Portable Document Format (PDF) Conversion

18Jan/103

Preserve your document format with PDF. However, generating these PDFs can be time consuming without the right tools (iStockphoto)

This is going to be a quick mini-post that is more of a question to all of you: Do you find yourself creating PDF files? If you do, what programs do you use?

What exactly is the PDF format?

These days, the PDF file format is becoming more common. PDF allows the author to control the content and formatting of a document independent of the operating system used to view the document. This means that a PDF-formatted file looks the same on a Windows, Mac, or Linux machine.

PDF on a Mac = Easy!

In the last few months, I've found that I've been using the PDF format more frequently in work-related files. Mac OS X Snow Leopard offers built-in PDF printing. When you want to convert any file to PDF, you first select the "print" option from the program's pull down menu. Then, you select "save to PDF." That's it.

If your PDF file is large, it can be difficult to send it over email. Many email systems don't allow files of a certain size to be sent as attachments. If you are using Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, download this file from the Apple website. Click on the file and follow the instructions. The file will extract itself, make some quick changes, and will allow you to easily compress your PDF files from the Preview application.

PDF in Windows = Not as easy

If you are generating PDF files using Windows, I need your help. What programs are you using? With a quick Google search, I've found the following free or pay options. Please note that I have NOT tried these myself.

Action Item

What software do you use for PDF conversions? Comment in the comments section of this post or send me an e-mail!

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Tagged as: conversion, Mac, PDF, Windows Leave a comment

Comments (3) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Charles Sizemore
January 18th, 2010 - 10:55

Cute PDF writer, despite it’s retarded name, is a decent free program for converting just about anything to a PDF. Essentially, it sets itself up like a printer. Instead of printing to your printer, you print to Cute PDF writer and it generates a PDF for you. My only complaint is that it doesn’t understand embedded links, so you lose them.

If you have Office 2007, the built-in feature that saves to PDF is a better option. It preserves embedded links.
Ronald
January 18th, 2010 - 11:42

Thanks for the tip and the notice about the live links. I was trying to generate a PDF file with Office 2003, which doesn’t have an embedded Microsoft-provided solution. Since the files were confidential, I didn’t want to trust some random download that may or may not be reputable.

I ended up generating the document in Word, opening it up in Open Office on the Mac, making sure there weren’t any crazy formatting translation errors, and then generating the PDF that way. I would have preferred to generate the document in Open Office, but it would have taken me ages to reproduce the template that was already in MS Word.

What a pain.
Nathan
January 19th, 2010 - 10:01

I also use CutePDF. Real easy to just print it to PDF just like you would to a printer.