How to Make a PDF File on a PC

By Ruth Eshbaugh

Printing Menu in Illustrator Printing Menu in Illustrator

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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.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

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

Step1
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.
Step2
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.
Step3
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.
Step4
Layout tab Select the Layout tab in the Printing Preference menu to select the correct orientation of the page.
Step5
Advanced Options menu Select the Advanced button on the Layout tab to open the menu to select the paper size.
Step6
PhotoShop Print menu Select the Page Setup button to open up the printing preferences in Photoshop and Illustrator.
Step7
Microsoft Print menu Select the Preference button in Microsoft Word, Publisher, PowerPoint and Excel to select the setting for the files.
Step8
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.

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eHow Article: How to Make a PDF File on a PC

Article By: Ruth Eshbaugh

Ruth Eshbaugh

Novice Novice | 0 Points

Category: Computers

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