OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

36. Save a Document as a PDF File

PDF that is readable on the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Many electronic books (often called

eBooks ) conform to the PDF format so that Web users can download such books and read them online, save them to their computers for a later reading, or print them on their printers. The problem with the typical file format, such as Microsoft Word's DOC file format, is that web browsers cannot read these files and they are not supportable on some of the major computing platforms in use today (although usually a plug-in utility program is available for most computers that do allow non-Windows users to read PC-based DOC files).

KEY TERM

PDF
The name (and filename extension) given to documents that conform to Adobe Systems'

Portable Document Format . This format is readable by web browsers and most computers.

Writer (and the other OpenOffice.org programs) supports the PDF format in the following way: When you compose your document, you then can save that document in the PDF format. Once your document is in the PDF format, you can distribute it onto the Web, where most users will be able to read your document.

Almost all computers sold in the past few years support the use of PDF files. For users of older PCs that cannot yet read Adobe's PDF format, the Adobe Reader is available free for download from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2l, where the download is quick. Again, almost every computer in use today can read PDF files. So Writer's native capability to save documents in the PDF format gives you the ability to compose documents that most others can read.

PDF documents cannot be edited (at least, not in the traditional sense of the word, although you can add comments and edits if you have Adobe Acrobat), which makes it the format of choice when you want to share a document without allowing the recipient to make changes to it.

Adobe sells Adobe Acrobat, a program that converts documents to PDF format, for several hundred dollars (full retail; wholesale often finds the price still high, at a little more than $300). Writer saves you money!

TIP

If you want to convert Microsoft Word documents to PDF, use Writer as your intermediary! Open the Word document in Writer and then save the document using Writer's PDF file-saving feature.