Creating PDF files

Do you need to create PDF files? You could spend $129 or more for Adobe Acrobat Standard, Pro or 3D. Or, you can create PDF's for free!

PDF output is built in to OpenOffice.org, the free alternative to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org (which everyone I know just calls "Open Office") can read and write Microsoft Office files, and, unlike Microsoft Office 2007, looks and works a lot like Office 2003.

You can also make PDF files from just about any program you run on Windows. Download PDFCreator from here or here, install it, and "print" the document.

At the point where you can choose a printer, choose PDFCreator instead. Your "print" will go into a PDF file instead of to hardcopy. Anyone with Adobe Acrobat Reader should be able to read it.

PDFCreator will present a bunch of options as you create the file. This is entirely for your own benefit. If you don't care about adding metadata to the document, just click Save.


Lastly, you'll see a file selector where you choose the name of the output file. This is the PDF file you can keep or send to others.

- JB