How to Create PDFs from Any Document

PDF, the Portable Document Format, is a standard created by Adobe for circulating formatted documents over the web. Using Acrobat Reader or some other PDF reader (I like Foxit Reader, which opens much faster than Acrobat Reader and seems to work just as well), the recipient views your document exactly as it appeared on your screen and as it would appear if you had printed it out. In fact, PDF is essentially a digital representation of the file your computer sends your printer.

Several free programs have appeared in the last couple years that take advantage of the relationship between the PDF format and printing. These programs install a virtual printer on your PC, allowing you to “print” to a PDF file instead of to a physical paper-based printer. All you have to do is select “Print”, and when the print dialog opens, select your PDF printer from the drop-down menu. A save-file box will open, allowing you to select a folder and a name for your PDF; when you hit “Save” the file will be saved as a perfectly formatted PDF file.

There are dozens of free programs to create PDFs. I recommend PDF Forge’s PDF Creator because it’s open source (meaning nobody “owns” the code and anyone can develop it further or modify it) and works well. To edit PDF files directly, you have to use commercial software like Adobe Acrobat, which costs several hundred dollars — instead, make sure you keep your source files (the original word processor file) and make any changes in them. Then, simply generate a new PDF for free.