I.  Topic:  Adobe PDF Maker

Category: Software

Keywords: Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, PDF

Author: Katherine Hallissy

Date created: June 24, 2003

Date last modified: June 24, 2003

See this file in PDF format

 

II. Summary:  I will walk you through converting a Microsoft Word document into a PDF file. 

 

III. Step by Step Instructions:

  1. Open a Microsoft Word file in Microsoft Word.  Make sure the file has been saved in Microsoft Word.
  2. In the Microsoft Word toolbar, you may see two buttons with the Adobe logo.
  3. If you don’t see Adobe buttons in the toolbar, click on the View menu, hover the mouse over the toolbars item, and click on PDF Maker 5.0.  If PDF Maker 5.0 is checked off in the menu, the buttons should appear in the toolbar.
  1. Hover the mouse over each of the buttons that have the Adobe logo.  When you hover for a moment, a short description of the button’s function should pop up.
  2. Click on the button that has the description “Convert to Adobe PDF.”
  3. When the following alert box pops up, click on “Yes.”

 

 

 

 

 

  1. When you are prompted to save your document, confirm that it is saving to the location you desire and under the name you desire.  By default, the file should save as type “PDF files,” which is the desired result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Once you click on the “Save” button, you might see an alert box pop up to let you know that the conversion is taking place.  You may have to wait about 30 seconds for this process to complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Once the Adobe PDF Maker 5.0 for Word alert box disappears, your computer still displays your Microsoft Word document.  If you would like to open your PDF file, you can open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader and open the PDF file from there.

 

IV. Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. What is a PDF file?

PDF stands for “Portable Document Format.”  A PDF file presents a document independently of the original software, hardware, and operating system used to create the document.  Documents in PDF format might contain very simple or extremely complex text, graphics, and images, with a rich use of fonts, graphics, and color.

  1. What are the advantages of converting a Word document to PDF?

Perhaps the best advantage of presenting a document in PDF format is that the document may be cleanly opened in a web browser or downloaded from the web, in the same format that it was originally published.

  1. Can I convert a PDF file to Word format?

The relationship is not symmetrical; there is no easy way to save a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat as type “.doc” or to export the file to Microsoft Word.

  1. What if I want to make a few changes to the content of the PDF file?

If you have converted a Word document to PDF but then wish to make changes to the final product, the best course of action would be to make your changes to the document in Microsoft Word and then convert the updated Word document to PDF.  You might use the same file name for the PDF file if you intend to replace the outdated version.