How to Create A PDF From Any Program.
Posted on Jan 08, 2008 - 6:57pm by Mark Spearman in Computer Tips
A PDF is a document that can be read by any computer that has Adobe Reader installed. The reader is free and most operating systems can use the reader. Even companies that severely restrict their employees programs will allow them to have Adobe Reader. So you have the rare situation where almost anyone can read one document type without spending money.
Chances are, due to the popularity of PDF’s you’ve come across them. There are some nice features that make reading the document much like reading a book, only better. It’s easy to zoom into any level and when formatted correctly, you can search the text. They also have form capabilities that allow you to fill out a form online. Tax forms are starting to be done this way.
If you’re in a situation where you need to send a document to a person that either does not have the same program you have or you’re not sure what they have on their computer, you can look like a real pro if you send a PDF to them. For example, if you created a document that shows your company how they’ve shorted your pay in Excel, but they claim they can’t read the Excel document you have sent them, they can open a PDF.
If you have a program like OpenOffice or Star Office, you can chose the “Export As PDF” option in the “File” menu. This is a great option because you can make the PDF searchable, create hypter-text links, and other good extras. If your program has the export option, this is the best way to create your own PDF.
If you have a program without the option, you can use CutePDF. It’s a free download. After you install CutePDF, the only time you will see it is in the “Print” menus. When you chose to print anything, the option to print it to a PDF file will appear. Chose the “Print To PDF file” option, chose your file location, and a PDF version of the document will be created. It will just be an image of the program’s output and it will not have many of the features that the document is supposed to have, like embedded web links and the ability to search the document, but it will be readable by Adobe Reader.
If you need more information on PDF’s, check out the Adobe website. Paid versions of their programs do amazing things with just about anything that can be imaged and printed. The paid versions are expensive, but many times you can find cheaper alternatives with some searching.
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Thanks for the Adobe tips. I also like how you can copy just about anything (including screen shots) and then open them in Adobe (File–> Create PDF–> From Clipboard). It certainly impresses people when I know how to send them a screenshot in an email.
Thanks!
A little know-how can go a long way with some folks. A few little tricks take you out of the “stupid truck driver” category and lets them know they’re not dealing with a yahoo. Office folks all hopped up on Prozac and what not are easy to impress with computer skill. Good office folks are just appreciative and surprised that you can communicate effectively with them.
You can also put together an entire document pretty quickly from all sorts of different input. The free Office suites can take input from all the Microsoft programs so long as they don’t have VB script in them. If they do have VB script, you can save them as html, then import the html document.