How to Create an Adobe Acrobat File

Adobe Acrobat produces a file format known as PDF (Portable Document Format). PDF has become the standard in presenting complex documents and forms as well as a professional and convenient way of sharing any type of file. An Adobe Acrobat file completely embeds and preserves all aspects of a document and will therefore look the same on any computer regardless of the differences in operating systems, fonts or programs.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Create an Adobe Acrobat file through Adobe Acrobat Pro. Open Adobe Acrobat Pro and go to "File". Go to "Create PDF" and select whether you want to create a PDF from a file, a web page, a scanner image or from a clipboard image. If you want to assemble several files together into a single PDF, go to "File" and navigate to "Combine." Select "Merge Files into a Single PDF." In the pop-up window, locate the files you want to convert on your computer and click "OK." Your new Adobe Acrobat File is immediately assembled.

2. Create an Adobe Acrobat File online. If you do not have an Adobe account, click "Sign up for a trial subscription" and enter your first and last name, email address, and password to create a new account. Log in to the site using your email address and password. Your initial trial subscription includes 5 free conversions. Click "Convert a File". Click "Browse" and select the file on your computer that you wish to convert. Click "Open" and then select "Continue." On the "Options" page, select your conversion options, including PDF optimization settings, password protection and delivery method of your finished file. Click "Create PDF."

3. Export your Microsoft Office documents as an Adobe Acrobat file. For Macintosh computers, Microsoft Office for Mac comes built-in with the option to print a document to PDF. Open the file you wish to convert. Go to "File" and select "Print". On the lower left corner of the "Print" window, click the "PDF" button. Select "Save as PDF" and save your document on your computer as a PDF file. For PC users, first download the official Microsoft add-in for Office 2007 that allows you to export and save eight different Office documents in PDF format. Once you have downloaded the add-in to your computer, double-click it to begin the installation process. After it has been successfully installed, open the document you wish to convert. Go to "File" and select "Save to PDF."

Tips & Warnings

• When you convert to PDF, you often have the option of setting the minimum level of compatibility for the finished Acrobat file. The lower you make the compatibility level (such as Adobe 3.0 or 4.0) the larger your file will be. To reduce your file size, select a higher compatibility level (such as Adobe 6.0 or higher).

Resources

• Adobe's official site for creating PDFs online
• Microsoft Office 2007 add-in for creating PDFs