While not as “flashy” as some of the topics we have recently covered, it is no exaggeration to say that word processing has been one of the primary sources of fuel for the digital revolution. With modern word processing many tasks that previously required extensive technical knowledge are now easily accessible by the general population. What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) word processing programs (e.g., Microsoft Word, Open Office) have a number of incredible advantages over the alternatives that have resulted in them virtually monopolizing the market for average text editing.

The greatest strength of your average WYSIWYG software is that it gives the end user (you!) the ability to visualize the format of the text you are creating, and edit the layout without an in-depth understanding of the complicated process going on behind the scenes, which brings your documents to life! All the same, your software is creating extensive and complicated code, behind your scenes, that your computer “translates” into the visual experience you encounter when you open up a document in your favorite editor! This is very similar to the way the .html files work that power your website, and explains why the size of a Microsoft Word document file (.doc or .docx) is typically so much larger than an equivalent raw text (.txt) file.

If you have ever compared two translations of a single text in a foreign language, you will know that there are inevitably differences in the end result, as each translator balances their own personal concerns of trying to be true to the original source. Sometimes these differences are relatively minor, such as preferring to use one synonym over another. These differences become more pronounced when you begin to deal with more complicated language or specialized topics (e.g., poetry). When you open a Microsoft Word document created on a different machine, your computer is doing its best to render the document to the specifications of the original source, but, just as with human translations, differences in the translator(hardware and software configuration, for the computer translator), will result in differences in the final product.

A PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file standard that is used to create and display documents independently of the specific application software, hardware, operating system, or printer that you have used to access the file. A PDF file includes all of the textual information, as well as formatting definitions (fonts, graphics, spacing, etc.) that are required to display the file identically regardless of your particular computer setup. To continue with the original metaphor, a PDF file not only includes the original source, it also includes the translator! If, for example, you create a PDF file at your office computer which is a Mac, and you send it home to your Windows PC to print out, the file will display and print identically as it would if you had directly printed it out on your office computer.

This may not sound like a big deal, and, as mentioned, for the most part such alterations would be fairly minor, and may not be a problem for everyday use, but for certain document types (e.g., legal forms, article manuscripts) it becomes invaluable to have the knowledge that the file you have provided will be displaying/printing identically regardless of idiosyncrasies with the end user’s machine.

Hopefully by now I have convinced you of the utility of PDFs in certain situations, and perhaps you are wondering how you can go about generating them easily! In the not so recent past, it could be quite a hassle to convert a file to PDF format, but these days it is a fairly simple process. The exact steps you will need to take depend on your particular hardware and software setup.

1. If you are on an Apple computer, you can convert a document to PDF by following these steps:
   1. Open the document, using whatever software you used to create it (e.g., Microsoft Word).
   2. In the “File” menu, select “Print.” I recognize that this is not a particularly intuitive step, but you want to select “Print” even though you are not physically printing anything.
   3. Select the “Save as PDF” option in the lower-left corner of the print dialog.
2. If you are on a Windows computer, the process can be a bit more difficult, and depend on your particular setup.

1. 1. If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 or later, there is a simple process for saving PDFs. You can convert a document to PDF by following these steps:
      1. All you have to do is click the “File” menu, and select “Save As.”
      2. Change the “Save as Type” from “Word Document” (.docx) or “Word 97-2003 Document” (.doc) to “PDF.”
      3. Name the file, hit save, and you are good to go!
   2. If you are using Microsoft Office 2003 or earlier, you will most likely be able to install printer drivers, but the process for installing these drivers can be fairly technical and dependent upon your computer’s hardware and software. There are a variety of options available, but the primary software we recommend is CutePDF. CutePDF is available as both as independent software to convert existing files to PDF format, and as a printer driver, to enable the “Print as PDF” functionality outlined above. You can download CutePDF here: http://www.cutepdf.com/

1. There are also free alternatives to the above solutions, which work for both Windows and Apple computers (and other operating systems, including Linux). There various free online PDF conversion tools (including http://www.pdfonline.com/, http://www.doc2pdf.net/, and http://zamzar.com/). These tools often have limited functionality, and can sometimes produce mixed results, but can be good if you need to quickly convert files, or if you are working on a machine that doesn’t have any of the above software installed.
2. There are also free alternative suites of office software that include native support to save or export documents to PDF format. OpenOffice and LibreOffice are two of the most popular free office suite alternatives to Microsoft Office. LibreOffice is a derivative of OpenOffice, and both are of comparable quality and functionality to Microsoft Word. You can download OpenOffice here: http://www.openoffice.org and you can download LibreOffice here: http://www.libreoffice.org/

If you want to turn your forms into PDFs, but you only have .doc, .odt, or some other document format, and do not have the tools accessible to convert your files, just send them our way! We would be more than happy to convert the files for you, and upload them to your website. We maintain computers with a full complement of standard software that allows us to generate these files for you, so you can rest knowing that we can convert your .doc file into a high quality PDF version.

Rich M – CoachingWebsites Listings and Support
Email any questions to [email protected]