Before you can create a PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format), you must have Adobe Acrobat, a PDF plug-in, or appropriate third-party software. This does not mean the free Adobe Reader program. Reader only reads PDF's, while Acrobat creates them. To learn more about Adobe Acrobat, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/ and the Professional Development web site.
If you have Microsoft Office 2007, you can use a special plug-in to create PDF's.
Adobe Acrobat, when installed, acts like a printer on your system. It allows you to create PDF files that can be shared with most modern computers on nearly all operating systems. The format allows you to make an original, put notes on it that others can see and comment on, and edit the original to a degree. It also connects with external editors, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., to edit items within the document.
For our purposes, this format allows you, the customer, to create a document that will look the same to you as it will to us. Since we cannot accept files in any other formats, Acrobat provides a way that your jobs can come out looking the way you need them: the same way the PDF does.
STEP 1: Checking to see if you have Acrobat or Reader
The simplest way to see if you have Acrobat loaded on your computer is to try to use it. Try to print something (like this web page) by clicking on File (in the top-left corner of the window) and then Print. Try to select a different printer. If you only have one available, or you do not see the words "PDF" or "Distiller" anywhere in your printers, then you'll need to purchase a copy of Adobe Acrobat.
At this point, you proceed to print your document as you would to a desktop printer.
MAC USERS: Choose "Create Adobe PDF" for your printer, "File" for your Destination, and under "Postscript Settings", set Font Inclusion to "All". Select here for a detailed picture.
PC(WINDOWS) USERS (which is about 90% of the computers out there): After you choose to print, one of many different screens will appear. Here are some examples. After you have selected "Adobe PDFWriter", find and check the "Print to File" checkbox.
Next, locate the "Properties" button (sometimes labeled "Setup"), and select it to open the Properties menu (in some print screens, this is included as part of the first window). Select on the "Font Embedding" tab, and check the box marked "Embed All Fonts". Failure to do this may result in your file not working on other computers! You may also use this box to choose to change the page size and compression (choosing between a better looking file and a smaller file), as well as check which version of Acrobat you have.
Once you have done this, select Okay/save/print so that the job prints.
If the computer doesn't ask you where you want to save the file, it is in the My Documents folder. If it does ask you, MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CHANGE THE EXTENSION. The extension should be .ps (a postscript file) or a .prn (a printer file). After these files have been created, Adobe Distiller (part of Acrobat) should automatically open up and create a PDF. If it does not, then open the .ps or .prn file up with Distiller. Once you have the PDF, open it up and make sure it looks the way you want to. You can make minor changes to the file in acrobat if you need to, but it is best to re-open the original and go from there.
STEP 1: Checking to see if you have Acrobat or Reader