How to Create A Digital Portfolio - Adobe Acrobat (Basic):

This version is perfect if you have created your individual portfolio pages (maybe in different programmes) and just want a quick way of combining them.

A visual 'How To' tutorial is below, with a written step by step guide underneath.

Step By Step Guide:

• open Adobe Acrobat Pro.

• go to file > create > combine files into a single PDF.

• a new combine files window will appear.

• into the white area of the windowdrag and drop the image filesfrom finder (my computerin Windows) that you want to combine as a portfolio, you can also click add filesto select and add files or folders through finder/my computer.

Note: You can add most image file formats, including multiple page PDFs / illustrator files.There can be no editing to files once combined, so the individual files need to be saved to the same dimension (ie. A4 portrait, or A3 landscape) and without a bleed or crop marks.

• Arrange them into orderby selecting the file and using the move up or move down arrows. TIP: it is easier to create a folder on your computer with all of these files first, and to make ordering files simpler, rename files with a number at the start i.e. 01 Cover Page, 02 Mood Board, etc.

• make sure that single PDFrather than PDF portfoliois selected in the top right hand corner. Single PDF will allow the portfolio to be viewed in a single scrolling file, whereas PDF portfolio acts more like a folder.

• file size in the bottom right hand corner determines the finished file size, but also quality of the portfolio file. There are three options: a small, medium, and large icon. Medium is normally fine, however if you are not sure select large as you can reduce file size later.

• click combine filestomerge files into one document.

• a new window will appear with the combined portfolio, and it will be generically named as aBinder, however it is not saved. To save the file, go to file > save > a new window will appear to choose the file name and save location > click save

• Multi-page PDFs can end up being rather large in file size. If you want to share the file and don't want to overload their inbox save the file as a smaller file size. To do this go to file > save as > reduced file size, and so as not to overwrite the original you may want to name this smaller version differently, i.e. ARFinalPortfolio-LowFileSize

• All done!

Note: you can re-order, add or remove pages through Acrobat after the portfolio has been created. The easiest way to do this is by (with the portfolio file open) opening up ‘page thumbnails’ tab to the left hand side of the window. To re-order pages, drag thumbnail of page to the the desired order; to delete select page and press the delete key; and to add a page simply drag and drop the file from Finder (Mac)/ My Computer (PC). Save when finished.

How to Create A Digital Portfolio - Adobe Illustrator (Good):

Again, this version is great if you have already created your individual portfolio pages and just need to combine them. But it also allows you to link files rather just embed them, which means that you can edit the original files and it will update them within the combined file. It also allows you to add a bleed to each page, which is useful when printing a physical portfolio, but not necessary for a digital version.

THE BLEED:

The bleed is the part of the image that extends beyond the trimmed edge. When printed this part can be trimmed, allowing for the image to extend to the edge of the page, and leaving no white margin or border. To do this you will need to save this PDF with crop marks, which indicate to the printers where to trim to.

A purely digital portfolio (i.e. one that is not going to be printed) does not require a bleed, however it is still a good idea to add one for the 'working file', as it allows the option to print later down the line, should you need to. You can then save versions of the the PDF to either include or not include the bleed area.

a. SETTING UP…

• open Adobe Illustrator.

• go to file > new > a new documents window will appear > choose file name.

• under profile, select the correct profile for the project, i.e. web, print, etc.

• under number of artboards type the number of pages required in the portfolio – note that you can add or subtract these later.

• with multiple artboards (pages), all artboards are visible on the one screen, so keeping these in order is good practice. You can choose how you want to order them, space them apart, as well as how many columns, etc.

• under size select the desired page dimensions, i.e. A4or A3, and next to orientation select either portrait or landscape.

• choose the amount of bleed (if required). A 3mm bleed on all edges is common, however certain printers may specify particular allowances.

• click advanced if the advanced options are not showing.

• under mode select either CMYK for print or RGB for web. This is the colour profile, and for example using the wrong one i.e. RGB for print, can result in colours that differ from what was desired.

• choose raster effects > high (300ppi) and preview mode > default.

• click ok > the pane with the empty artboards will now open.

b. FILLING THE PAGES…

• to populate the artboards with images, simply drag and drop the individual files from Finder(Mac)/ My Computer(PC) into the artboards - resize to fill bleed area (if necessary). These images are linked to the original file, and this can be edited by selecting edit original in the header bar, the image will in turn be updated when edited on the artboard.

• Repeat until all pages are filled.

• to make it easier to see what files are linked, go to window > links > a window will appear with all of the linked files.

• when you are happy that all of the pages are finished, embed the linked files by selecting the file on the artboard and clicking embed in the header bar. You can also embed files by clicking the downward triangle symbol in the top right corner of the links window, embed image is one of the options in the dropdown list.

Note: linked files are not truly within the artboard, it is just a ‘link’ connecting it to the original, and if you do not embed these files, when you share them they will be missing from the pages, and error message of missing files will appear.

c. EDITING THE ARTBOARDS…

• if you should need to add or delete pages, go to window > artboards > a new artboards window will appear > in the top right corner click the downward triangle symbol > a dropdown list will appear and here you can choose to either add a new artboard, or delete artboard. You can also choose to duplicate artboards, delete empty artboards; or even rearrange artboards – which is handy for organising the pages on the screen.

• another way of editing artboards is to go to file > document setup, or select document setup in the header bar> a new document setup window will appear (you can change bleed amounts now if needed).

• Click edit artboards which takes you back to the pane, in ‘edit mode’ with all of the pages, but with each artboard numbered. Now if needed, you can resize the artboards in the dropdown list next to presets, as well as change orientation. You can add artboards by clicking the new artboard icon to the right of the page orientation icons. You can also delete artboards by selecting the board and pressing the delete button on you keyboard. To exit this ‘edit mode’ select one of the tools in the tool bar i.e. the black selection tool (arrow) icon.

d. SAVING…

• when finished save the file by going to file > save > a window will appear where you can choose the file name, and save location > under format choose AdobePDF > click save > a save Adobe PDF window will appear > under Adobe PDF preset choose the version of PDF to save the file as in the dropdown list. The higher file size is at the top and the lowest at the bottom, but with low file size some editing features are lost. TIP: save a version as Illustrator Default to keep as the original, and another low file size version in PDF/X 2008 or Press Quality that is more of a sharable file size.

• under marks and bleeds choose whether you want to save the file with trim marks, and bleed – this is only necessary if you are getting your pages printed professionally and can get them trimmed down to the correct size.

• click save PDF.

• All done!

How to Create A Digital Portfolio - Adobe InDesign (Better):

This version is great for combining multiple file formats, and even Word files for bodies of text that you may want to include. It also allows you to use linked files which can be edited and then updated within the combined file, and also give the option to add a bleed to each page. The biggest plus is however the ability to use master templates, which can be used to give a consistent layout throughout a portfolio.

a. SETTING UP…

• open Adobe InDesign.

• go to file > new > document.

• under intent select print (even for a solely digital portfolio).

• type number of pages required in the portfolio – note that you can add or subtract these later. Tick the facing pages box if you would like the pages to be set out as facing (for double page spreads), if left un-ticked, these will scroll as single pages.

• choose page size i.e. A4, A3, or custom, and next to orientation select either the portrait or landscape icons.

• if required choose margins to add a border to the page.

• click more options to add a bleed (note that a bleed is not needed for a digital portfolio). A 3mm bleed on all edges is common, however certain printers may specify particular allowances.

• click ok > the pane with the empty pages will now open.

b. MASTER TEMPLATES…

• Master template aren’t necessary, however if you would like to set up a master template that can be used to create a format for the layout of pages, go to the pages window in the panels menu, and at the top double click on A-Master > the A-master pages will open. Here you can create defined areas (boxes) for images to go, as well as ones for text, that can be repeated throughout the portfolio.

• To create blank areas (frames) for images, in the tools panel click on the rectangle frame tool (icon of a rectangle with the cross through it) > on the master page click and drag to create a box (you can resize and move this around with the black selection tool. Repeat if required.

• To create blank areas for text (text frames), create a plain frame as above, and then in the tools panel click on the type tool (T icon) > then select the frame you would like to convert to a text frame by clicking on it.

• for multiple repeating formats you can use additional master pages. To create new master pages: in the top right corner click the downward triangle symbol > a dropdown list will appear > choose new master > a new master window will appear where you can select page size, orientation and number of pages, a well as name (i.e. B-Master, C-Master, etc.). To over-ride a master page on an existing document page, whilst in the pages window simply drag the icon for the new master page over the document page icon in the panel below and it will convert.

• On the document pages, the master pages frame templates will first need to be unlocked in order to use them to insert images or text. You can do this by clicking on the frame with the selection tool (black arrow), and pressing the command and shift keys at the same time.

c. FILLING THE PAGES…

• to populate the pages with images, simply drag and drop the individual files from Finder(Mac)/ My Computer(PC) into the artboards - resize to fill bleed area (if necessary).

• these images are linked to the original file, and this can be edited by selecting the file in the links window in the panels menu, and clicking the edit original (pencil) icon on the bottom right. The image will open up in its respective programme to be edited, and when edited the file can then be updated in InDesign.

• Repeat until all pages are filled.

d. SAVING THE FILE AND EXPORTING PDFs…

• to save, go to file > save > select save location. This will save the file as an InDesign file (.indd), which is not a shareable format.

• to save it as a PDF (which can be shared) you will need to export it, go to file > Adobe PDF presets > underAdobe PDF preset choose the version of PDF to save the file as in the dropdown list. The higher file size is at the top and the lowest at the bottom (PDF/X 2008 is fine).

• a new window will appear > choose save location >click save.

• an export Adobe PDF window will now appear > here again you can choose theAdobe PDF preset.

• under pages select whether you want to export the portfolio as individual pages (pages), or double pages (spreads). Note: individual pages are best for digital portfolios, and double pages for printed portfolios.

• under marks and bleed select if you would like to include the document bleed, and crop marks - for digital portfolios do not include this.

• click export. Note: portfolios/documents with many pages and images may export slowly, to view the status of the export go to > windows > utilities > background tasks > this will show a percentage bar for the export.

• All done!