Thesis / Dissertation Printing

Q. Is the default printing front page only or is it back to back?

A. We print all theses single sided only, unless a special request is made.

Q. Can I print my thesis on double sided paper (duplex printing)?

A. Currently the mythesis web site does not offer a duplex printing option, though we are looking at including this in the future. If it is essential that you have your thesis printed double sided, we recommend that you send an e-mail after completing your order, quoting your order reference and requesting that your document is printed double-sided.

PDF Documents & PDF Conversion

Also see: Information on converting documents to PDF

Q. Why do you only allow PDF documents to be bound?

A. PDF is the industry standard for document sharing this means that we can more reliably print your document regardless of the original platform or format of the original source document.

Q. I already have my thesis in PDF format. Is there any way just to send you this to be bound?

A. If your thesis is already in PDF format that is fine, you will not need to convert your document. Instead you will be given the option to upload your own PDF on step 5 of the order process.

Q. My thesis has more than one PDF file, what can I do?

A. We can only accept one PDF per thesis order. You can combine multiple files from our pdf conversion page. To do this select the number of files you need to convert, use the file browsers provided to locate your files and convert as normal. You can use this to combine your PDF files as well as other documents.

Q. When I try to convert my document the page submits but nothing happens.

A. When you click the 'convert' button on the PDF conversion page a popup should appear detailing the progress of your file upload and conversion. If this popup does not appear you will not receive the converted file.

This popup can be prevented if you have a popup blocker on your computer or browser. There are a wide variety of popup blockers on the market and it is not possible to give instructions for all of them. Most popup blockers in browsers like Internet Explorer and FireFox will inform you that a pop up has been blocked and allow you the option to unblock it. Some anti-spyware software also includes popup blockers, in which case you may have to look at the help files for these programs to find out how to allow popups for our site.

Q. When I try to view my PDF document nothing happens.

A. When you click to view a document (either from the document management page, after a successful PDF conversion or from step 6 of the order process) the file is streamed from our server and this can take a long time, especially for large files or if the server is busy. You can usually check the progress of the download in the task bar of your browser, however the page itself may appear blank until the file has downloaded. Your browser will also attempt to launch Adobe Reader to view the file, you should make sure you have the most up-to-date version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader before you view files. you must also allow popups for this page to work properly - see the question above for information on enabling popups.

Q. When I convert my document to PDF some of the formatting changes, and text flows onto the next page when it shouldn't. What can I do?

A. Make sure you are using standard fonts for your text, this should help keep the formatting the same between your source document and the PDF produced.

You should also make sure that you are using page breaks to start new pages and have inserted footnotes, endnotes and headers correctly. It is also wise (and saves you a lot of time) if you create an automated table of contents (TOC) using Word's automation features to number you headings, tables, figures, other captions, and page numbers.

Some recommended links that will assist you in formatting your document are available from the Microsoft Assistance:

• Inserting Page Breaks in Microsoft Word
• Automated Page Numbers in Microsoft Word
• Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word
• Built in Header Styles in Microsoft Word
• Adding Numbers to Headings in Microsoft Word
• Inserting Cross References in Microsoft Word
• Creating an Automated Table of Contents in Microsoft Word

Q. My Picture/Chart does not appear properly when converted to PDF. What can I do?

A. Make sure you are using Word Art correctly there are plenty of articles on the Microsoft Knowledge base / assistance websites, here are some links that may be useful:

• Drawing Flow Charts in Microsoft Word
• Insert and Position Graphics in Microsoft Word

Q. I have copied an Excel chart into my Word document but it does not appear correctly when the document is converted to PDF. What shall I do?

A. To remedy this you will need to insert the graph as a bitmap image, this will solve the problem, which arises because the chart is being treated as a drawing object when you convert the document to PDF.

You can insert an Excel chart as a bitmap by following this procedure:

• Click Copy (or ctrl+c) on the graph in Excel.
• Switch to Microsoft Word.
• Click in the document where you want to put the Microsoft Excel chart.
• Click Paste on the Formatting toolbar, or (ctrl+p).
• Click the Paste Options that will appear next to the chart as you insert it, and then to paste a bitmap picture of the chart, click the 'Picture of Chart option'.

See Copy Excel data and charts to Word for more information.

Binding Margins

Q. What is the minimum number of pages for a bound thesis?

A. We can bind documents with as few as 30 sheets of A4 paper, however any less that that and we may not be able to fit text onto your spine.

Q. What is the maximum number of pages for a bound thesis?

A. We can bind up to 500 pages, if you have more than 500 we would recommend splitting your document into multiple volumes, and binding each volume separately.

Q. Is it advisable that we put a gutter margin (to make the left margin slight bigger than the right margin) to make space for the binding?

A. Binding your thesis usually takes about 5-6mm off the sewn edge. We would recommend that you accommodate for this in your document layout.

Q. What is the left margin that is advisable (or left gutter margin in addition to the left margin)?

We usually recommend leaving an inside margin of 30mm (3cm).

Thesis Covers and Course Templates

Q. I need a thesis with 24pt text on the cover; you appear to offer this font size but I can see no way of specifying it (the default is 18pt).

A. Due to the nature of the hot foil lettering machines we can only support a very limited set of characters in 24pt font:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 . , -

24pt also means less room for your text, this is especially significant where the spine is concerned, and you may need to abbreviate your text in order for it to fit on.

Therefore we do not actively encourage people to use 24pt.

However, some courses that we have stored templates for do use 24pt font as a requirement. If you absolutely have to use 24 point, but your course is not on our list. Try selecting 'Leeds Metropolitan University' as your institution and 'BA Tourism Management' as the course, this will bring up a cover template with a 24 pt spine and front cover. If you need an 18pt spine and 24pt title try 'Leeds Metropolitan University' and 'BA Hospitality Business Management'.

Please note that selecting the course and university only affects the pattern, and has no other effect on your order irrespective of where you actually study.

Other Order Enquiries

Q. Can I collect my thesis rather than getting it delivered?

A. Yes, collection is free and allows you to pick up you thesis from our premises the day the binding is completed. You can collect after 3pm, to view directions and opening times see: www.hollingworthmoss.co.uk/bindery-directions.htm and www.hollingworthmoss.co.uk/bindery-opening-times.htm

Q. Is the one day binding service guaranteed within one day?

On a one working day service we would bind your order and dispatch via courier at the end of that working day for arrival with you on the next working day. If you want to collect you can do so after 3pm that afternoon, please note our opening times before collecting.

For an order to be placed on a day’s production list we need to receive it before 9am, otherwise it is passed onto the next day’s batch.

You should also note that for safety you should order as well before the 9am deadline as possible, because the order process works to the clock on the server, this means that once the clock on the server is at 9am the order will move on to the next days batch.The server isn’t synced to Big Ben or anything, so leave yourself plenty of time to complete the order if things are going to be a bit last minute.

Q. How can I contact you about my order?

A. General enquiries are best sent through www.hollingworthmoss.co.uk/contact.asp.

Where Now? - Links

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