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Man using computer AEE 526 - Information Technologies in
Agricultural and Extension Education
Module 7:
Icon of filing cabinet drawer 		Creating PDF files (.5 unit)
Introduction:
Magnifying glass image
 		Image of horseshoe puzzleHave you ever tried to solve the puzzle where there are two horseshoes connected by chains with a ring around the chains. Your challenge is to remove the ring. It is a real enigma figuring out how to solve the puzzle, but once you know how to do it, it is rather simple. The same is true of creating PDF files. If you know how to do it, it is rather easy. But if  you don't know, it is hard. So in this module, we are going to learn how to create PDF files.

Learning Objectives:
Icon of a signpost 		bullet Create a PDF file using Acrobat Professional.
bullet Create a PDF file using alternative programs to Acrobat.
bullet Edit a pdf file.
 

Instructional
Activities:
Icon of a computer 		Back in the early days of computers, there were many different word processing programs (such as Word Star, Perfect Writer, Scripsit, Word Perfect and others). Each file format was different. So Adobe created a way to convert all the files to a common file format so the information could be read regardless of the program used to create the file. This common file format was titled PDF - Portable Document Format. The software needed for PDF files was composed of two parts - software to create the files and software to read the files. The software to read the files (Acrobat Reader) was distributed freely. However, the software to create the files (Acrobat Writer now called Acrobat Professional) was sold. This was pretty smart on the part of Acrobat.  In this lesson we will look at how to create PDF files using Acrobat Professional and will also look at some alternatives.Remember, having Acrobat Reader does not mean you can create PDF files, you can just read them.

Since Adobe is the creator of PDF files we logically should start the lesson there. However, the Acrobat Professional program is expensive (retail is $449, but NCSU students can buy it at the bookstore for $74.95-this is a good deal) and the Adobe web site is somewhat technical. But you can download a free version of it for 30 days. There are some tutorials on the Adobe web site if you want to look at them.

When you install Acrobat Professional on your computer, you have two options for creating PDF files.
Image of ACrobat 8
1. One option is to open the Acrobat Professional program and click on the "Create PDF" button. You then get a menu of options. Select the file you want to convert to PDF and say OK. It is that simple. This video shows how to do that plus describes several other features of Acrobat Professional.

2. The second option for creating PDF files is to be working in a program (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). When you are ready to create the PDF file you just go to print. When the Print Dialog box appears, click on the list of available printers and you should see a PDF print/create option. Depending upon which version of Acrobat your are running and the program you have another option might be to go to  File, Save As and then click the list of file formats available. If Acrobat Professional has been intalled, then the PDF file format should be an option for saving. It is really that simple. See a video from Virginia Tech on how to do this.

There are a number of inexpensive or free alternatives to Adobe products that will create PDF files.
 
bullet One is OpenOffice.Org. Watch a video on how to create a pdf file using OpenOffice. Go to the OpenOffice.org web site to download the program.

bullet PDF Creator is another free PDFcreation program. Watch a video on how to use PDF Creator. Go to the PDF Creator web site to download the program.

bullet doPDF is yet another program that creates PDF files. Go to the their web site to learn more about the program and see a video on how to convert a word file to PDF.

bullet An alternative reader for PDF files is FoxIt. Try it. You might like it. It takes up much less space on your computer than Acrobat Reader and is faster. This company also has a PDF editor that allows you to edit existing PDF files.

bullet There are numerous other programs that allow you to convert PDF files to Word documents. You might want to check some of them out if you need to go in and edit PDF files. Some cost, some are shareware.

bullet Read about the different types of PDF files from our own NCSU folks.
Lagniappe:
Icon of a wrapped gift 		The free programs above should be lagniappe enough.
Assignments:
Icon of note pad 		Open up a Word, Excel or Powerpoint file and rename it pdfexercise (the extension may be doc or xls or ppt,etc,). Then use that file to create a pdf version of the file and save that file as pdfexercise.pdf and place both files in your www folder.


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