Haven't made that map yet Lymnan, but could be
My contention: if the original map is NOT garbage, the state certifier can readily get it into the right format, whether hand-drawn or digitally-created. I do not know if a new tutorial is required to do this. If so, it seems to me it will be short and simple. My old $95.00 scanner allows me to convert any hand-drawn map into a PDF of the right size for Web display (or any other size) and the right margin size for printing.
For maps submitted as .PNGs, JPGs, or in any other electronic format, is is usually easy to modify the size and formatting. Just open any .PNG, .JPG, Bitmap, .TIFF or .GIF with Microsoft Office Picture Manager or any other basic image manipulator to adjust the size, resolution and margins. Then use any free PDF creator to save the image as a PDF. With some free PDF creators, you can adjust the image to the desired formatting without the Picture Manager step.
"Mediocre in/good-to-excellent out" or better is thus enabled.
For maps submitted as .PNGs, JPGs, or in any other electronic format, is is usually easy to modify the size and formatting. Just open any .PNG, .JPG, Bitmap, .TIFF or .GIF with Microsoft Office Picture Manager or any other basic image manipulator to adjust the size, resolution and margins. Then use any free PDF creator to save the image as a PDF. With some free PDF creators, you can adjust the image to the desired formatting without the Picture Manager step.
"Mediocre in/good-to-excellent out" or better is thus enabled.
Lyman, I have been working with the East Certifiers and have found your some can do all correctly. However, there are some that just keep making mistakes. I will continue to gradually get all willing to try this electronic stuff. Some are not interested!
Have you talked to your State Certifier. He is going to give the electronic submissions a try. Also, you should be able to submit color maps as png's with the correct size if you are good with different programs. Duane Russell is able to do this. I suggest you confer with him if you have problems.
Also, you should contact me as to how to identify your png's for Bob to send off to both Paul and I.
Have you talked to your State Certifier. He is going to give the electronic submissions a try. Also, you should be able to submit color maps as png's with the correct size if you are good with different programs. Duane Russell is able to do this. I suggest you confer with him if you have problems.
Also, you should contact me as to how to identify your png's for Bob to send off to both Paul and I.
I agree with Lyman and believe that a PDF map format would give better detail and be a good step toward full electronic submission. I have been using an electronic submission setup in Alabama for almost two years. It is working well with all the regular measurers and with new measurers if they contact me before the submission. It easily beats the old USPS process until the certificate and map are ready to publish. I print those and send two copies to Paul via USPS.
All the application forms are sent to me in PDF format. Some are scanned copies of hand input forms, but completed Adobe forms are the most common.
The majority of the map submissions are of digital origin. So far this year, thirty-nine of forty-two maps are digital. As you know the quality can vary, but the prints are usually good. The measurers use a variety of software including Illustrator, MS Publisher, Open Office and Auto Cad. I use Turbo Cad. All of these can save in PDF format and most measurers use that option.
An electronic signature on the PDF certificate/map could complete the process. And I could then make an electronic submission to Gene and Paul for approval.
All the application forms are sent to me in PDF format. Some are scanned copies of hand input forms, but completed Adobe forms are the most common.
The majority of the map submissions are of digital origin. So far this year, thirty-nine of forty-two maps are digital. As you know the quality can vary, but the prints are usually good. The measurers use a variety of software including Illustrator, MS Publisher, Open Office and Auto Cad. I use Turbo Cad. All of these can save in PDF format and most measurers use that option.
An electronic signature on the PDF certificate/map could complete the process. And I could then make an electronic submission to Gene and Paul for approval.
Very simple to make a signature for use on the Cert form. 1) Sign a piece of paper. 2) Preview the scan, and crop to only the signature. 3) Scan and save as a file, whether jpg, png, or pdf.
Now, open Acrobat (not Reader, as Reader does not have this ability). Create a Rubber Stamp (Tools, then different spot for different versions - just look it up in Help>Tools for your version) of the file. Save it. You can now insert the Rubber Stamp of your signature on your Cert form template, and not mess with it again. Simple way to completely digitize the certificate process.
Now, open Acrobat (not Reader, as Reader does not have this ability). Create a Rubber Stamp (Tools, then different spot for different versions - just look it up in Help>Tools for your version) of the file. Save it. You can now insert the Rubber Stamp of your signature on your Cert form template, and not mess with it again. Simple way to completely digitize the certificate process.
Duane, I've done that, but one thing to be aware of is that when printing you need to check "Document and Stamps" in the Comments and Forms dropdown in the Print menu, otherwise the signature stamp won't appear. Drove me nuts for almost a year 
Duane is Acrobat free?
No, Acrobat Reader is free, but Acrobat costs $139 and up. Adobe Acrobat
Duane and I both have Acrobat and would probably be able to create a template with your signature embedded for you, however.
Duane and I both have Acrobat and would probably be able to create a template with your signature embedded for you, however.
You an do the same thing with Open Office, which is free. I have a certificate template that I can send you if you want.
Jim & Mark,
Thanks for the offer but I do not need it at this time but was thinking toward the future when I might need to put my signature on something.
When the time comes I will probably ask for your help than. Thanks again.
Thanks for the offer but I do not need it at this time but was thinking toward the future when I might need to put my signature on something.
When the time comes I will probably ask for your help than. Thanks again.
Just noticed there's a free trial offer for Acrobat Pro for Windows on the Adobe site.
Jim, Mark, Duane
The computers in our public libraries have Adobe Acrobat. Do you think a first-time user could create the signature stamp for the certificates, in a reasonable time?
The computers in our public libraries have Adobe Acrobat. Do you think a first-time user could create the signature stamp for the certificates, in a reasonable time?
Yes, if you have a scan of your signature. I scanned mine, scanning only my signature, itself. I just had to make the scan window the same size as my signature (do this after "preview" on most scanners).
Once you have a file (pdf or png) of your signature, you can Create a Stamp (versions differ, but under Tools>Comments and Markups>Stamps>CreateCustomStamp (version 9).
Once created, you can Stamp your Cert template doc, and it will always be on your Cert. I always work from my template, so I don't have to insert my signature every time.
Hope this makes it clear enough. Version 10 is slightly different, but if you search for "Create custom stamp", it will tell you how.
Once you have a file (pdf or png) of your signature, you can Create a Stamp (versions differ, but under Tools>Comments and Markups>Stamps>CreateCustomStamp (version 9).
Once created, you can Stamp your Cert template doc, and it will always be on your Cert. I always work from my template, so I don't have to insert my signature every time.
Hope this makes it clear enough. Version 10 is slightly different, but if you search for "Create custom stamp", it will tell you how.
Thanks Duane, I already have my signature scanned, so I'll give the stamp creation and cert template update a try in the next day or two.
Does Acrobat Reader have any other option for filling out a form other than 12-point typewriter font?
If you don't have the full version of Acrobat I would recommend Open Office for this. You can use whatever font you want, and different size fonts for different parts of the certificate form.
If you don't have the full version of Acrobat I would recommend Open Office for this. You can use whatever font you want, and different size fonts for different parts of the certificate form.
Hypothesis - Color maps can only be converted to a png of appropriate file size if the map is always in a file format - NEVER scanned.
I have been wrestling with some color maps that were sent to me as pdf files. The pdf files were created from scans of hand-drawn maps. I could not convert the pdf files to png files of acceptable size. So, I scanned them.
The scanned files are always too large, no matter what sequence I use to get to png files.
Has anyone found a way to scan a color map, and create a png file of small-enough size? I think we may have to say that only digitally-created maps can be in color. I imagine it is the "white" background that adds too much image information into the file, making the png file too large.
Thoughts?
I have been wrestling with some color maps that were sent to me as pdf files. The pdf files were created from scans of hand-drawn maps. I could not convert the pdf files to png files of acceptable size. So, I scanned them.
The scanned files are always too large, no matter what sequence I use to get to png files.
Has anyone found a way to scan a color map, and create a png file of small-enough size? I think we may have to say that only digitally-created maps can be in color. I imagine it is the "white" background that adds too much image information into the file, making the png file too large.
Thoughts?
Duane, I took a 980 Kb PDF and saved it as a PNG. The PNG is viewable here: http://tinyurl.com/cfgy63p . The PNG is 376 Kb.
Having said this, I am confused about "appropriate file size". Are we still concerned about shrinking map sizes? I do not know how much better posted maps may appear if we use file sizes of 1 Mb or larger. But it cannot hurt.
I also contend that a better scanning procedure, regardless of file size, can help. I had to research some USATF online maps over the weekend. Some of them are scanned with the orientation rotated 90%. Fine for printing, but an annoyance to view on screen or to "PDF" them to send to a client.
Having said this, I am confused about "appropriate file size". Are we still concerned about shrinking map sizes? I do not know how much better posted maps may appear if we use file sizes of 1 Mb or larger. But it cannot hurt.
I also contend that a better scanning procedure, regardless of file size, can help. I had to research some USATF online maps over the weekend. Some of them are scanned with the orientation rotated 90%. Fine for printing, but an annoyance to view on screen or to "PDF" them to send to a client.
Lyman, have you helped your Regional Certifier getting on board with doing electronic submission? He has a go to start and maybe you can help.
As for file sizes, USATF is having major problems with their server. They deal with many more people than us. I don't feel they will allow us to increase the size of what is submitted. Their site is going through a change. It seems to me there web person is having a difficult time. The RRTC hasn't been able to get any maps up for at least a week.
The purpose of the site is to have all courses show online. It's not design for you or any race to use it as an advertisement for their event. Yes, we want a good product and I feel it has improved over the last couple of years. If the map has a wrong orientation for viewing, then print it out. I don't think maps can viewed clearly unless printed out.
As for sending your product to client, use what you have produced. If your concern is the certification number appearing on the map,then write it on the map. Also, send them the certificate. Again, the site isn't design for what you send to a client.
As for file sizes, USATF is having major problems with their server. They deal with many more people than us. I don't feel they will allow us to increase the size of what is submitted. Their site is going through a change. It seems to me there web person is having a difficult time. The RRTC hasn't been able to get any maps up for at least a week.
The purpose of the site is to have all courses show online. It's not design for you or any race to use it as an advertisement for their event. Yes, we want a good product and I feel it has improved over the last couple of years. If the map has a wrong orientation for viewing, then print it out. I don't think maps can viewed clearly unless printed out.
As for sending your product to client, use what you have produced. If your concern is the certification number appearing on the map,then write it on the map. Also, send them the certificate. Again, the site isn't design for what you send to a client.
Gene, yes, I have spoken to John about this and he is all aboard with electronic submission. Like most of us, he prefers to deal with PDFs rather than PNGs.
As I write this, I am viewing, on another browser tab, videos of track meets on USATF.org. Do you have a good feeling for how much more server space and bandwidth these many streaming videos use than our puny little cache of on line maps? Since other parts of USATF.org seem to me to be working fine, what conclusions might we draw from the server issues you refer to?
You say the purpose of the site is "to have all courses show online". Yet, since some maps are scanned into the system at a 90-degree rotation, they show online poorly. This is on top of us using the wrong file type for our maps and certificates, which causes them to appear grainy, pixilated, or just plain washed-out. It seems to me no one would use these poor-quality images to advertise.
If we start handling our maps in the appropriate file format, not only will they print well, they will display just fine, Gene. As an example, check out this PDF posting on USATF.org for the Prefontaine Classic: [URL=www.runnerspace.com/download.php?file_id=21] . This is a PDF image that looks good on the USATF.org page, on my screen, and just peachy printed out in color.
I never send my clients to USATF.org for maps whenever there is any alternative for the reasons just mentioned. Yet, clients often seek information about the availability of multiple existing courses, hence their visits (or mine) to the site. Isn't this prominent among the reasons for maintaining these maps of courses we have entered into the public domain via our certification process? If we do not need to post good quality maps on line at all, If we simply list the course name, city, certification number, and expiration date without a map, how useful would the site be?
As for printing maps from USATF.org, my experiments at home scanning printed maps with the same process, e.g. <400 Kb PNGs, then re-printing, reveal a far higher-quality image than from USATF.org every time. With electronic submission and no excessive file size constraints, perhaps the scanning problems will cease to be an issue. I know I would not want to scan thousands of pages every year. This is a huge amount of work. Hopefully, we are now on track for scanning to become a thing of the past.
I always send PDFs of my maps to clients. They never have any issues viewing them, posting them on the Web, or printing them. I do not send them certificates unless they ask. In my 26 years of doing this, no one has ever asked me for a certificate.
Checks and balances considered, it seems to me as though our Web site for certification maps may be little more than an afterthought for some folks in authority at USATF based on the recent reports on the apparent inattention to our issues. I have to wonder how much better our system could be if some day our concerns rise to a level of relevance to them.
As I write this, I am viewing, on another browser tab, videos of track meets on USATF.org. Do you have a good feeling for how much more server space and bandwidth these many streaming videos use than our puny little cache of on line maps? Since other parts of USATF.org seem to me to be working fine, what conclusions might we draw from the server issues you refer to?
You say the purpose of the site is "to have all courses show online". Yet, since some maps are scanned into the system at a 90-degree rotation, they show online poorly. This is on top of us using the wrong file type for our maps and certificates, which causes them to appear grainy, pixilated, or just plain washed-out. It seems to me no one would use these poor-quality images to advertise.
If we start handling our maps in the appropriate file format, not only will they print well, they will display just fine, Gene. As an example, check out this PDF posting on USATF.org for the Prefontaine Classic: [URL=www.runnerspace.com/download.php?file_id=21] . This is a PDF image that looks good on the USATF.org page, on my screen, and just peachy printed out in color.
I never send my clients to USATF.org for maps whenever there is any alternative for the reasons just mentioned. Yet, clients often seek information about the availability of multiple existing courses, hence their visits (or mine) to the site. Isn't this prominent among the reasons for maintaining these maps of courses we have entered into the public domain via our certification process? If we do not need to post good quality maps on line at all, If we simply list the course name, city, certification number, and expiration date without a map, how useful would the site be?
As for printing maps from USATF.org, my experiments at home scanning printed maps with the same process, e.g. <400 Kb PNGs, then re-printing, reveal a far higher-quality image than from USATF.org every time. With electronic submission and no excessive file size constraints, perhaps the scanning problems will cease to be an issue. I know I would not want to scan thousands of pages every year. This is a huge amount of work. Hopefully, we are now on track for scanning to become a thing of the past.
I always send PDFs of my maps to clients. They never have any issues viewing them, posting them on the Web, or printing them. I do not send them certificates unless they ask. In my 26 years of doing this, no one has ever asked me for a certificate.
Checks and balances considered, it seems to me as though our Web site for certification maps may be little more than an afterthought for some folks in authority at USATF based on the recent reports on the apparent inattention to our issues. I have to wonder how much better our system could be if some day our concerns rise to a level of relevance to them.
Lyman - first, you should always send the certificate to your client. If they ever need it, they would already have it. Certification includes the certificate. I have run across a couple races that claim "certified" courses, but they were unable to produce the certificate. They never had one, and that is the point. Always send a cert to the client.
Now, about file size. How was your 980 kb PDF created? Did you scan it? Was it color, or monochrome?
My observation has been that black-and-white PDFs convert to small png files, but PDF files produced from color scans don't convert to small png files. That is what I am trying to discover - if others can take a PDF created from a color scan, and make a small png file from that PDF file.
Now, about file size. How was your 980 kb PDF created? Did you scan it? Was it color, or monochrome?
My observation has been that black-and-white PDFs convert to small png files, but PDF files produced from color scans don't convert to small png files. That is what I am trying to discover - if others can take a PDF created from a color scan, and make a small png file from that PDF file.