Section 1. Create a PDF in Acrobat

1. Create a PDF in Acrobat

See Also

6 Insert Pages

26 Secure a PDF File with Password Protection

Converting a document to PDF format is a remarkably simple process. Basically, you just point Acrobat to a source document and let Acrobat take it from there. Of course, there is a bit more to it than that. Depending on the operating system and document type being used, Acrobat might launch the application that created the source file and use that application to print the document to Adobe Distiller, which is where the actual conversion to PDF takes place. In other cases, Acrobat simply performs the PDF conversion itself and displays the file. And there are a few things you can do after the PDF has been created to customize how it is viewed .

TIPS

Clicking the Create PDF button on the Task toolbar brings up the same submenu options as does selecting Create PDF from the File menu.

Acrobat does an excellent job converting a remarkable range of file types to PDF. However, you can customize the conversion settings for any specific file type by going to the Edit menu and selecting the Preferences command. In the Preferences dialog box, click Convert to PDF , select the desired file format, and click the Edit Settings button. The parameters you can adjust vary from one file type to another. Most graphical file formats let you modify color and compression settings, whereas most document file formats allow you to choose from predefined document conversion and security settings. For more information on customizing conversion settings, see 80 Create Custom Settings .

1.	Choose the Source Document From the File Menu, select Create PDF , From File . In the Open dialog box that appears, locate and open the document you want to convert to PDF. A series of information screens and progress bars let you know what is going on during the conversion process.
2.	View the PDF Press the Page Down key or click the Next Page button located at the bottom of the document window to view your new PDF document.
3.	Define the Initial View After you have created the PDF, you might want to specify how the file should be displayed when it is first opened. By default, only the document pane appears and it uses whatever magnification and layout settings the person viewing the file has set in his Acrobat preferences. KEY TERM Source document The original document file from which a PDF is created. The source document is unaffected by the conversion process. To set the opening view for your PDF, click the File menu and select the Document Properties command. The Document Properties dialog box opens. Click the Initial View tab to display document, window, and user interface options. The Document Options section contains drop-down lists where you can choose whether you want the document to open with just the document pages displayed or with document pages plus the Bookmarks, Pages, Attachments, or Layers panels open as well. You can also choose the page layout, magnification level, and which page is initially displayed. NOTE Document templates are a new addition to Acrobat 7. They are basically blank PDF forms you can use as the basis for new PDF documents. The new templates include a Memo template, an Envelopes template, and a From File template that allows you to create a new PDF document based on an existing PDF form. The Window Options section contains controls that are used far less often but are still occasionally useful. They include check boxes to resize the document window to fit the initial page, to center the window on the screen, to open the file in full-screen mode (like a PowerPoint slideshow), and a choice between displaying the filename or document title (set in the Description tab of the Document Properties dialog box) in the title bar. Finally, the User Interface Options section lets you hide the menu bar, toolbars , and window controls when the file is opened. This is generally not recommended unless you have a very good reason for not wanting to allow the viewer access to these critical interface elements. About the only circumstance in which this is acceptable would be for a self-running presentation on a public-access computer, such as at a trade show or other event kiosk.
4.	Confirm Initial View Settings Click the OK button to apply your settings to your new PDF file. To test the initial view options, save, close, and reopen the file.