PDF, or Portable Document Format, was created by Adobe in 1993 for document exchange. Basically, the main reason for converting your file into a PDF is if you want to share it with someone else and you’re not sure whether or not that person has the same software (version, etc…) as you. Another reason to convert to a PDF file before sharing is because you want the person to see/save the document, but not to be able to make any changes to it.

Now there a couple of different ways to create PDFs. I’m going to divide them into three categories – $$, Free, But…, and Free – so you can decide which option might work the best for you.

Note: Information provided below requires installing software in the first two options. If you are using a work machine, you will need Administrator rights to install on your computer, so you may have to contact the IT Dept. You can check to see if you are an administrator by clicking START –> SETTINGS –> CONTROL PANEL –> USER ACCOUNTS. Look for your name and see what it says for your profile. If it says Computer Administrator, you are ready to install.

$$ – Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard

In general, the most common method of creating a PDF file is to use Adobe’s software – Acrobat. Currently in it’s 8th edition, Acrobat Standard “enables business professionals to reliably create, combine, and control Adobe PDF documents for easy, more secure distribution and collaboration. Combine files from multiple applications into a single, polished Adobe PDF document. Protect sensitive information with passwords and permissions, and conduct collaborative document reviews by e-mail or server. ” You can purchase this software from Adobe’s website. Educators are eligible for discount pricing, and this link takes you directly to Adobe 8 Standard in the Educator Store.  There’s a significant cost savings here – it’s regularly priced $299, and educator priced at $99. 

Note: This software will work on pretty much all Windows-based computers, although you do need to be running Internet Explorer (IE) version 6 at least. Support for users with Windows Vista and/or IE 7 is now available through the Acrobat 8.1 update.

Free, But…

This brings me to the first of the two free options. PDF995. This company offers a suite of products that enable you to install a printer drive that will allow you to “print” to PDF using the PDF995 printer driver (I.E. Open a Word doc, and then choose Print from the File Menu and Select PDF995 as a printer, which will then create a PDF version of your Word file), or combine existing multiple PDF files into one using PDFedit995. If you simply want the capability of creating a PDF file from a file you currently have, you will need to download the PDF995 Printer Driver and the Free Converter. Both are located here, and are simple to install. 

Here’s the “But…“. The free versions of PDF995 products will display a sponsor page in your web browser each time you run the software, i.e. Ads. If you’d prefer not to see the Ads, you can pay a one-time fee of $9.95 to use PDF995 Ad-free, or pay $19.95 to use PDF995, PDFedit995, and Signature995 Ad-free. Speaking from personal experience, as I used PDF995 before getting Acrobat Professional, the Ads are livable, but annoying. And it’s a little slow. But free is free, right?

Free

If you are using Microsoft Office 2007, you have the option to save any file you create in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and/or Access as a PDF document. The interface is built right into this version of Office and works very smoothly. I’ve recently used that in both Word and PowerPoint and have found it to be extremely useful. Particuarly with PowerPoint – ever have a presentation that you want to send someone purely because of the content and don’t really care if it actually works as a presentation? Save your presentation as a PDF using Office 07 and send it off that way. I primarily do this in situations where the file is rather large and I know the person is on a slow connection.

One thing to think about with this option though – this only works in Office 2007, and only with Office applications. If you find yourself needing to create PDFs out of files in other applications, such as turning a web page into a PDF file, then you will need to use a combination of the solutions provided about.

I do, however, use a solution that handles all of that and more. But, that’s a topic for another post. Bye!