ASME Journals Digital Submission Tool
Initial Submission

Preparing the Initial Digital File

General Tips

• The full contents must be included in a single file.

• Please ensure that any graphics are good quality and readable.

• Avoid submitting illustrations containing small axes with oversized labels.

• Ensure that line weights will be 0.5 points or greater as line weights below 0.5 points will reproduce poorly.

• The graphic should be sent with the correct orientation.

• Submit color files as CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black).

• Styling of headings and other text elements is necessary to enhance organization and readability. Authors should use boldface, italic, etc. as appropriate. In addition, inclusion of boldface, italic, and roman is necessary to indicate math and other special characters.

• The file should include a separate listing of table and figure captions.

Technical Submissions Format

Technical submissions (research papers, design innovation papers, and technical briefs) need to be prepared as double-spaced, single-column manuscripts for legibility and readability. Manuscripts must be submitted as PDF files to ensure ease of access and viewability by journal administrators and reviewers.

In order to convert a document to PDF format, you must have the full version of Adobe Acrobat. The free browser plug-in, Adobe Acrobat Reader, permits a user to view and save a PDF file only. Guidelines for converting are as follows.

• Set PDF Writer or Distiller to include all fonts, except the standard thirteen. Settings can be found in the Job Options menu in Acrobat Distiller or the Properties menu in PDF Writer.

• Ensure all fonts are embedded.

• The resolution for gray and color images should be set to 150 dpi. Compression should be checked and set to automatic. Image quality can be set to medium.

• The resolution for monochrome (black and white) images should be set to 300 dpi. Compression should be checked and set to CCITT Group 4.

• Check the new PDF document against your original document to ensure a successful conversion. The technical integrity of the document must be intact. We recommend viewing the new PDF on a different machine (preferably with different fonts) to find any errors your PDF may have. In addition, the document settings may show different line and page breaks depending on your printer.

Job Options Settings in Acrobat Distiller

IMPORTANT NOTES

Embedding Fonts

Acrobat 4.0 and higher automatically embeds fonts. If fonts are not embedded and an earlier version of Acrobat is used, it may cause font substitution and technical errors in your paper.

To ensure proper conversion, all fonts must be Type 1 and embedded in the document. We recommend the use of Adobe Acrobat 4.0 +, as the newer versions automatically embed all fonts in a document. Using an earlier version may result in flawed conversions of math and special characters if fonts are not embedded properly.

Asian Fonts

If an author uses Asian fonts but does not embed them in the document, you will receive an error message. In order to view or print the PDF, you need to obtain access to the correct fonts so the PDF can be viewed on your computer and other non-native systems.

The Adobe website provides free downloads of Asian font packs (two in Chinese, one in Japanese and Korean) to ensure access to PDF documents created on non-native systems.

Acrobat 3.0 + Users

Minor editorial corrections to the PDF document (e.g., revising typos) can be made by using the Touch Up Text tool. New text, missing material, etc, cannot be added in this version.

Microsoft Office 2000 Users

To convert a Word document into a PDF, click the Adobe icon on the toolbar to start PDF Writer. Your Word document will automatically be sent to Acrobat Distiller for conversion to PDF format.

LaTeX Users

If you’re using subsetted fonts in Latex and Acrobat Distiller creates a PDF, the PDF file will contain missing characters. Latex assigns the same name to different font sets of the same basefont in the PostScript file. When reading the PostScript file, Distiller assumes these fonts are the same, so they are not included in the PDF created. To remedy the situation, configure Latex to cease the subsetting of fonts when a PostScript file is being generated. While subsetting refers to Acrobat Distiller, the same rules apply to PDF Writer.

EndNote Users

A .cns with the ASME Journals reference format is available upon request. For more information, please contact Colin McActeer, Manager, ASME Journals, at mcateerc@asme.org.

Non-Technical Submissions Format

Non-technical submissions (discussions and closures, editorials, book and software reviews, announcements) must be submitted in PDF format.