Create PDFs with free software

Office suites and PDFs
If you have Openoffice you don’t need to install any extra software as it can create PDF documents. After making a document click on the File menu and choose Export as PDF. There are more options than PrimoPDF but they aren’t always easy to use. The default settings will be fine but if you need to create a small file that’s easy to email select ‘Reduce image resolution’. Select 300dpi (dots per inch) for documents that will be printed and 75dpi for those that will only used on screen.

Microsoft Office 2003 can’t create PDF files on its own, but Office 2007 can if you install a plug-in from Microsoft. There’s no charge and it’s a small download so it’s definitely worth doing. It also includes the software for creating files in an alternative to PDF called XPS. Download the XPS plug-in and once it is installed, click on the Office button, Save As and then PDF or XPS.

Windows XP users were not forgotten and there is an XPS writer utility that can be downloaded from Microsoft. Once this has been installed, you can create XPS documents by selecting Microsoft XPS Document Writer as the printer when you print a file. XPS works perfectly well but many people don’t have the software needed to open the files, so we recommend sticking with PDF in most circumstances.

Getting text out of a PDF
The disadvantage of fixing a document into the PDF format is that the contents cannot be easily edited. Both Adobe Reader and Foxit offer two ways of extracting information from a PDF, though: either by saving just the text or by copying sections of pages as an image to the clipboard. Copying the text in your PDF reader and pasting it into a new document will be sufficient for most uses.

The PDF format makes life easier whether you are sending or receiving documents because it ensures that documents look just they were meant to. So, if you ever need to distribute the documents you make, give PDF a try.

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