How to Make a PDF File on a PC

Adobe made seamless file sharing possible when it developed the Acrobat program. Acrobat files, portable document file with a .pdf extension, make it possible for a variety of files to be converted into a form that can be read by any computer with the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. Acrobat Reader is free software from Adobe. To make Acrobat files you need to purchase Adobe Acrobat. You can create Acrobat files in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. Programs like Word, Publisher, PowerPoint and Excel have the capability of creating Acrobat files.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Adobe Acrobat
• Software programs like Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, PhotoShop, Microsoft Word, Publisher, PowerPoint and Excel.

How to Make a PDF File on a PC

1. 
   InDesign Print menu

   Go to the File and pull down menu to print and select Adobe PDF to create a PDF in InDesign Acrobat files are created by "printing" instead of "saving" the file.

2. 
   Preference button

   Select the Setup button and then the Preference button to set your preferences for the document. Do not assume your page size, orientation or file quality is correctly selected.

3. 
   Printing Preferences menu

   Select the Adobe PDF Setting Tab in the Printing Preference menuto select the file quality. Standard is default. When the document has photos the High Quality setting will produce clearer photos but the file size will be larger.

4. 
   Layout tab

   Select the Layout tab in the Printing Preference menu to select the correct orientation of the page.

5. 
   Advanced Options menu

   Select the Advanced button on the Layout tab to open the menu to select the paper size.

6. 
   PhotoShop Print menu

   Select the Page Setup button to open up the printing preferences in Photoshop and Illustrator.

7. 
   Microsoft Print menu

   Select the Preference button in Microsoft Word, Publisher, PowerPoint and Excel to select the setting for the files.

8. Hit the Print button when you have finished selecting your preferences to create or print Acrobat file.

Tips & Warnings

• The advantages of a PDF file over other file types is that they don't lose the fonts and photos are embedded so you do not have to provide support files or fonts. Adobe Acrobat preserves the formatting of a document.
• Another advantage is that the file sizes are smaller than the original file.
• If you are an artists or graphic designers use PDFs for on-line portfolios.
• If you need to work with a printer, use a PDF because with some care they are a reliable file type readily used in the printing process without trouble.

Resources

• Acrobat Reader
• Send to FedEx Kinko's