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How do I convert a Word document into a PDF file?

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PDF, or Portable Document Format, is Adobe's solution for creating documents that can be read almost anywhere. By downloading Adobe's free reader, a PDF file can be read on almost any computer, and even portable devices such as PDAs.

But how do you create a PDF in the first place?

As is often the case, there are several answers...

The "official" way is to purchase a copy of Adobe Acrobat. Acrobat's purpose in life is to create PDF's. It installs several tools, including a Word macro that makes creating PDF's from Word a single-click operation. It also installs a Windows printer driver that will allow you to create PDFs from any application that can print.

Adobe also has an on-line solution Create Adobe PDF Online, that will allow you to create PDFs. It's a subscription service, but the first five PDFs are included in a free trial.

A Google search turns up many pdf conversion programs, ranging from free to inexpensive. Their capabilities vary, so it would be wise to investigate and try a few before investing any money.

Yet another solution is the free Open Office. Open Office is a free suite of office applications, including a Word processor much like Microsoft Word. Open office can read Word documents, and can create PDFs. Again, the feature set is similar, but not identical to Word and Acrobat, so compatibility may still be an issue. But the price is right, and it's a well supported open source application with a very active user community to help.

For the record, if you're planning on professional PDF content creation as part of a business strategy, the investment in Acrobat is probably worth it. No issues of compatibility or missing features that way. If you're just experimenting, then the free or inexpensive converters are a good way to go.

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Article 8686 | Posted June 17, 2005

Recent Comments

The best PDF converters are the ones that integrate with the usual PRINT menu option of applicatoins. e.g. Word, Excel etc..

Theres lots of freeware ones available. Im using one called CutePDF which is great.

try..

http://pdf.qarchive.org

http://www.accelerated-ideas.com/SoftwareDirectory/aiFreeSoftwareSearch.aspx?stxt=pdf

Posted by: Bill at March 24, 2007 06:15 AM

i faced the same problem as mentioned by Kiril Josifovski... and i tried to rectify it the way u suggested... however i cant find the pdf maker box in the templates and addins in tools... kindly help me with this.

Posted by: swathi at April 5, 2007 06:09 AM

I need to convert a pdf to word is that possible?

Posted by: Cindy at April 5, 2007 12:47 PM

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Not in general, no.

You might be able to copy/paste text if the specific PDF file you have allows
it.

Alternately you can try feeding images of the pages through some kind of OCR
software.

But neither solution is easy or guaranteed.

Leo
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFGFbSPCMEe9B/8oqERAqeIAJ0dUzuwF0zFM0Xoeap0DX+2uBAguwCgiYpf
4ArcAtkIXRSBFVlWY+5WQaE=
=18lP
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Posted by: Leo Notenboom at April 5, 2007 07:46 PM

My PDF book, I converted from Open Office, came out fine on my husband's computer, but someone else downloaded it, and it came out as a bunch of dots. What did I do wrong? How can I fix it?

Posted by: Kathleen Lupole at April 27, 2007 08:46 AM

Go and download free primo pdf converter http://www.primopdf.com/
it works with your acrobat 6.0 standard.
this free program will solve your problem of converting any ms word document into pdf format.

"i cannot convert my word document into pdf. Onthe contrary my excel and power point work fine. I am using acrobat 6.0 standard and office 2003 with sp2 and all the patches have been updated."

Posted by: Rigo Muniz at October 30, 2007 05:15 PM

I need to convert a Word 2000 manuscript into a PDF file to send to a publisher. They only accept documents created in Word so changing to a different document program is out of the question. I have been researching articles on this for the last couple of weeks and can't find anything that will work unless I have to pay a fee to install something else on my computer. According to something I printed out during a Google search there should be an Acrobat menu bar as well as Acrobat icons in my MS Word program. They do not exist. So it also gave me the option of selecting Adobe PDF through my printer window however there is no setting for that either. So I am stuck wondering what to do now. I have Adobe 5.0 on my computer as well as Acrobat 8.1.2 I am using Windows XP pro editon on my computer. Can anyone help me with this? I am willing to try whatever suggestion you can make as I have spent hours on this already. Is my best bet just to go with the subscription service "create Adobe PDF online?" Thank you for any help you can give.

Posted by: Sunni Morris at February 13, 2008 09:10 PM

Leo...I read your article, even visited the site you mentioned...Open Office...a lot of the comments attached to your article pertained to difficulties converting a Word document to a PDF. Here is the SOLUTION...
1. Open Up Word;
2. Click on "Help" in Word;
3. Click on "About Microsoft Word";
4. Click on "Disabled Items";
You will see..."The items listed below were disabled because they prevented Word from functioning correctly";
5. You will see a notice - "Adobe PDF Was Disabled";
6. Highlight that statement;
7. Click "Enable".
8. Click "Close."
PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL SEE A COMMENT - "You may have to start Word to enable these changes."

If you follow the above INSTRUCTIONS....you should not have any problems at all. It only took me hours and hours to figure out why my Word was not converting to a PDF, wherein Excel was giving me no problem at all. THE PROBLEM IS IN THE SETTINGS I HAVE DESCRIBED ABOVE IN WORD AND NO WHERE ELSE....GOOD LUCK EVERYONE !!!!!

Posted by: Nan Young at February 14, 2008 12:38 AM

RESPONDING TO SUNNI MORRIS Re: CONVERTING YOUR WORD MANUSCRIPT TO A PDF - WITHOUT PURCHASING EXPENSIVE SOFTWARE OR USING AN ON-LINE SERVICE.

THIS IS TOTALLY FREE...You'll be happy about that!

1. Go to "Download.com" - It's FREE AND SAFE.
2. Type in "PRIMOPDF" in their search window.
3. Download the software you need..very quick.
4. You will be getting PrimoPDF 3.2 version.
5. At the top of the screen for Primo you will
see the Red Adobe PDF button.
6. Open it up....find your Word document and you
are done...just save your PDF and print.

GOOD LUCK....GLAD TO HELP!!!

Posted by: Nan Young at February 14, 2008 12:58 AM

i followed instructions given by you regarding converting word document into pdf ,i wnt to word opened help- about microsoft word-disabled items but no items are disabled ..please help. i still can't change word into pdf. thanks

Posted by: mandeep kaur at March 13, 2008 11:49 PM

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