job Options Profile must be downloaded and used.

Downloading the FastLane Job Options Profile

1. Using your web browser, go to https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/attachA.htm.

Figure.1

2. Right-click on the FastLane Acrobat 4 Profile link and a menu selection will open as shown in Figure.1.

3. From the menu that pops up, select Save Link As (or Save Target As). The Save As dialog box is displayed. You will need to navigate to the proper destination/drive where Adobe Acrobat is located.

Typically it resides in c:\Program Files\Adobe.

4. When in the Adobe directory, open the Acrobat 5.0 directory to display its directories and files.

5. Open the directory called Distillr. (no ‘e’)

Figure.2

6. In Distillr, find the directory called Settings and open it. A window show in figure 2 will open.

7. In the Settings directory, click on the Save button to save the FastLane.joboptions file in the same location as the joboptions files that come with Adobe Acrobat.  Be sure the file is called “FastLane.joboptions” (some browsers may try to change the name to “FastLane.txt”.)

8. After the profile is saved, launch Adobe Acrobat Acrobat 5.0 from your desktop by clicking on the Start button and selecting Programs -> Adobe Acrobat 5.0.

9. Open Acrobat Distiller by selecting the Tools menu and choosing Distiller. The following window is displayed.

Figure. 3

10. Click on the Job Options list box arrow and you should now see FastLane as an option. Select FastLane as shown in figure 3 above. This will enable you to create PDF files in Adobe that are acceptable for FastLane submission.

            11. See Converting a Postscript Document to PDF Using Adobe Acrobat Distiller for more details on how to convert your PS file to PDF format.

To get more details settings for specific Applications, please see the Electronic Proposal Submission document. (https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/guides/EB_Proposal_Submission.pdf.)