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Technology Advice by Ryan Taylor Adams

Convert Word Documents (or Any Printable File) to a PDF

April 6th, 2008 · No Comments · Printer Friendly Version

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Ever need to save a file (such as a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or picture) as a PDF? Adobe Acrobat (NOT the free “Acrobat Reader”, but “Acrobat”) includes tools to create a PDF from any file. However, if you don’t own Acrobat, you can still create PDF files for free.

If you simply want to be able to convert existing files (such as text documents, pictures, or any thing else that can be printed) as a PDF, follow the instructions below:

  1. Download PrintToPDF. Save it to your desktop.
  2. Go to your desktop and double-click on “PrintToPDF.exe”.
  3. On the window that opens, click “Browse…”.
  4. Highlight “Desktop” by clicking on it once, and then press “OK”.
  5. Click “Unzip” and wait for the process to finish.
  6. Click “OK” when informed that the files were extracted successfully, then press “Close”.
  7. On your desktop, double-click “install.bat”.
  8. When the window “Setup – CutePDF Writer” opens, click “Next”.
  9. Accept the license agreement and click “Next”.
  10. Click “Install”.
  11. When the installation is complete, a web page will open with details on how to save your files as PDFs.