Module One
This module will take you through the steps of creating a PDF file.
Creating Adobe PDF files
Creating a PDF file is also known as converting and saving as a PDF file. You must have an existing (source) document to create a PDF file as Adobe is not an authoring tool. Documents and images in almost all file formats can be saved as/converted into a PDF. In addition to electronic documents you can also scan a paper document to create a PDF.
To create a PDF using Acrobat
- Select File, create PDF, from file OR
- In the toolbar click the Create button and choose PDF from File
- In the Open dialogue box select the file you wish to convert (you can browse all file types or select a specific type from the files of type menu to locate a particular type quickly)
- Click Open to convert the file to a PDF
- When the conversion is complete and the new PDF opens choose File, Save As and specify a name and location to save to
To create a PDF using a Microsoft Office application
- File, Save As, Adobe PDF OR
- Use the Acrobat tab in the ribbon to access additional options (see video below for overview of options)
In addition to creating PDF's from within Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office applications you can also use the Adobe PDF printer function which is available from the Print dialogue box in most applications. This function is called printing to a PDF file, instead of printing a hard copy to a physical printer you select Adobe PDF as your printer and it creates a PDF file from the application you are using.
To print to a PDF file
- Choose File, Print. The Print dialogue box will open
- Click the down arrow and select Adobe PDF as your printer. Click OK. The Save PDF File As dialogue box will open
- Specify a name and location to save your PDF file and click Save
Your document is now available as a PDF in the location you saved it to.
If you are working off campus using your personal computer and do not have access to Adobe Acrobat you can still convert documents to PDF in the Thin Client environment using step 1 of creating a PDF using a Microsoft Office application and by printing to a PDF file. CSU computers without Adobe Acrobat also have this functionality.
The Acrobat Tab in Microsoft Office documents
During installation an Acrobat "tab" is added to the ribbon in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You can access different PDF creation functions from this tab without opening Acrobat.