As a first step to trouble shoot a problem please go through all the \usepackage commands and remove all that are not essential for your paper. (A typical candidate is lmodern, which changes the default font of the paper to Latin Modern.)
LaTeX: Consider to include the following three packages by default:
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc},
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}, and
\usepackage{microtype}.
The first enables the use of UTF-8 as character encoding, which is the standard nowadays. The second ensures the use of font encodings that support accented characters etc. (Why should I use this?). The microtype package enables certain features 'towards typographical perfection'.
- Line numbers of program code are printed in the margin: If you use LaTeX package listings you need to adjust the parameter xleftmargin accordingly. Also see the package documentation.
- LaTeX: If your LaTeX installation together with the class file should not produce PDF files
in Letter size by default,
then you can switch to Letter size by adding the following two lines
after the \documentclass specification:
\pdfpagewidth=8.5in
\pdfpageheight=11in
Also see the hints on StackExchange. - LibreOffice: Select from the menu: Format, then Page, then the tab Page and there select Letter as value for Format (refers to version 3.5).
For high-quality publications, it is essential to import figures into the paper using vector graphics format (SVG, PDF, EPS). This ensures that the illustrations look sharp even when zoomed-in. Best is to draw the figures right away with a good tool that supports an export in vector graphics.
- Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/download/ General purpose drawing software.
- LibreOffice Draw: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/ Drawing software that is integrated in the office suite.
The embedding of fonts is an important requirement for long-term archiving of documents. Digital libraries require PDFs in "Archive PDF" format, also known as PDF/A, an ISO standard document format for long-term archiving. For more information, we refer to the PDF/A FAQ by the AIIM, and to an article on Wikipedia.
- Check paper: If a paper has all fonts embedded is easy to check: pdffonts mypaper.pdf
- Check figures: If a paper is missing fonts, first check all included figures. Every included figure must have all fonts embedded.
- Evince: Open and print-to-file with the document viewer Evince in order to get all fonts embedded. (By default, Evince centers/shrinks the page, which changes the margins. Please unselect this option in the Page Handling tab, and select US letter size as paper format in the Page Setup tab.)
- LaTeX:
- PDFLaTeX: Use pdflatex instead of latex + dvipdf whenever possible (never use dvipdfmx, which has been reported to produce corrupted PDF files).
- Under GNU/Linux: Install package cm-super (sudo apt-get install cm-super).
- Configuration: Update the file updmap.cfg of your LaTeX installation by changing some parameters as follows:
pdftexDownloadBase14 true dvipsPreferOutline true dvipsDownloadBase35 true dvipdfmDownloadBase14 true - DVIPS: To convert a DVI file to PDF, use the following command
(e.g., if using the tool chain latex + dvipdf):
dvipdf -dPDFX -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress mypaper.dvi
(Add the filter options for image processing from gs above as well for high image quality.) - PostScript: To convert a PostScript file to PDF, use the following command
(e.g., if using the tool chain latex + dvips):
ps2pdf -dPDFA mypaper.ps mypaper.pdf
(Add the filter options for image processing from gs above as well for high image quality.)
- DOC (Word/LibreOffice):
- LibreOffice / OpenOffice: Font embedding can be achieved via "File" - "Export as PDF ..." - "PDF Options - General" - "General: Option PDF/A-1a" and "Images: Lossless compression".
- Word 2010: In the 'Save As ...' dialog, choose PDF as file type and then click on 'Options' to make sure that under PDF options, the checkmark for 'ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)' is set (cf. this screen shot).
- Word using PDFCreator as printer: It has been reported that PDFCreator can be useful for creating PDF files from a Windows application.
- Word using CutePDF Writer as printer: It has been reported that CutePDF Writer can be useful for creating PDF files from a Windows application.
- Word using Nitro / doPDF / ScanSoft / BullZip / PDF-XChange as printer: It has been reported that these programs produce problematic/corrupted PDF files.
- Ghostscript: Install the software Ghostscript
and run the following command:
ps2pdf -dPDFA mypaper.pdf
(use a simple shell script for batch processing of a directory with pdf files)
or using more extended version with some additional options for image handling:
gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -dSAFER \
-dPDFX -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress \
-dAutoFilterColorImages=false -dColorImageFilter=/FlateEncode \
-dAutoFilterGrayImages=false -dGrayImageFilter=/FlateEncode \
-dAutoFilterMonoImages=false -dMonoImageFilter=/CCITTFaxEncode \
-sOutputFile=mypaper-embedded.pdf mypaper.pdf
This should be done only as the very last option, if nothing else works.
More details are available in the Ghostscript-parameters documentation (Option -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress implies the options -dCompatibilityLevel=1.3 -dEmbedAllFonts=true -dSubsetFonts=true -dMaxSubsetPct=100). - Mac / Preview / Quartz PDFContext: Try to avoid using Mac / Preview / Quartz PDFContext. It has been reported that these programs produce incompatible/non-standard PDF files.
- LaTeX: Avoid packages that contain Type-3 fonts: bbding.
It has been reported that the package mathabx is causing Type-3 fonts to be used (under pdfTeX-1.40.9). - LaTeX: The package cm-super helps replacing Type-3 fonts by Type-1 fonts (in formulas/symbols).
- Check fonts in paper: On the command line, it is easy to obtain a list of used fonts with: pdffonts mypaper.pdf. Such a list is also available in PDF viewers, such as Evince or Acrobat Reader.
- LaTeX: Avoid using packages lmodern and pslatex, which overwrite the font settings of the class file.
- LaTeX: If some fonts are missing, install package 'texlive-fonts-extra' (sudo apt-get install texlive-fonts-extra).
- Word on Windows: For the ACM style acmart, make sure to have the Linux Libertine fonts (freely available) installed (https://libertine-fonts.org). 1. Download freely from https://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxlibertine/. 2. Open downloaded zip/tar file and copy all tff files to C:/Windows/Fonts.
- Capitalize:
- first and last word, first word after a colon (subtitle)
- all major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)
- Lowercase:
- articles (the, a, an)
- prepositions (regardless of length)
- conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor)
- to, as
- Hyphenated Compounds:
- always capitalize first element
- lowercase second element for articles, prepositions, conjunctions and if the first element is a prefix or combining form that could not stand by itself (unless the second element is a proper noun / proper adjective)
- LaTeX:
The package 'subfig' changes the layout of the captions of figures and tables.
If this package is used (\usepackage{subfig}) and the captions are not as they should be, then the problem can be solved using \usepackage[caption=false]{subfig}, which disables the additional caption formatting. - LaTeX:
The package 'caption' changes the layout of the captions of figures and tables.
If this package is used (\usepackage{caption}, perhaps included by \usepackage{subcaption}) and the captions are not as they should be, then the problem can be solved using \captionsetup[table]{labelsep=newline, labelfont={footnotesize}, textfont={sc,footnotesize}, position=top}, which sets the table caption formatting to small capitals, for example.
An "orphan" is an isolated line of text at the bottom of a page; an "orphan heading" is a heading without following body text at the bottom of the page; a "widow" is an isolated line of text at the top of a page.
- LaTeX: In order to eliminate widows and orphans, you can copy the following commands into the LaTeX source before \begin{document} :
\clubpenalty = 10000 \widowpenalty = 10000 \displaywidowpenalty = 10000Sometimes, orphans and widows will survive these commands, in which case a \vspace command might help.
The two columns of the last page need to have the same length.
- LaTeX (Option 1): For the ACMART style, use option 'balance' or, if this does not work, option 'pbalance' (see Table 2 of the ACMART style guideline).
- LaTeX (Option 2): Insert the command \usepackage{flushend} into the LaTeX source before \begin{document}.
- LaTeX (Option 3): Insert \usepackage{balance} into the LaTeX source before \begin{document}
and the following in the text that would appear as left column on the last page without balancing:
\balance.
- LaTeX (Option 4): If the above options do not work, it seems that one of the used packages prevents the balancing from working properly. In case you do not want to spend time on finding out which package it is, you can manually balance the last page by inserting a \newpage between your references in the .bbl file at an appropriate position. (Attention: Running bibtex again will overwrite this; alternatively, the contents of the .bbl file can be copy-and-paste'ed into the main LaTeX file in place of the \bibliography command.)
- It has been reported that the 'lineno' package might conflict with packages 'multicol' and 'balance'.
Using DOIs (if available) in references is strongly encouraged. DOIs are the industry standard for identifying papers in digital libraries.
In the following we list a few benefits of DOIs for readers:
- Identification.
DOIs identify a paper (more general, a digital object).
For example, there are often two papers with the same title (publisher version, preprint).
Even if you do not want to link to the restricted-access version of a publisher, giving the DOI gives a benefit for identification. - Long-term availability.
DOIs ensure long-term availability. Institutions that issue DOIs have promised to keep the resources alive for a very long time.
Homepage URLs often disappear after a few years (when the web server is changed, or when the group leader retires). The purpose of digital libraries is to conserve the knowledge and make it long-term available. - Meta data. DOI landing pages give extra information, such as bibliographic data, the license, download counts.
- Authoritative version.
The DOI assigned by a publisher points to the authoritative copy of a work.
Often, one finds several copies of a paper in the internet. Some of them derive from the original paper, some even fix proofs or text.
- Robust and reliable. The DOI identifies a reference and can provide a more robust and reliable link to the referenced work.
- Citation counts. The record-keeping of citation counts is easier if the DOI is provided.
- The Chicago Manual of Style.
University of Chicago Press, 17th edition, 2017. ISBN 978-0-226-28705-8.
,
- W. Strunk Jr. and E. B. White: The Elements of Style.
Allyn and Bacon, 4th edition, 1999. ISBN 978-0-205-30902-3.
,
- F. Mittelbach, M. Goossens, J. Braams, D. Carlisle, C. Rowley: The LaTeX Companion.
Addison-Wesley, 2nd edition, 2004. ISBN 978-0-201-36299-2.
,
- D. E. Knuth, T. Larrabee, P. M. Roberts: Mathematical Writing.
Mathematical Association of America, 1989. ISBN 978-0-88385-063-3.
,
- ACMART Style: CTAN, Documentation, GitHub
- IEEEtran Style: CTAN, Documentation
- LaTeX Tabus by M. Ensenbach, M. Trettin: in German