How to create pdf file

Create a PDF from any document format

Generate and distribute PDFs for universal access while preserving the integrity of your source file.

The Portable Document Format, or PDF, is a universal format that allows all parties to review your content, retaining the intended design regardless of the program it was created in. There are multiple ways for you to create a PDF, both within Acrobat and within other partner products.

Create a PDF from Microsoft Office products

You may be aware that several products, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, provide a Save As PDF option within their File menu. However, the Microsoft Office suite now offers an Acrobat ribbon to convert source files directly to a PDF with a click of a button. For example, the Acrobat ribbon within Microsoft Word offers Create and Share PDF, which automatically converts your Word document into a PDF and immediately opens the share settings within Acrobat for efficiency.

Alternatively, you can open Acrobat and choose any Microsoft file (DOCX, XLSX, etc.) or TXT file to save as a PDF without actually opening the Microsoft product.

Create a PDF from other Adobe products

Other Adobe programs, such as Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, allow you to save or export to a PDF easily so that you can provide your intended design while maintaining universal access to your teammates or clients without them needing the software.

Create a PDF from image formats

Just as you can save word processor file types to a PDF, so can you also collect different image formats like PNG, JPG, and SVG to save as a PDF. You can save these individually or in batches for proofing and portability. Pro tip: Select multiple image files from your desktop, right-click, and choose Save As PDF.

Not only can you create a PDF from within other programs, but you can also create a PDF directly from Acrobat without having to open any other program. You can access the Create PDF tools by the traditional File > Create method. Acrobat also provides Create PDF access from the Tools menu at the top of the screen, or through the convenient icons in the toolbar on the right side of the screen.

Create a PDF from a scanned document

Import files directly from your scanner. Acrobat will recognize any connected scanner and give you the option to append (add) the scanned document to an existing file or create a new one.

Create PDF from your clipboard

There may be some instances where you’ll want to create a PDF from an item you copied onto your computer’s clipboard. This could be a screenshot from a web page, or an image or copy inside another program. As a general rule, if you can copy it, then you can create a PDF from it.

The universal nature of PDF documents provides a standard platform that almost any user can view, on virtually any device that runs Acrobat Reader. Creating PDFs within Acrobat and other partner products means delivering consistent-looking content no matter what the source.

Create PDFs from Microsoft Office

Learn how to convert Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint documents to PDF.

Easily convert Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint documents to PDF using the Create PDF tool in Acrobat. You can also convert documents without leaving the application using the Acrobat task ribbon in Office for Windows or the Print command in Windows or Mac OS.

Prerequisite: No matter which method you use, you must have the original Office application installed on your computer.

Method 1: Use the Create PDF tool in Acrobat

1. Open Acrobat. Click Tools, and then click the Create PDF tool to open it. Using the Create PDF tool, you can easily convert almost any file to PDF.

2. Select the file, and click Open. Acrobat displays a preview of your file.

If you’re using Windows, click Advanced Settings to customize the conversion settings for security, bookmarks, links, and accessibility. Then, click OK.

Sample files: Analysis.xls, or Overview.pptx (shown here)

Tip: You can use the Create PDF tool to easily create PDF files from websites, clipboard contents, images, and other file formats too.

Method 2: Use the Acrobat task ribbon in Office (Windows only)

1. Open your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document, if it’s not already open. Then click the Acrobat tab. In the Acrobat task ribbon, click Create PDF.

If you’re converting an Excel document, a second dialog box will appear with further options. Specify how much of the workbook to convert and the final page size, and then click Convert to PDF.

2. In the Save Adobe PDF File As dialog box, select View Result if you want Acrobat to open the PDF file after converting. Select Restrict Editing if you want to prevent the finished PDF file from being changed without your permission. Click Options to specify other conversion settings, such as whether to create bookmarks or tag the PDF file for accessibility.

Tip: For further control over conversion settings, click Preferences in the Acrobat task ribbon.

3. Name the PDF file, and select a folder for it. Click Save. If you selected View Result, the PDF file immediately opens in Acrobat.

Method 3: Print from an Office application

1. Open your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document, if it’s not already open. Then, choose File > Print. In the Print dialog box, specify any settings, such as which pages to include in your PDF.

2. How you print to PDF at this point is a little different in Windows and Mac OS:

In Windows, choose Adobe PDF from the Printer pop-up menu. Click Printer Properties to customize conversion settings, and click OK. Then, click Print.

In Mac OS, choose Save as Adobe PDF from the pop-up menu at the bottom of the Print dialog box. In the Save As Adobe PDF dialog box, select a PDF settings file, and choose whether to open the file in Acrobat. The default values usually work fine here. Click Continue.

Create PDFs with Acrobat

There are various ways to create a PDF file using Acrobat. Generate a PDF quickly by using menu commands, dragging-and-dropping files onto the Acrobat application icon, or converting clipboard data.

On the Acrobat File menu, choose Create > PDF From File.

In the Open dialog box, select the file that you want to convert. You can browse all file types or select a specific type from the Files Of Type drop-down menu.

Optionally, click Settings to change the conversion options if you’re converting an image file to PDF. The options available vary depending on the file type.

Note: The Settings button is unavailable if you choose All Files as the file type or if no conversion settings are available for the selected file type. (For example, the Settings button is unavailable for Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files.)

Click Open to convert the file to a PDF.

Depending on the type of file being converted, the authoring application opens automatically, or a progress dialog box appears. If the file is in an unsupported format, a message appears, telling you that the file cannot be converted to PDF.

Drag-and-drop to create PDFs

This method is best for small, simple files, such as small image files and plain text files, when the balance between file size and output quality is not important. You can use this technique with many other types of files, but you cannot adjust any conversion settings during the process.

Select the icons of one or more files in the Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder.

Drag the file icons onto the Acrobat application icon. Or (Windows only) drag the files into the open Acrobat window.

If a message appears saying that the file could not be opened in Acrobat, then that file type cannot be converted to PDF by the drag-and-drop method. Use one of the other conversion methods for that file.

Note: You can also convert PostScript and EPS files to PDF by dragging them onto the Acrobat window or the Acrobat application icon.

Note: (Windows only) You can also right-click a file in Windows Explorer and select Convert to Adobe PDF.

Convert clipboard content to PDF

You can create PDFs from text and images that you copy from applications on Mac OS or Windows.

In Acrobat, choose File > Create > PDF from Clipboard. Or Choose Tools > Create PDF > Clipboard > Create.

Note: The PDF from Clipboard command appears only when content is copied to the Clipboard. If the Clipboard is empty, the command is disabled.

How to create PDFs from text and image files

Learn how to create PDF documents from text and image files with Adobe Acrobat in Windows or Mac. You can convert Microsoft Office files to PDF or convert images, including JPG, PNG, and other image formats.

What you’ll need

Open the Create PDF tool

Click the Select a File option

Choose a file to convert to PDF

In the Open dialog box, select the BodeaBrochure.pptx sample file or other file you want to convert to PDF and click Open. You can convert Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, as well as JPG, PNG, TXT, and other files.

Create the PDF file

Click the Create button. Adobe Acrobat will automatically convert the file.

Save your new PDF

When the converted file opens, choose File > Save or File > Save As, and then select a name and location for the new PDF file. Learn more about creating PDFs using Adobe Acrobat. You can also convert PDF files to Microsoft Word, JPG, Excel, and PowerPoint using the Acrobat PDF converter Export PDF tool.

PDF Maker–Make PDF Online in One Click

March 31, 2022 by Christoph Forsting

Follow these three steps to use Smallpdf’s PDF Maker and convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or image files to PDF format.

Smallpdf is the internet’s number one cloud-based PDF software. Over 50 million monthly users use our online suite of tools to solve their digital document problems.

You can start using the tools right away without the need to download any software or even register an account. In this article, we’ll show you how to create PDF files from other types of documents.

How To Make a PDF Online

Drag your file into the PDF Maker.

The tool will automatically convert it into a PDF.

On the next page, continue to work on your new file, if necessary.

Download your file in PDF format.

How to make a PDF file from another file type using Smallpdf

What Are the Supported File Types?

You can use our PDF Maker online to turn Microsoft Office documents, such as PowerPoint, Word, or Excel into a PDF. It also supports various image files, such as PNG, TIFF, JPG, BMP, and GIF.

Better yet, all the different types of PDF conversion are available under one umbrella tool—handy! So, with this online PDF converter, you can convert files to PDF format and back again easily.

Office to Image, Image to Office

The document converter on Smallpdf can convert any file to and from any of the mentioned formats, whether that’s Word, PPT, Excel, or JPG. All you have to do is convert any of these files to PDF, then choose the format that you wish to continue working with from the panel on the right-side of the page.

Other Than Making PDFs

Our online platform can do much more. Other free PDF tools include creating an electronic signature, editing PDF files by adding text and images, and manipulating individual pages. Check out some of our most popular tools here:

Edit PDF – an online PDF editor working within your browser

How To Make More than one Document into PDF?

If you have more than one document in different file formats, you can follow the instructions above to make your documents into PDFs, one after another. To save time, you can always try batch processing with Smallpdf Pro—get a 7-day free trial here. Drag and drop as many files of mixed document formats as you’d like into the tool and we’ll convert them all in one go. Our tool will also group and save all the files in a ZIP file for you to download, all at once.

Having a Pro account will push the maximum file sizes of documents to a whopping 5GB.

Can I Make PDFs Outside of Smallpdf’s Site?

Of course! To appease the needs of our 50+ million monthly users, we’ve also developed an offline PDF viewer/PDF reader and a mobile app. You can view and work on your PDFs offline with the Smallpdf Desktop App, and the Smallpdf Mobile App gives you access to all your favorite PDF tools on the go. Convert to and from PDF, scan to PDF directly from your mobile, and more!

The Online Tool with Mac, Windows, and Linux

Using our online document converter doesn’t need special requirements. You can convert files on Mac, Windows, Linux, or any other operating system that has access to an internet connection and browser.

Similarly, there’s no limit to handheld devices either. With your internet browser, you can use the document converter on Android or iPhone, to convert PDF, Word, JPG, or other formats. On the result page, you can either save them to your mobile device, upload them to Google Drive or Dropbox, or even email the file to yourself or someone else.

Questions, concerns, or feedback on how to improve our file creator? We’re only an email away.

Happy creating, saving, editing, and converting documents, whatever it may be!