Are you 60 years old? Why would you use print and re-printed and re-sized over and over again to increase the size. Use the computer duh to resize and create a report. If you did this people would be impressed it's worth the few dollar investment in acrobat.

Ok, if I am understanding the problem correctly.... You can create PDFs for free using a PDF writer (I have used 'CutePDF' in the past. I know it sounds questionable but it's legitimate.) It doesn't give you all the bells & whistles of Adobe Acrobat Pro, but it should allow you to do a basic print-to-PDF function. I haven't used it from excel-to-PDF but have done it successfully with Word and Publisher.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yes on the adobe pro. Our IT has twice told me I don't "need" it. I have asked for it repeatedly bc it's my 4th such report this yr. I used the scanner of the highest level AA I know (who also doesn't have pro).

The resolution settings are a function of the scanner driver. So you might need an updated driver, or an updated scanner, or both.

I haven't run into Adobe Acrobat substituting colors but have run into substituting fonts.

If I were reviewing your document, I could see commenting on the readability of the table and offering suggestions for improvement, but it would not occur to me to say that meant you didn't care about the overall product. Seems bizarre.

Op here - thank you for keeping me from the email... I might discuss with my supervisor tomorrow, but the thing is, the "annoying to read" comment was anonymous - passed on to him by someone else that he passed on to me via email (a cut and paste from the original email with similar anonymous comments from other), so I feel like I have to respond... Just don't want to come off as a victim " you didn't authorize me to have adobe" and "the uploading program we use sucks and if we were anywhere close to industry standards, we'd have a parallel program where each part is uploaded separately" just feeling worse and worse about the whole thing.

It just feels like such a personal comment to say they don't think I cared about the work.

Maybe gave the conversation in person but follow up with an email to document whatever is decided... "Sam, thanks for taking the time to talk with me today about improving the look of these reports. I hope mgt will approve our division getting at least one Pro for all of us to use as needed -- as I said, it could be on my computer, or Nancy's, or yours for use by all. If that's not possible, we will try xyz on the next report. As I said, I also wasn't completley satisfied with the product although I worked very hard with the tools I had. I definitely want to make it better next time."

I agree, wait until tomorrow. I would add that you would like your supervisor's approval to install the software that you need in order to make this document legible. Mention that you have tried to get it in the past and have been turned down.

Anonymous wrote:It would be such a sensitive email that I'd try to do it in person, and, as some of the PPs suggested, treat it as a technical problem that you can work with your supervisor to resolve.

Do wait until the hurt feelings are less intense.

+1. Emails just read badly. And are way worse when emotions are running high. So do wait until tommorow and have a conversation in person.

It would be such a sensitive email that I'd try to do it in person, and, as some of the PPs suggested, treat it as a technical problem that you can work with your supervisor to resolve.

Do wait until the hurt feelings are less intense.

OP here. Yes on the adobe pro. Our IT has twice told me I don't "need" it. I have asked for it repeatedly bc it's my 4th such report this yr. I used the scanner of the highest level AA I know (who also doesn't have pro).

I can't comment on the technicalities of this process. But I wouldn't fly on the defensive. Was the overall feedback positive? If so, I would let it go. If you feel this feedback is really marring to your future, I would say something calm and low key such as "Regarding the feedback on the technical aspects of the report, I agree that the color scheme was not attractive but I was working within the parameters that I thought were a given for the report."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Put together a massive report with assistance on finances from an assigned budget person. Whole thing had to be scanned into a single document for the final report - and was distributed as a PDF file. The assigned finance person have me an excel spreadsheet done in their standard format. It was hard to read (bc of the colors theyre required to use)and I printed and re-printed and re-sized over and over again to ensure the best quality PDF. It was normal page-size and in required colors at final print. I actually meant to speak with higher ups regarding the way we submit these reports as the "scan it all in together and make a PDF" leads to poor final outcomes - would be better to allow each piece to be uploaded and then our company should have a program to string it together. Never ended up saying it.

I got feedback that the finance page was annoying to read (small, bad clors) and showed that I don't care about the final product (which I slaved over). I'm actually kind of devastated that they would think I didn't care.

My (first, emotional) instinct is to email my supervisor and tell her exactly what happened - that I used the finance pages as they were given to me - since the rule is you have to use their work - and that I really worked On making it legible and that I think the way the process is set up leads to poor quality PDFs - unless you have adobe PDF creator on your PC, which I don't - bc the company felt I didn't need it.

Can I send my email? Should I?

Adobe Acrobat does this. You can use that method and you certainly could have taken the time to scan each page and then combine as a PDF.

PDF reader software doesn't offer very many options for creation of good PDFs, so yes you need the Adobe Acrobat Pro version to do that.

I feel for you and this is a live and learn experience but it is still your fault. It was an important document. You knew the page looked bad. You should have sent it around to some colleagues to proof so they could provide feedback. If that one page wasn't working, you should have sent the PDF as proof and then asked whoever sent it to you what they wanted you to do.

Agree with this. Don't point your finger elsewhere, because three will point right back at you.

Wait a few hours or until tomorrow when you're not emotional.

You can also say something like "Would you mind if I pass your feedback about the readability on to the finance person? S/he developed that section and I agree that the colors and small size are not ideal. Alternatively, perhaps next time we could pull all the pieces into InDesign/PDF Creator/some other software so that there is a consistent look and feel for the entire document. Let me know how you'd like to proceed for next time."

Anonymous wrote:Put together a massive report with assistance on finances from an assigned budget person. Whole thing had to be scanned into a single document for the final report - and was distributed as a PDF file. The assigned finance person have me an excel spreadsheet done in their standard format. It was hard to read (bc of the colors theyre required to use)and I printed and re-printed and re-sized over and over again to ensure the best quality PDF. It was normal page-size and in required colors at final print. I actually meant to speak with higher ups regarding the way we submit these reports as the "scan it all in together and make a PDF" leads to poor final outcomes - would be better to allow each piece to be uploaded and then our company should have a program to string it together. Never ended up saying it.

I got feedback that the finance page was annoying to read (small, bad clors) and showed that I don't care about the final product (which I slaved over). I'm actually kind of devastated that they would think I didn't care.

My (first, emotional) instinct is to email my supervisor and tell her exactly what happened - that I used the finance pages as they were given to me - since the rule is you have to use their work - and that I really worked On making it legible and that I think the way the process is set up leads to poor quality PDFs - unless you have adobe PDF creator on your PC, which I don't - bc the company felt I didn't need it.

Can I send my email? Should I?

Adobe Acrobat does this. You can use that method and you certainly could have taken the time to scan each page and then combine as a PDF.

PDF reader software doesn't offer very many options for creation of good PDFs, so yes you need the Adobe Acrobat Pro version to do that.

I feel for you and this is a live and learn experience but it is still your fault. It was an important document. You knew the page looked bad. You should have sent it around to some colleagues to proof so they could provide feedback. If that one page wasn't working, you should have sent the PDF as proof and then asked whoever sent it to you what they wanted you to do.

Put together a massive report with assistance on finances from an assigned budget person. Whole thing had to be scanned into a single document for the final report - and was distributed as a PDF file. The assigned finance person have me an excel spreadsheet done in their standard format. It was hard to read (bc of the colors theyre required to use)and I printed and re-printed and re-sized over and over again to ensure the best quality PDF. It was normal page-size and in required colors at final print. I actually meant to speak with higher ups regarding the way we submit these reports as the "scan it all in together and make a PDF" leads to poor final outcomes - would be better to allow each piece to be uploaded and then our company should have a program to string it together. Never ended up saying it.

I got feedback that the finance page was annoying to read (small, bad clors) and showed that I don't care about the final product (which I slaved over). I'm actually kind of devastated that they would think I didn't care.

My (first, emotional) instinct is to email my supervisor and tell her exactly what happened - that I used the finance pages as they were given to me - since the rule is you have to use their work - and that I really worked On making it legible and that I think the way the process is set up leads to poor quality PDFs - unless you have adobe PDF creator on your PC, which I don't - bc the company felt I didn't need it.

Can I send my email? Should I?