thanks Fred...I've been putting together an NSF fastlane tutorial

I've never heard of tex or latex but will read with interest

At 06:11 PM 9/22/00 -0400, you wrote:
> Don't know if the below will be helpful or not--but the Associate Director
>here forwarded 2 e-mails around our Institute recently on the conversion of
>Tex and LaTex files into PDFs--which I've copied below.
>
> Fred Averick
> Sponsored Research Administrator
> Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
> New York University
> ph: (212) 998-3372
> fax: (212) 995-4125
>
>
> Dear all,
> Since NSF proposal season is now upon us, this seems a good time to
> remind you how to create PDF files from tex or latex, and to provide
> some tricks for avoiding font incompatibilities in NSF's FASTLANE system.
>
> CREATING PDF FILES FROM TEX OR LATEX
> If your document consists of plain tex or latex, with no embedded postscript
>""
>"" (for latex). These function just like
> tex or latex, but the output is filename.pdf rather than filename.dvi
> If your document has embedded postscript figures then you must
> first convert it to postscript, then to pdf, using the sequence of
> commands:
> latex filename
> dvips -o filename.ps filename
> distill filename.ps
>"" a file created elsewhere. However
> the only certain means of avoiding font problems is to do the entire
> file-creation process (latex, dvips, and distill) on the same system.
> If you're using postscript files created, for example, by xfig,
> it would be prudent to export them from xfig on the same system too.
> To check for font problems, it isn't sufficient to view the document
> on the screen -- you should also try printing it. Font conflicts
> sometimes prevent documents from printing well even though they view
> well.
>
> TIPS ON CREATING FILES FOR FASTLANE
> Creating an NSF proposal in Fastlane requires creating a bunch of
> separate PDF documents (research description, bibliography, cv, etc).
> But some parts are most naturally created together -- for example,
> to make latex number the references automatically you must latex
> the proposal body and bibliography together. So it's most natural to
> create one large document then chop it up.
> In fact this strategy was, at least for me, a necessity rather
> than just a convenience. When I created some pieces
> separately then glued them into fastlane, they viewed OK separately
>"" mode. I fixed the problem by creating
> the proposal as one large pdf file then chopping it into the desired
> pieces.
> Chopping a large pdf file into smaller ones is easy. Use the
>""""). Your document
>""
>"", to save a
> piece of the document with a filename of your choice.
> If you're preparing a multi-investigator proposal then to follow my
> algorithm you'll need to include your collaborators' cv's in your
> document.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear all,
> I wrote a couple of weeks ago giving advice on PDF file
> creation in general, and for NSF's Fastlane system in particular.
>"Tips on creating files for
>") suggested avoiding font conflicts by (1) creating
> your whole proposal as a single PDF document then
> (2) chopping it apart, to avoid font conflicts. As far as I
> know this works, however it's obviously a crude
> work-around, and I've learned that NSF has
> different -- undoubtedly better -- advice for avoiding font
> conflicts. (Thanks to Dan Tranchina for bringing this to my
> attention.)
> The main point is to create your PDF files with embedded
> fonts. Starting from a postscript file filename.ps, you do this
> by using the command
> distill -embedallfonts on -maxsubsetpct 100 filename.ps
>"". NSF asks that pdf files
> created for Fastlane ALWAYS be created this way.
> You can save yourself a lot of typing by establishing an alias for
> this command. Do this by editing the file .cshrc in your home
> directory, adding the line
> alias nsfdistill 'distill -embedallfonts on -maxsubsetpct 100'
> preferably near the end. Log out and in again for it to take
> effect. Once you've done this, you'll be able to type
> nsfdistill filename.ps
> to create a pdf file with embedded fonts as NSF suggests.
> An additional piece of advice. NSF recommends that when you
> create filename.ps from a tex document you use the command
> dvips -Ppdf -o filename.ps filename.dvi
>"".
> This is clearly not necessary on our system -- most people
> haven't been doing it -- but try it if you're having problems with
> the more obvious command. (Example: try it if your proposal
> takes only 15 pages when you print it, but runs to 16 pages
> in Fastlane, and you're not allowed to use 16 pages.)
>"PDF creation
>" on the NSF Fastlane web page. To get there:
> go to www.nsf.gov, select Fastlane from the menu at the left,
> then look for PDF creation instructions in red near the top.
>
>
>
> At 02:43 PM 9/22/00 -0700, you wrote:
>
>    If you have any solutions or questions please contact her directly at
>
> xxxxxx@evergreen.edu
>
>
>
> she has had no responses from fastlane     I'm hoping one of you  can help
>me with the last hurdle for submitting this NSF proposal   Everything looks
>great on screen, but when  the proposal prints out, some fonts and figures
>are partially whited out.
>
>  NSF guidelines for getting fonts to print properly are at
>https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/pdfcreat.htm
>
>   Here's the process:
>
>   latex file.tex        dvips -Ppdf -o -j0 file.ps file.dvi
>
> <>/dvips/config/config.ps file does contain the line  p psfonts.map)
>
>   Adobe Acrobat Distiller 4.0 (using FastLane job options)    Distiller
>creates file.pdf
>
>   It looks perfect.
>
>  I download file.pdf into Fastlane Proposal Preparation.  Viewing the
>downloaded document, it looks great.
>
>  I print the file to a postscript printer.  Some fonts and figs are whited
>out.
>
>  This happens in all cases:  * whether or not I include -j0 in dvips
>command line  * whether I print the pdf file locally or after Fastlane
>download
>
>   Down to the wire... Zita
> Audrey Streeter
> Grants Coordinator
> The Evergreen State College
> Library 3232
> Olympia, WA 98505
> 360-866-6000, ext. 6640
> xxxxxx@evergreen.edu
>
>
>

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================