Ian
Well-known member
Sometimes you need to share a file with others but you don't want them to have to worry about pictures or perhaps you don't want to bother with all the different forms of MS Word and whether they have a compatible computer or not. Maybe you want to lock the output file down so the info cant be changed, just printed. One of the answers is to put it into a PDF file. PDF stands for Portable Document Format and was developed by Adobe. Find out more at ]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format
If it isn't in PDF form, and you have a way of reading it (perhaps it is a Word document or RTF or other text file) but don't have a way to put it into PDF form, try a neat little utility called CutePDF. It is free for non-commercial use. Comes in two parts, both freely down-loadable and low in download time too.
Once you have installed it you will have a virtual printer installled in your printer section, I suggest you make this your default printer, that way if ever you hit print and a printer isn't connected, this baby handles it without your desktop/laptop giving you all sorts of grief about no printer connected. BTDT way too many times.
The output is a basic but quite OK PDF file that can be freely shared with others. If the original has graphics and links to sites then the same will be in your PDF. I just 'printed' up a copy of this page and have attached it as a sample. Check it out.
I use this baby all the time and have never been disappointed in the output. You ll find it (and its bigger pay-me brothers) at http://www.cutepdf.com/products/ plus good support, FAQ's etc. I don't get anything from them for posting this, just that it is a great little tool that really comes in handy for how I work.
Pros
When you get to those sites where you have filled out a form but you want a copy. Select to print and you have a full copy of all of the info you are about to send. Want to show a friend what a site looks like but they don't have access to the net? Print it as a PDF and then share it that way. There will be lots of times when having a record will be handy later on. PDF's are an almost universal way to do that.
Cons:
To read it requires that you have a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. That isn't that much of a problem as it is freely available for almost every operating system in common use. Be aware that Acrobat is a big download because Adobe are bloating it with loads of extraneous garbage. But the upside is that a great majority of folks already have an Acrobat Reader installed on their systems.
They are not the only way, they are not the smallest way, they are not the fastest way. They certainly are almost the universal way. They are the way that many Government and State bodies have decided to format their public forms. They are here with us if we want them or not.
An almost out-dated (because of the updates in Acrobat 7) rant against PDF files in web sites: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030714.html
If it isn't in PDF form, and you have a way of reading it (perhaps it is a Word document or RTF or other text file) but don't have a way to put it into PDF form, try a neat little utility called CutePDF. It is free for non-commercial use. Comes in two parts, both freely down-loadable and low in download time too.
Once you have installed it you will have a virtual printer installled in your printer section, I suggest you make this your default printer, that way if ever you hit print and a printer isn't connected, this baby handles it without your desktop/laptop giving you all sorts of grief about no printer connected. BTDT way too many times.
The output is a basic but quite OK PDF file that can be freely shared with others. If the original has graphics and links to sites then the same will be in your PDF. I just 'printed' up a copy of this page and have attached it as a sample. Check it out.
I use this baby all the time and have never been disappointed in the output. You ll find it (and its bigger pay-me brothers) at http://www.cutepdf.com/products/ plus good support, FAQ's etc. I don't get anything from them for posting this, just that it is a great little tool that really comes in handy for how I work.
Pros
When you get to those sites where you have filled out a form but you want a copy. Select to print and you have a full copy of all of the info you are about to send. Want to show a friend what a site looks like but they don't have access to the net? Print it as a PDF and then share it that way. There will be lots of times when having a record will be handy later on. PDF's are an almost universal way to do that.
Cons:
To read it requires that you have a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. That isn't that much of a problem as it is freely available for almost every operating system in common use. Be aware that Acrobat is a big download because Adobe are bloating it with loads of extraneous garbage. But the upside is that a great majority of folks already have an Acrobat Reader installed on their systems.
They are not the only way, they are not the smallest way, they are not the fastest way. They certainly are almost the universal way. They are the way that many Government and State bodies have decided to format their public forms. They are here with us if we want them or not.
An almost out-dated (because of the updates in Acrobat 7) rant against PDF files in web sites: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030714.html
