Introduction
In an earlier lesson, you learned about downloading the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which lets you view PDF files.  PDF stands for Portable Document Format.  PDF files are created by a program called Adobe Acrobat, of which the current version is 6.0.  The current standard edition of this software runs about $300.  You don't need to buy this software to view already-created PDF files -- use the free Reader for that.  

Please note:  Word 2000 for Windows has a built in PDF Writer driver, so when you click Control P, scroll through the options and you should see that option.  This will create basic PDF files.

Adobe Acrobat 6.0
But if you want to create PDF files, you'll need to pop for the Acrobat 6.0 software or for just converting one or a few files, use Adobe's online PDF file creator which has both a free trial and monthly/yearly subscriptions. (click here)
While not inexpensive, this software is worth every penny, especially if you're creating content, info-products and/or collaborating with others on projects.  What's great about this software is that it lets you 'save' just about any file into a PDF file so that anyone can view your document/webpage even if they don't have the software that created it (Word, Excel, Front Page, etc.).  What's also nice about Acrobat is that there are Windows and Mac versions of the reader, so if you're creating something on a Windows machine, all of your Mac friends can view it as well, with no problem.

When you create a PDF document, it captures your original document/file almost perfectly, including graphics, text, fonts, layout and the like.  So the person viewing it sees it just like you created it.

How/why To Use Acrobat
PDF files are often used in the following ways:

1. As online brochures.
Create your brochure in Word, Quark, Dreamweaver -- whatever -- and save it as a PDF for all to view exactly as you created it).  Post the PDF at your website and folks can download/view/printout the PDF from your webpage via their browser and/or the free reader.

2. As autoresponder attachments
Some autoresponder systems let you attach a file to them -- why not attach a PDF to really impress the recipient.

3. As online fill-in forms (see bonus section below)
You can use Acrobat to create online forms that feed into a database.  Or, you can create a fill-in form that let's a client/user personalize a generic form -- see below.

4. As ebooks (with table of contents, indices, illustrations, etc.)
I believe that Acrobat is the most popular 'creator' of ebooks because you can create the ebook in Word, save it as a PDF and password protect the PDF so folks cannot change anything.

5. As a way to capture a web site and send it to a friend, or save important documents.
I routinely use Acrobat to capture software serial numbers that display on the purchase confirmation page when I buy downloadable software, and when I fill out an online application for something where I want to keep an exact copy of what I filled out.  (I try to keep only electronic copies of things, vs printed out copies.)


How To Use Acrobat
Step 1
Install Acrobat
And restart your computer after its installed. (required)

Step 2
Open a Word document (or Excel, or any software program really)
Once you've created a page (or if you've opened an already existing document) that you want to create a PDF file of, click File>Print or Control P.

Step 3
Select Acrobat Distiller and click OK
You may need to scroll up or down on your Print options.  If you only want to print certain pages, select from Print range below.  Then click OK.



Step 4
Wait
It can take 5 - 60 seconds for a document to 'print' out as a PDF file.  You'll know it's done when a dialog box appears asking you to name your new PDF file.  Decide where you want to save this file and then name it, and click Save.



Step 5
Open the new PDF file
I like to open the newly created PDF just to make sure it looks right and then I print it out to make sure it prints out correctly.  You can change a setting in Acrobat to automatically open a newly-created PDF, if you wish.

You're done!

Note
You can set a link in Front Page to your PDF file so that visitors to your site can click on the link and have the PDF display online.  You simply transfer the PDF file via FTP to your site, just like you would any other file (html, gif, etc.).

Bonus
We found a really clever way to customize a PDF so that others who don't have Acrobat can add their name/contact info to a page, or even fill in information.  They won't be able to save the document (if all one has is the Acrobat Reader, one cannot save a 'changed' document) but you can print it out.

Here's a sample to try:

Click here:  http://www.aperfectlife.com/successlistblankentrypdf.pdf 

and here:  http://www.aperfectlife.com/aplfinalshort.pdf

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Was something not clear?  Was there a typo or other error?
While we aren't able to provide 1-1 tech support,  please email confusion-questions-corrections-improvements to reply@coachbrian.com.  Again, we won't reply to your email but it will be read and this course will be improved as a direct result of your assistance.