How do I convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF file?
While Microsoft Word is arguably the most popular word processor for professional use, distributing Word documents on the Internet is problematic for two reasons:
- Not everyone runs Microsoft Word
- Word documents are easily changed
The standard format for document distribution on the Internet is Adobe PDF (PDF stands for “portable document format”). So if you’re writing an ebook, you’ll probably use Microsoft Word to create it but you’ll want to convert the Word file (which usually ends in “.doc”) into a PDF file (which usually ends in “.pdf”).
There are two easy ways to convert a Microsoft Word document to a PDF. The first way is to install a “PDF printer driver” on your machine. This is an application that installs a new “printer” on your system that isn’t connected to a real printer. Instead, this “printer” captures the output that would go to a real printer and converts it to a PDF file. To create a PDF, then, all you do is “print” from within Word to the fake printer. There are several free PDF printer drivers available, including PrimoPDF and CutePDF. (Be sure to select a version that works with your operating system — not all PDF printer drivers work with the 64-bit version of Vista, for example.)
The second way to convert a Word document to PDF is to use the free Writer application, part of the OpenOffice office suite. Simply load the Word file into Writer. Then use the Export as PDF… menu item (in the File menu) to convert it to a PDF file. That’s all there is to it!
Note: Writer’s support for Word files is not perfect. You should always examine the generated PDF closely to ensure that the document is correct. Commercial conversion solutions are available as well, and you may have to resort to one of them instead. One commercial product is InvestInTech’s Able2Doc, which can instantly convert a PDF file to a Word document and is very easy to use. A more comprehensive product, Able2Extract, is also available for converting to Excel and other formats. There are also professional version of PrimoPDF and CutePDF available.
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