Introduction

This page describes how to use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat Pro to create access copy PDF/A files. The goal is to produce high-quality, fully searchable PDF/A files that are under 50 MB (though up to 100 MB can be acceptable in some circumstances).

Scanner operators must complete the appropriate procedures for creating digital “master” files before completing these steps. See the Libraries' Digitization Handbook for more guidance.

Workflow

The following diagram illustrates the basic workflow for creating access copy PDF/A files:

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1. Use Adobe Photoshop to batch convert master TIFF files into intermediary JPEG files. Sometimes, very large master TIFF files must be batch converted into intermediary TIFF files before creating intermediary JPEG files.

2. Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to compile intermediary JPEG files into a single PDF/A file.
   
   

3. Use Adobe Acrobat Pro transcribe PDF/A file (i.e., run Optical Character Recognition tool).

Use Adobe Photoshop to create intermediary JPEG files

Follow the Adobe Photoshop procedures to create access copy JPEG files.

Note: it may be necessary to test a few image processing settings to find the right balance between file size and image quality. See Appendix D - Scanner and Image Processing Tests for guidance.

If the access copy JPEG files are too large, the "Resize to fit" processing option can be used to batch resize the JPEGs.

The JPEG image quality can also be set as low as 6, but if the image quality is set too low or the JPEGs are resized too small, then the access copy PDF/A may not meet quality standards.

When using these procedures as part of the workflow for creating PDF/A files.

Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to compile intermediary JPEG files into PDF/A file

Launch Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Click on the option to "Compile PDF from multiple files."

Click on the option to “Run OCR.”