PDF Preview Generation for eTMF Files

What is PDF Preview?

In the Documents / eTMF area, SimpleTrials has a feature to show a preview of uploaded files, meaning that you can view the documents within SimpleTrials, without the need to download and re-open.
The PDF preview generation process does not modify your original document in any way.  Your original posted file will remain stored by SimpleTrials, and available via the Download links/buttons.

Note that the TMF Auditor user role does not have Download privilege, so this preview generation process can be critical to allow the TMF Auditor user to view non-PDF common file types (like Microsoft Word).

Why do we generate Preview PDFs?

The Preview feature only works with PDF files.  If a file of type PDF is posted to SimpleTrials, it will work automatically.  However, if a non-PDF file is posted then SimpleTrials will attempt to generate a PDF export of that file for preview purposes.

What file types are supported?

The PDF Preview generation supports

• Office documents, including Word, Excel and Powerpoint
• Text files
• Image files (e.g. screenshot)

PDFs are not included in this list because they are supported by the preview feature without the need for a generated preview file.

Please note that for Office documents, the preview generation process is equivalent to doing a Save As or Export of a Word/Excel/Powerpoint document to PDF.  The preview generation process will use the "defaults", which typically work fine for Word and Powerpoint.  Excel files, given that spreadsheets are not typically bound to the size constraints of a physical page, can be more difficult to preview.  If you are posting Excel files to SimpleTrials, consider doing one of the following in order for that file to be supported by SimpleTrials preview:

• Setup the worksheet for export to PDF.  For example, you can use the Page Setup and Print Area feature to tell Excel how you would like your spreadsheet exported to a physical page format.  Adding borders may also be helpful.
• Do a manual export of the Excel file to PDF, and then post the PDF file instead of Excel.  This will preclude the need for SimpleTrials to generate a PDF and you will have full control over how that manually exported PDF looks.
  
  

PDF Preview indicator in SimpleTrials

SimpleTrials has two locations to indicate that a posted file is a generated PDF.  Both are in the Document Details area:

Download vs. Preview

When using a Download link or button within SimpleTrials, you will receive the original file posted (not the PDF Preview).  If you would like to download the PDF preview, using the "native" PDF preview window (displayed in the screenshot above) click the download icon (down arrow).  This download option is not available when using the "alternative" PDF preview, as that preview has download disabled.

Potential issues with generated PDFs

As mentioned above, SimpleTrials makes a good faith effort to accurately represent the original posted file as a PDF for preview purposes.  If you do not wish for SimpleTrials to generate a preview, or if the generated preview is not sufficiently accurate, then you can create a PDF version of your file manually (via 3rd party applications and tools, like Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word) and post that PDF to SimpleTrials as an alternative to the original file.