Art Grant Proposal PDF - Technical FAQ
- What's the correct way to rename my pdf file?
- What software do I need to use the online grant form?
- Where can I download the free Adobe PDF Reader software?
- Where can I get more information about Adobe Acrobat Reader software?
- How do I tell which version of the Adobe Software I'm using?
- How do I download and open the form correctly?
- Why doesn't your PDF form work on my Mac?
- Why doesn't the form work in any web browser I use, i.e. Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Netscape, or AOL (America Online)?
- Why doesn't my form work in Google Docs?
- How do I save the PDF file?
- How do I send the data to the art grant committee?
- How do I create a zip file of my attachments?
- Where do I download WinZip or 7-Zip?
- How do I determine the file size of all the files I need to submit?
- How do I make sure my digital images are printable, so the committee can review them?
- I'm concerned that i may be sending a blank grant form to the staff, how can i be sure my form isn't arriving blank?
- When I open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, I see a message(s) telling me I need to update. What should I do?
- How do the character limits work?
- What are the text limitations of the text fields?
- Why can't I use rich text (custom fonts, bolding, colors, etc.)?
- Why when I click on the Tech FAQ link at the bottom of the pdf form do I get a message asking me whether I want to allow or block?
- Why does nothing happen when I click the "Submit Form" button?
- Why is the pdf background messed up on Windows 7?
What's the correct way to rename my pdf file?
Before sending us your pdf file, you should rename it to the name of your project, i.e. MyProjectName.pdf. This helps our staff quickly distinguish your project during the review process.
What software do I need to use the online grant form?
Burning Man supports a variety of software, covering the majority of computer figurations. Systems and software supported are:
- Operating Systems:
- Mac OSX (Intel based)
- Windows XP, Vista, and 7
- Software:
- Adobe Reader X (cost-free application) - it's the latest version
- Adobe Acrobat, or Acrobat Pro - version 8.1 or later (commercial pay-application)
Where can I download the free Adobe Reader software?
You can get the free download here:
Depending on your web browser (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.), you may need to follow special instructions given on the Adobe website to be able to download the software, such as clicking an "allow" button that appears at the top of your web browser window during the download.
Where can I get more information about Adobe Reader software?
For detailed information About Adobe Reader, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/faq/.
How do I tell which version of the Adobe Software I'm using?
If you are on a Mac OSX computer:
If you are on a Windows XP, Visa, and 7 system: Open either Reader or Acrobat, and look under the "Help" dropdown menu, and then select "About Adobe Reader (or Acrobat)," a new screen will appear that shows the version number.
How do I download and open the form correctly?
- Download the form using the link at the bottom of the grant proposal submission page
- Save the ZIP file to your desktop (or some other familiar location on your computer).
- Unzip the file
- Mac Users: Just double-click the zip file to decompress to a location on your hard drive
- Windows Users: Use WinZip or 7-Zip (free software). Once installed, use their help file to learn how to unzip it ... usually, you can just click on the file and it will be unzipped, or right-click it and select "unzip" or decompress.
Why doesn't your PDF form work on my Mac?
Most likely you're first opening our PDF form in your web browser (Safari, Firefox, etc.); this causes the form to open in a Mac application called "Preview". The form will not function correctly in Preview. So, install the free Adobe Reader software. If the file opened in Preview, save the form to your desktop (or alternately, you can right-click the PDF download link and select "save file as"). Next, open the PDF from your desktop with either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat - the form should then work perfectly.
Why doesn't the form work in any web browser I use, i.e. Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Netscape, or AOL (America Online)?
The form is not designed to work with in web browsers, it is only designed to work directly in Adobe Reader or Acrobat that is the correct version, and running properly.
Why doesn't my form work in Google Docs?
See answer to question "Why doesn't the form work in any web browser I use?" above.
How do I save my proposal form PDF file?
Once you have the PDF file opened in either Adobe Reader X or Acrobat (not your web browser), you may click on the top "File" menu and then on "Save," or alternatively if you wish to save a new version of your file, you may select "Save As" instead.
At any time while you're filling in the form blanks you may go to the "File" menu and click "Save" or "Save As" to save the data.
How do I send the form to the Art Grant Committee?
Download the art grant proposal PDF form fill in the form with your information, and then email it to artgrants (at) burningman (dot) com.
How do I determine the file size of all the files I need to submit?
On Mac, put all your files in a folder and then click down on that folder and select "Get Info", a window will pop up showing you your file size.
On Windows, put all your files in a folder and then right-click the folder, select Properties, and a window will pop up showing you the file size.
How do I create a Zip file of my attachments?
Macintosh users, put all the files you want to compress in one folder on your computer. Right click the folder, and select "Compress". Voila, you're done.
Windows users: download and install WinZip on your computer, and follow WinZip's instructions for compressing files. Alternately, you can use 7-Zip and follow its instructions for creating a zip file.
Where do I download WinZip or 7-Zip from?
How do I make sure my digital images are printable, so the committee can review them?
We print out your documents for the Art Grant Committee to review. It's imperative that they are readable. Do not use dark backgrounds (such as black) with light colored text (such as white) because on all standard printers this will most likely be printed as blank sheets or it may use an incredible amount of ink. Instead please use light background (preferably white), and dark text (preferably black).
The best way to know if your stuff is ready for printing is to print it out yourself and take a look at it. If your pages largely have the same design style, then you need not print out the whole thing, just select a few specific pages for test prints.
I'm concerned that i may be sending a blank grant form to the staff, how can i be sure my form isn't arriving blank?
You can simply send a test email to yourself with the grant form attached to it. Here's how:
BEFORE, submitting your form to us, save your form, and then close and reopen the file, all your data should still be shown in the form. Now close the file, and address a new email to yourself (in the "to" field enter your own email address); attach your saved form to your email and send the email.
Now check your inbox, and open the email you just sent to yourself. Save and/or open the attachment, you should see your form with all its data. This verifies that your form can be email with its data remaining intact.
When I open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, I see a message(s) telling me I need to update. What should I do?
You may see a message that reads:
To view the full contents of this document, you need a later version of the PDF viewer." or something very similar viewer. You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
For further support, go to www.adobe.com/support/products/acrreader.html
You are getting this message (or a very similar update related one) because your software is unable to load the art grant form. To solve this, go ahead and follow the Adobe.com instructions to update your software. If you're at a public library/internet cafe or otherwise not in charge of the computer you're on, ask a manager if they have another machine with an updated version, or if they can possibly permit them to let you install "Adobe Reader X" so you can view the PDF file.
How do the character limits work?
We tested Adobe Reader and Acrobat using Microsoft Word's word count tool. The character limit quantity includes spaces as characters, and paragraph breaks count as TWO characters (a line break + another line break). If the character limit were say 100 and you had five paragraph breaks you would have 90 characters left to use (including spaces).
What are the text limitations of the text fields?
Text fields are the boxes in which you enter text. They can accommodate their stated "character limits," but they also have a limitation on the number of lines of text available. If you add in more than four or five paragraph breaks, you may find that the text will no longer fit in the box, i.e. the box will not expand. So you technically have the character limit that's curtailed by the maximum number of lines available in each box.
For instance in a box with a character limit you could have up to seven paragraph breaks and still have 3,486 characters left to work with (including spaces), or conversely, you could have five paragraph breaks and 3,490 characters left to work with (including spaces).
Why can't I use rich text (custom fonts, bolding, colors, etc.)?
While it's technically possible to allow rich text formatting (bolding, special fonts, etc), it creates technical complexities that we can't support at this time. So we're trying to keep it simple by only allowing plain text.
Why when I click on the Tech FAQ link at the bottom of the pdf form do I get a message asking me whether I want to allow or block?
If you get the message below after click the link, it's because your Adobe software is asking you whether or not you want to allow it to open the web page in your web browser. Click "Allow" - your computer will not be harmed. Clicking block will simply prevent the program from opening the web page.
Why does nothing happen when I click the "Submit Form" button?
Using Adobe Reader, you may notice a "Submit Form" button. This button will not email your form to the art department. To send your saved-form to the Art Grant Committee please see How do I send the form to the Art Grant Committee?
Why is the pdf background messed up on Windows 7?
On Windows 7, using "Adobe Acrobat Pro" using version 8.x and higher, you may possibly encounter a glitch, wherein, you open the Art Grant pdf, then resize your window. Instead of the white background area with the form content resizing accordingly, the expanded/resized portion of your window is shown as a gray area, i.e. you can't resize/rescale your window.
The solution is to open the Art Grant pdf (or instructions), resize the window to your preferred dimensions, and then close the program (hit the red x button in the upper right corner, or go to the "File" menu and select "Exit"). Next, reopen the pdf file by clicking-on-the-file itself (as opposed to going to your "start" button first).
