How to Create PDF Files - Whitman College



How to Create Basic PDF Files

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. PDF files can be read with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. PDF files maintain the original formatting used by the creator of the document. PDF files can be created in two ways. First, you can "convert" existing electronic documents, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents, into PDF, thus making the document readable by anyone with the free Acrobat Reader. This conversion saves all of the formatting you have set on the document, so it looks the same to the viewer as you intended, regardless of the fonts or other programs on the viewer’s computer. Second, you can scan documents directly into PDF format for distributions to other who, again, need only have the Acrobat Reader. While the reader is free, Adobe acrobat, the program needed to create PDF files, is not.

How can I get started in my office?

• Purchase a copy of Adobe Acrobat, which is about $60 or use the training room or computer lab scanner stations in Olin and Maxey.

• Once Acrobat is installed, it will appear as a printer in your print list.

• Follow the instructions below for creating files.

How do I create PDF files?

(Note: The steps below are for the workshop. When you are doing this on your own, you will of course substitute the files listed with your own files.)

1. Open your document. In this example any word file.

2. Make sure the document looks the way you want it to.

3. Click on File > Print

4. Click the drop arrow next to the printer list and choose Acrobat Distiller. (It may already be chosen.)

5. Click OK.

6. You will see the Save PDF File As prompt.

7. Make sure that the directory selected is the desired location to save your file.

8. Click OK.

9. Your document will open in acrobat for preview or other changes.

How do I add bookmarks to my file?

Acrobat allows you to add bookmarks to your file. These bookmarks can be used to get to a different location in your document without scrolling through pages. You decide where the links jump to and what they say. To create bookmarks:

1. Launch Adobe Acrobat (unless already running)

2. Open your PDF file

3. Click on the “Bookmark” tab to open the bookmark column. (clicking on this tab again will close the bookmark column).

4. From the toolbar click on the “Text Select” tool.

5. Highlight the text you wish to bookmark by clicking and dragging over the text (this is usually header text)

6. Click the “Bookmark” button at the top of the bookmark column.

7. Click “New Bookmark” (or Ctrl-b)

8. Type the bookmark name or leave as is.

9. Click anywhere off the bookmark name

How do I use Acrobat with other programs, like PowerPoint?

1. Open the file/Presentation you wish to use.

2. Click on File > Print.

3. At printer name, again choose Acrobat PDFWriter.

4. Toward the bottom left of the Print screen there is a section labeled "Print what." In the drop-down list, choose Handouts. In the Handouts section to the right, choose 3 in the "Slides per page" drop-down. (This will print three slides down the side of the page, with lines for note taking to the right of each slide.)

5. Under "Color/Grayscale," select Pure Black & White in the drop-down menu. This will convert the slides to black and white, and will save on toner by not printing the background.

6. Click OK.

7. You will see the Save PDF File As window again. Select the location to save your file and change he name if needed.

8. Click OK.

9. You will again see the same information screen that appeared in Word.

10. Click OK.

11. You should see the printer icon for a longer period of time than you did when converting the Word document.

12. Now go locate and double-click on the PDF file you just saved.

13. You would make this file available on your Web site in the same way described above.

I have some print materials that I’d like to make available. Can Acrobat help me with that?

You can make print materials available by scanning them. When you scan with Acrobat, your scanned document is converted into PDF format.

Each software/scanner setup is different. In general, the steps that follow will apply to all setups. However, if it doesn’t work, consult your scanner and Acrobat documentation.

When scanning printed materials, it is very important to be aware of copyright. If you didn’t create it, someone else likely owns copyright on the item.

Steps for scanning with Acrobat:

1. Make sure your scanner is on

2. Start Acrobat Exchange or Adobe Acrobat

3. Put your document into the scanner (usually face down on the scan bed)

4. In Acrobat, click on File > Import > Scan

5. You may have to select the device and whether you're scanning single- or double-sided.

6. Your scanning software should open, and your scanner should complete a preview scan

7. When the preview scan comes up, make any adjustments you’d like, including selecting the area you want to appear in the final scan

8. Click Scan (this gets the final scan into the computer)

9. Your scanning software should take you back to Acrobat.

10. In Acrobat, you should see a small window asking you if you want to scan another page. If the document you’re scanning has more than one page, click the next page button. If this is the only page, click Done. .

Note: Scanning multiple pages causes each page to append to the previously scanned page. If you have multiple pages, but want them to be in different files, click Done after each page to create separate files.

11. When you’ve scanned the last page, click Done on the window described in step 9.

12. Your scanned pages will open in Acrobat. Scroll through to make sure that everything is there.

13. Click on File > Save As, and name your file and save it.

Adding, Deleting, Moving Pages

Once your PDF files are created, you can add one file to another. For example, you might make a PDF from a spreadsheet file and a PDF from a Word file. These can be joined into one document by doing the following:

1. Open the first file in Adobe Acrobat

2. Click the “Document” menu

3. Click “Insert Pages”

4. Select the file to add to the open document

5. Click “Select”

6. In the window that appears select “Location” – meaning do you want to add the file before or after certain pages

7. Choose “First Page”, “Last Page”, or page number to specify the insertion point

8. Click “OK”

You can also delete pages from a file:

1. Click the “Document” menu

2. Choose “Delete Pages”

3. Specify the pages to delete

You can extract pages:

1. Click the “Document” menu

2. Choose “Extract Pages”

3. Specify the pages to extract

4. Check the box to delete them from the original document

You can replace pages:

1. Open the first file in Adobe Acrobat

2. Click the “Document” menu

3. Click “Replace Pages”

4. Select the file to add to the open document

5. Click “Select”

6. In the window that appears select the pages to be replaced

7. select the pages they will be replacing

8. Click “OK”

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