In any application with a Print option, you can make a PDF file. You simply choose the Adobe PDF from the list of printer choices.
Print to PDF in a Windows application:
- Choose File > Print.
- Choose Adobe PDF as the printer in the Print dialog box.
- Click Print.
- Click OK, name the PDF file, and save it in a desired location.
Print to PDF in a Mac application:
- Choose File > Print.
- Look for the PDF button in the lower left corner, on that pull-down menu select Save as PDF.
- Click Save in the save dialog box, and save it in a desired location (Documents is default).
Additional Options
For additional options, click on the Preferences button. For Layout, you can choose Portrait or Landscape. If you click Advanced, you will see additional options for Print Quality, Color Management, etc. Generally speaking, you can keep the default settings. One thing to consider, under Paper Quality, even though it's “virtual paper”, you can choose between Black & White and Color. If your document does not contain color, you can choose the Black & White option.
Under Adobe PDF Settings, you can choose from any of the installed settings for creating a PDF. For most files, Standard is fine. You have the option to include a password to protect the document. You can create a destination folder for your PDFs. Page Size, the standard is Letter, but you'll notice that you have a multitude of options for your Paper Size.
View PDF Results means that it's going to immediately open it in Acrobat after saving. Document information, will add your username to the file name. Something you might want to think about, "Rely on system fonts only; "don't use document fonts". You will want to make sure that the PDF file is utterly portable, so if you check this option it will use system fonts. So that way no matter where it lands, it's going to be readable on anyone else's system whether it's Mac or Windows.
During the PDF creation process, it creates a log file for each job. You may not want those files, so check the option to Delete Log Files for Successful Jobs. Ask to replace existing PDF file, you'll notice that's not checked which means it might inadvertently overwrite an existing file that you didn't mean to overwrite. So if you're afraid that's going to happen, then check this. When you click OK, it's going to make a PDF once you click Print. It will prompt you where to save it and what to name it, you can accept the default or customize it, and then click Save, it will then make the PDF.