Tech Team Newsletter - Volume 5 Issue 5

Tech Team: In the Trenches

July 2007 Volume 5 Issue 5

In this Issue:

Converting Documents to PDF (Portable Document Format)
By: Mary Wilson

Have you ever wanted to create an un-editable version of a document but you weren’t sure how to do it? Acro Software has created a free application to do it for you. It is called CutePDF and is specially designed to create Adobe Acrobat documents from virtually any Windows application.

In the digital age, it is always a good idea when publishing documents, via email or the internet, to prevent users from editing the document’s contents. Adobe Acrobat is the software of choice for this type of document protection since the Adobe file format (PDF) has become the standard for document protection and publishing.

One of the benefits of this type of "freeware" is that you don’t have to own an expensive copy of Adobe Acrobat Professional to create an Adobe PDF document. By installing CutePDF, you are able to create a PDF version of any documents that you want to share online and protect them from being modified or edited. This could apply to contracts, addendums, etc.

There are other free PDF converters if you are not inclined to use CutePDF. These include PrimoPDF, which supports merging and appending more than one PDF file into a single document. PDFOnline offers a service where they will convert your document to PDF directly on their Web site with no need to download any software on your computer. Both sites contain positive user testimonials regarding their product.

If you are looking for a more advanced PDF converter, there are some choices available but they are not free. However, they still cost less than Adobe Acrobat Professional. These include DocuDesk software, which includes customer support with its pricing. Moreover, there is PDF Converter, which has software that allows you to do some minimal editing of PDFs in addition to creating them. MyPDFCreator is another software that allows you to convert almost any of your existing documents to a PDF File and it has received multiple awards.

In sum, there are multiple options out there for creating a standard PDF document. Make sure you choose the software that you are more comfortable using on a regular basis. Happy converting!