Combine Multiple Handouts into One Download

OK, I admit it, I am a huge fan of Adobe Acrobat. Here are a few details of recent visitors to LR 110 and how Acrobat fits into their campus work. Please check your version of Acrobat Reader and download the newest version (8 as of this post).

Laurie Sheppard (Nursing & Extended Campus Coordinator) has a unique challenge - the Sutter Extended Nursing classes begin January 2nd when our Blackboard server will go offline for maintenance. We will be experimenting with providing content to nursing students on a USB Thumb Drive as PDFs. Many nursing students bring laptops to take notes during lectures. They will be able to add comments directly the the PDF file.

Expecting a change from Bb to a new LMS. - Our proposed model of course content in PDF on a Thumb Drive will allow student to access course materials, web links and markup pages without going online for the basics. Faculty will develop content in familiar software like Word, Powerpoint and Excel then convert to Acrobat. There will be fewer files to upload by faculty. Students will go online for current announcements, content updates, discussions, surveys and submitting assignments. (There is a "green" component to this approach.)

Andrew Jones (PE) is teaching his first hybrid course. He has been surfing the web and creating PDF files from web sites - easy for him on his Macintosh computer. He came by to learn how to combine the files into one document using Acrobat Pro v8 in the lab. Adding the files was easy, and each independent file became a bookmark in the combined PDF file.

Mick Dunne (Dental Hygiene) create Powerpoint presentations with scanned images and digital photographs for posting in his online course. The PPT file is huge. Converting the file to Acrobat.

David Fabionar (Communication & Secretary of Academic Senate) has a standing appointment to scan past Senate Minutes and Agendas to create a searchable online repository of past committee work. The Epson scanner in LR 110 will scan paper documents (25 pages at a time) and create a PDF file then add optical character recognition so the file is completely searchable.

Adobe Software - Academic Purchases for Home Use

The Foundation for California Community Colleges works with ComputerLand for student and staff software purchases of Microsoft Software and now is offering Adobe Software from October 15, 2007 through March 15, 2008. This is a terrific opportunity, when I bought just Acrobat Professional v8 at the academic price the cost was $150! :-0

http://www.uscollegebuy.com/0ab/asl.htm

The ComputerLand employee purchase requires verification of employment using either

• Photo ID AND official, current institution paycheck stub (you may block personal information)
• Photo ID AND official letter on school letterhead verifying employment from your manager

See the How To Order/FAQ page for details.

Acrobat Professional 8 ($64.00) and Photoshop Extended ($179.00)- or the combination packages of the Creative Suite v3 -- which are really sweet deals :-)

• Publishing Rich Print and Online Content: CS3 Design Standard for Windows or Macintosh includes PhotoShop, Acrobat Pro 8, InDesign (think PageMaker), and Illustrator for $214.00
• Adding Dreamweaver & Flash: CS3 Premium for Windows or Macintosh includes PhotoShop Extended, Acrobat Pro 8, InDesign (think PageMaker), Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, After Effects, Premiere Pro, SoundBooth and Encore for $314.00
• Adding Video, Audio and Animation: CS3 Master Collection for Windows or Macintosh includes PhotoShop Extended, Acrobat Pro 8, InDesign (think PageMaker), Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, After Effects, Premiere Pro, SoundBooth and Encore for $519.00

I recommend the Design Standard Suite ($214) because when I add up the individual cost of Acrobat and Photoshop, you save money! If your interests are animation or video production, consider spending the addition money on Premium ($314) or go for the gold and purchase the Master Collection ($519).

The computers in the New Media Lab have the CS3 Premium Suite and we are developing some workshops to introduce these tools individually and in combination.

Put Powerpoint Files on a Diet

Sometimes your students will just want to print the presentation slides as a study guide handout. That's what Mick Dunne (Dental Hygiene) had in mind. He posted his vocabulary presentation for students to download. But the Powerpoint file is over 8 MB in size. The larger the file, the longer the download time.

Since Mick wanted his students to have the study guide handout, it was best to use Adobe Acrobat to create the printed view - with full color - for students to use. This file was well under 1 MB, just 335 KB!

Easy access to files is one half of the solution, making smaller files is the other half.