I have done a number of IBA rides but the most recent was the first since 2007. Fortunately I checked to see if any of the submission details had changed and they had. The photo of the receipt in front of the bike's odometer. I knew that printing out those photo's would be a huge printer toner suck but fortunately I stumbled across a forum post on the electronic submissions possibility. Without going through all of the gyrations that I put myself through in preparing my submission, I'll just get to the point.
Use Google Docs. I use Google Docs (GD) for sharing trip planning with family and friends so it was a natural. Here's how :
- Created a new GD for the ride. Be sure to put an appropriately descriptive name in the top left.
- Create a table using the Insert / Table menu function with 1 cell across and about 25 high ( the excess can be deleted later ).
- Add a receipt photo to each cell in order using the Insert / Image menu function
- Type a short description below each photo.
- If you have created web based maps, you can use something like the Microsoft Snipping Tool to capture a screen image and paste that into the GD.
- When you are finished, use the menu's print function which will turn the whole thing into a PDF.
Once I had completed the above, I opened my PDF in Adobe Acrobat and used the Document / Insert / Pages from file menu function to insert my other PDF documents. In my case, I had done a pretty crappy job of the receipt photography so I also scanned the receipts to PDF and inserted that to the GD PDF. Alternatively, I could have taken a photo of each one and added them like the other photos. Conceivably, you could also take a pic of your application form or scan it to JPG and insert them that way.
And perhaps the best part... don't create a PDF at all. ( Ira, you listening ? ) Once the GD is finished, just click on share and set the GD so that anyone with a link can view it. Then submit the link if that is acceptable to the IBA. One upside here is that if a reviewer has issues with your submission, presumably you would be permitted to correct your deficiencies by editing the GD and advising them of the changes.
One more thing for Ira. If you like the idea, you could create a GD template which users could copy to their own Google Drive for completion.
For your viewing pleasure, here is the first part of my submission ( subsequent copies of the receipts and rider & ride details not included as they were added later to the PDF for submission. )
David Morrow 1600K ( insanity ) I call it an insanity ride because I left my FJR in the barn and rode my CBR1000RR.
Use Google Docs. I use Google Docs (GD) for sharing trip planning with family and friends so it was a natural. Here's how :
- Created a new GD for the ride. Be sure to put an appropriately descriptive name in the top left.
- Create a table using the Insert / Table menu function with 1 cell across and about 25 high ( the excess can be deleted later ).
- Add a receipt photo to each cell in order using the Insert / Image menu function
- Type a short description below each photo.
- If you have created web based maps, you can use something like the Microsoft Snipping Tool to capture a screen image and paste that into the GD.
- When you are finished, use the menu's print function which will turn the whole thing into a PDF.
Once I had completed the above, I opened my PDF in Adobe Acrobat and used the Document / Insert / Pages from file menu function to insert my other PDF documents. In my case, I had done a pretty crappy job of the receipt photography so I also scanned the receipts to PDF and inserted that to the GD PDF. Alternatively, I could have taken a photo of each one and added them like the other photos. Conceivably, you could also take a pic of your application form or scan it to JPG and insert them that way.
And perhaps the best part... don't create a PDF at all. ( Ira, you listening ? ) Once the GD is finished, just click on share and set the GD so that anyone with a link can view it. Then submit the link if that is acceptable to the IBA. One upside here is that if a reviewer has issues with your submission, presumably you would be permitted to correct your deficiencies by editing the GD and advising them of the changes.
One more thing for Ira. If you like the idea, you could create a GD template which users could copy to their own Google Drive for completion.
For your viewing pleasure, here is the first part of my submission ( subsequent copies of the receipts and rider & ride details not included as they were added later to the PDF for submission. )
David Morrow 1600K ( insanity ) I call it an insanity ride because I left my FJR in the barn and rode my CBR1000RR.
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