Conversion of Word (.doc) files to Acrobat (.pdf) files

Life Technology
1

In Taiwan I have become known as something of a human rights activist, and have been continually working for relaxed laws/regulations for the foreign community.

I now have some issues that are of interest to US Congress members, and may lead to further relaxation of “restrictions” over our lives here in Taiwan.

In connection with this research, I have been putting some pages on the internet with Gus’ help. Now, I have some two or three page Word (.doc) documents which need to be converted into Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files. I am really not familiar with the procedure . . . . and I have always felt it is probably better for me to deal with “content” rather than the technical details of web-design or software compatability . . . . .

Is there someone who could volunteer to convert these files for me?

I could email the .doc files to you, or I could put them on the internet for downloading. The pages contain graphics drawn in Microsoft Word.

2

Hartzell, I can do this for you. Check your Email.

3

Richard, Adobe offers an online pdf conversion service. It’s about $11 US a month for unlimited conversions. It’s as simple as pie to use. You just go to the adobe site and log in. Then you follow a few obvious steps, basically just finding the file on your computer and clicking. It is automatically uploaded to the adobe site. You can chose to have the pdf file returned to you in an email.

I’m at work now so I don’t have the link to the website page. I’ll find and paste it when I get home.

4

Or you could get a copy of Acrobat. I’ll see if I can get my hands on one.

5

Yes, but you need the full version. The basic one doesn’t include the Acrobat Writer. I have the full version and am happy to assist Hartzell.

6

Right. I’ve got Adobe Acrobat 5.0. Not the latest version, but it’ll make your pdf files. I’ve also got an ancient version of PageMaker, which will also make pdf files, but I think Acrobat would be more suitable for you. PM me.

7

Come on guys!

You don’t need to spend a penny on pdf software.

Option1 Download EasyOffice Freeware edition, this includes a pdf filter for making pdf files. I love it. If you decided not to keep Easyoffice, the pdf filter stays in your printer folder.

Option 2: find the freeware pdf creating software. It’s only version 0.5 but should be usable.

Option 3: Try acroform.com/download/cuteprinter.exe
CutePDF Printer (File Size: 4.17 MB; Version: 1.1; Date: 06/02/03)

Option 4: pdf995.com/ again free but annoying popups. Still if you buy it, it’s cheap and one off fee!

Option 5: Future versions of Openoffice I’m told will support pdf files, too.

Kenneth

8

I use gobcl.com

Works very well, except that your doc can’t be over 200k or something like that. Registration required.

If cuteprinter doesn’t have any problems, I’d recommend that.

9

Openoffice can output pdf files now. But it is still a little wonky. Every once it a while it refuses to produce output for a certain file.

Macintosh OSX has pdf generation built into the OS , so anything that gos thru the printing system , can be output as a pdf.

10

Richard, I can also convert these for you, it’s a very simple process that only takes less than a minute per document, I have all the software to it.

11

Jeff, I already sorted Richard out!

One strange thing I’ve noticed about the Acrobat writer is that it will only convert files if it is already running in the system tray. I wonder if you have found the same.

12

The good thing about using the full version of Acrobat is the security feature. I don’t know if this feature is available in the other software. You can secure the pdf file so that someone can not modify it or copy the contents of it by doing a control-A to select all of the text in the document.

Mark

13

Is it really so secure? For example, OminPage Pro can read and generate a text file from any PDF document without the need for a hard-copy scan.

14

I’m using version 5 and version 2002, I cannot have acrobat open to convert the files. I am not sure if this is what you guys are talking about.

15

OmniPage uses OCR (scansoft.com/omnipage/sysreqs.asp) I haven’t used an OCR software in about 8 years but the last one I used was not 100% accurate. The security I am talking about is to prevent the easy alteration of pdf document without the permission of the author.

Mark

16

Yes, Acrobat does a good job with security. I use Acrobat all the time to make chinese PDF’s.

Hartzwell, tell us some more about what exactly these documents say. Or do you have this posted in the Legal forum? thanks.

17

There are many programs to do this for you, and some are better than others. There are several things you want to consider:
A. Can the program handle Chinese Fonts, or does it just put those little rectangles into your pdf file?
B. Is the file size reasonably compact? A “graphics-based” pdf generator can incorporate any characters that your screen can display, but the file size will be large.
C. Can it print a pdf from a Java-driven website without getting confused? This is handy if you want to make pdf’s from your bank, broker, or credit card websites, as they are almost all Java-based.
D. If you are concerned about plagiarism - i.e., someone reverse-engineering your pdf to turn it back into a word-processor file, you can make that a little more difficult by using an encrypted pdf generator. (I don’t bother with this because the added security can still be defeated with the help of an OCR program.)
My nomination for the all-round best pdf generator is the one by FinePrint, the company better known for helping people print multiple pages on the same sheet of paper, to save ink. See:
fineprint.com/
Their product satisfies the first three criteria with flying colors, and they do offer an encryption feature at extra cost. Yes, there is probably a freeware program somewhere that’s just as good, but I don’t know what it is.
Good luck, pjm

18

This thread is really useful, but a little old now. Any ideas on whether the freeware recommended in this thread is still the best option around? Any new tips on free options for creating PDFs?

Thanks

19

I use PrimoPDF. primopdf.com/ It adds itself as a printer so you can convert any file to a PDF.

20

I use Primo frequently. It has always worked well for me.