Creating pdf's from any document

Like me you've probably suffered the frustration of someone sending you a document only to discover that you can't open it or when you do, you get a whole host of messages telling you that you don't have the right fonts installed etc. If this never happens to you, then ignore this post, if on the other hand it does, read on.

My biggest problem always came with Microsoft Publisher files. If you didn't have the same version as the sender, you almost always got stuck with a file you couldn't read. Now I've gone to Mac, I have some problems with all Office files, whatever version they are. And you don't have to be a Mac user to experience this. I'm sure there are still some Lotus users out there and other applications with which people struggle.

The answer of course is a universal format that will look the same whoever opens it on no matter what platform. The pdf file is one such format. Everyone knows Adobe Acrobat Reader, and I've blogged before about pdf generators, although I've never gone into detail. They're simple "virtual printers" that will produce a pdf file from any application. Just hit print and choose the pdf generator rather than your usual printer. Pdf995 is one such application and Primo is another that I've heard people talk about.

If you either don't want to or don't have permission to download and install a pdf generator onto your computer, you might be interested in pdfonline. As its name suggests, pdfonline is a web-based application that will take your selected file and generate a pdf for you.

I've given it a try and it works a treat, although I'm yet to try and edit the generated pdf. I think it's a handy site to be aware of in case you're away from your system and need to create a pdf for emailing or printing purposes.