WORKING WITH PDFs
We utilize PDFs to digitally transfer our designs to you and for you to open the file on your computer.
PDFs can be tricky, however. Most critically, you MUST use the most current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC®
for the PDF to work properly. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® for free here. If you already have
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® installed you may need to upgrade to make sure you are using the most current version.
​
Please note that Adobe Acrobat Pro DC® is not the same as Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® and it is not free.
Our PDFs can not be opened in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC®.
​
This section contains affiliate links to products; Paper Built may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Be assured that our opinions are based on our direct experience after purchasing the product. We have not been gifted any of the products reviewed.
If you open a PDF on your smartphone or tablet, the colors most likely will look different than the colors you saw in our listing. And any editable text may appear completely crazy.
Do not fear! Close the PDF, go to your computer, and open the file using Adobe Reader®. Again, you can download or upgrade Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® for free here.
SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS
Our PDFs will work on Macs, as well as PCs. Macs come with a default PDF viewer, however, that is not compatible with our PDFs.
Instead of double-clicking on a file to open, we recommend starting the Adobe Reader® program and then opening the file from within Adobe Reader®
USING A PDF ON A MAC
Adobe Inc. does offer an Adobe Acrobat Reader® app that will enable you to open and print a file from your smartphone or tablet. That said, the text editing feature does not work in the app, therefore any text editing will need to be done on a computer. After the file has been personalized, you can send the newly saved file to your device for printing.
USING PDFs ON MOBILE DEVICES
We hate it when our customers have problems with files. It frustrates us just as much as it frustrates you! Here is a step-by-step guide to opening our PDFs so that you can get right down to your crafting without any hassle.
Before we start, you need to be using a computer, not a smartphone or an tablet. Put down your phone and head to a computer!
Download and save the file to your computer. We place files on our desktop for easy reference.
-
On a Mac, control-click over the link and choose "Save Link As"
-
On a PC, right click over the link and choose "Save As"
Start the Adobe Reader® program. You need to be using the most current version of Adobe Reader®. You can download or upgrade Adobe Acrobat Reader DC®, for free, here.
Go to the File Menu and choose “Open.”
Select the PDF file you would like to open from your desktop, or wherever you saved it.
You are in! From here you can edit text (if applicable), Save As, or Print.
OPEN PDFs HASSLE FREE
Many of our PDF files have an editable text feature that enables you to personalize our designs for your needs. The editable text is a 'form' that you can fill out, save if necessary, and print. The font is already embedded in the file, so all you need to do is enter your text by typing over our sample text.
Open the PDF in Adobe Reader® using the step-by-step instructions detailed in Open PDF Files Hassle Free above. Using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® is the ONLY way the text editing feature will work properly. If you do not have Adobe Reader® installed, download it, for free, here.
If the file has editable text, a purple bar will appear at the top of your document, stating: “Please fill out the following form. You can save data typed into this form.”​
There is a button on the far right side of the purple bar that says, “Highlight Existing Fields.” Make sure that the button is depressed – it will appear dark purple if it is. You can toggle the button on and off to check. When the button is depressed, each instance of editable text in the file will appear in a light blue box.
Scroll to a page with a light blue box. We add yield signs to pages with editable text to alert you as well.
Read the editable text directions notation for any restrictions. If you are making table tents or envelopes, for example, the editable text has been set up with varying lines of text. You need to edit the sheet with text applicable to your needs.​
With your cursor, click into the blue box and type over the sample writing to change the text contents.
If a plus sign appears in the bottom right corner of the blue box, you have entered more characters or lines than are available. This can occur if you hit return or enter on your keyboard after you typed your text.
-
Place your cursor at the end of the entered text and hit the delete button a few times.
-
Did the plus sign go away? If it did, great, move on to the next step.
-
If the plus sign is still there, you have entered too many characters. Delete your text and rephrase into a shorter line.
You can print the file as you edit or save the file for later printing. To save, go up to the "File" Menu and choose “Save As.” Type in a new name for your file and save to your computer.
EDITING PDFs
The images below walk you through setting up a high quality print in Adobe Reader®, which must be used to print our files. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® can be downloaded for free here. Use the steps detailed in Open PDF Files Hassle Free section above.
Please note, any editable files must be personalized before printing. See Editing PDFs above for instructions.
When you are ready to print, go to the "File" menu and choose “Print.”
-
In top left corner of the Print Dialog box, select the printer you will be using from the drop down box next to “Print.”
-
Then push the “Properties” button.
The box that pops up next varies amongst the different printers but the concept is the same.
-
Look for a dropdown box for “Media Type” or “Paper Options” or “Media Settings” etc.
-
Select “matte photo paper” or “premium presentation paper matte,” or a variation listed in your dropdown box. We use this matte photo paper.
-
-
Then look for a dropdown box or button that allows you to choose “Print Quality” or “Quality Option.”
-
Choose the highest selection. This may be “Best Photo” or “Max Quality” or simply “High.”
-
-
Close the box by selecting the “OK” button at the bottom.
Print away!
PRINTING PDFs
One of the benefits of printable files is that you can use the file exactly as we intended, or use it to create something else entirely. By the way, we do love to hear about your projects! Post them to Instagram® and tag with #paperbuilt so we can cheer on your hard work.
PDFs can be scaled directly from the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® print menu to print at different sizes. If you want to make a suitcase bigger and print it on 11 x 17 paper, for example, you can do that in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC®. Or you could always scale the design to print smaller on the same size paper.
​
Start by undertaking these steps:
-
Open the PDF in Adobe Reader® using the step-by-step instructions detailed in Open PDF Files Hassle Free above. Using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC® is the ONLY way the text editing feature will work properly.
-
If you need to edit the text, do it now according to the directions listed in Editing PDFs above.
-
When you are ready to print, go to the "File" menu and choose “Print.”
-
Choose the printer you are using and the print settings as discussed in Printing PDFs above.
-
At the bottom of the print menu is a button that says, “Page Setup.” Push the button.
-
A new menu will pop up with the Paper Size and Paper Source listed. If you would like to change the paper size, select the applicable size here.
-
If you want to print the file at a larger size you can select a large paper size so that all the designs on the page print larger without being cropped.
-
You also can print the designs on a smaller sheet of paper.
-
Alternatively, you can print on 8.5 x 11 paper and enlarge the designs (some cropping will occur, which may just be white space).
-
Or reduce the scale of the designs (there will be additional white space surrounding the designs).
-
-
Make your selection and click “OK.”
-
In the “Page Size & Handling” section of the Print Menu, make sure the “Size” button is depressed.
-
Then select the “Custom Scale” button and enter a scale in the adjacent text box.
-
If you wanted to print a design set-up on 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper on 11 x 17 paper, for example, enter 114% in the custom scale text box.
-
-
Print away!
SCALING PDFs
Our PDFs are password-protected. This means that you will be unable to open the file in programs like Adobe Illustrator® or Photoshop®, copy any of the elements in the file, or change the elements. If you would like to print the file(s) at a local print center, you will need to bring the file into the print shop on a flash drive, or email it to them.
At this time, we do not offer clip art.
