Convert a file to PDF on Windows
Do you own a Windows PC and would like to understand what are the aforementioned tools you have on your side to convert a file to PDF? Then try the virtual printers listed below right away. Keep in mind that in the specific case of Windows 10 you can also take advantage of, as I said at the beginning, the function used for the purpose already included in the system.
"Standard" virtual printer
As I mentioned, starting with Windows 10, Microsoft has chosen to make a virtual printer available on its operating system to allow users to create files in PDF format without necessarily having to resort to the use of third-party tools.
To use it, all you have to do is open what you intend to convert into a PDF file using the program you generally use for that particular element (eg. WordPad for text files), then open the menu Fillet, invoke the command Print and select Microsoft Print to PDF o Save as PDF from the list of available printers. Then indicate the name you want to assign to the PDF you are about to create and the location for saving.
If you deem it appropriate, before starting the procedure for saving the file in PDF format you can use the on-screen controls attached to the print window and adjust settings such as orientation and margins, in order to customize according to your needs the characteristics of the final document.
PDF24
If you are not using Windows 10 or in any case if you are looking for a valid alternative to the standard "instrumentation", the best suggestion I would like to give you is to test PDF24. This is a completely free program (for private use) that installs a virtual printer on the PC that is very easy to use and includes some useful functions for editing and compressing PDFs.
To use it, you must first connect to the PDF24 website and click on the button PDF24 Creator xxx Private to download the program to your PC. If the download doesn't start automatically, click the link Start PDF24 Creator download manually to force it "manually".
When the download is complete, open the file you just obtained (eg. pdf24-creator-xxxexe) and click your Si. In the window that opens, select I accept the terms of the license agreementclick your NEXT three times, come on Install and end the setup by pressing on end
Believe it or not, now you are ready to field test how to convert a file to PDF from any printable file. So open any Office document, a Web page or a photograph and click on the option Print present in the program you have opened, it is usually found in the menu Fillet.
Select poi PDF24 as the printer to use for the printing operation and click on the button Print. In the window that opens, set the quality of the PDF document you want to obtain from the drop-down menu at the top and click on Save PDF to save your file in PDF format.
You can also get a preview of the PDF before saving it by clicking on the button Preview, and edit the PDF file to be created (rotating it, eliminating unnecessary pages, etc.), by clicking on Edit PDF and using the buttons on the PDF24 toolbar.
To change the general settings of the program, however, all you have to do is click on the item options located in the lower left part of the window of the same that opens when you intend to print / convert a file to PDF.
PDFCreator
To be able to convert a file to PDF you can also consider using PDFCreator. This is another virtual printout for Windows operating systems, of an open source nature, free and inclusive of various useful features, in fact, for the creation of PDFs.
You ask me what to do to be able to use it? I'll point it out to you right away. First, go to the program's website and click on the button Download. In the new page that opens, presses the button Download which corresponds to the wording PDFCreator Free, in order to start downloading PDFCreator.
Once the download is complete, open the file you just obtained (eg. PDFCreator-x_x_x-Setup.exe), click your Si, its OK and NEXT twice. Then press on Install, its Skip (to avoid installing extra programs) and complete the setup by pressing end.
Now, open the document you are interested in transforming into a PDF file with the software you generally use to do this and invoke the option of Print which is usually attached to the menu Fillet. In the window you see appear, choose PDFCeator from the list of available printers and presses on Print.
Using the new window that appears on the screen, indicate the type of compression profile you intend to use to create the PDF using the options attached to the menu Profile:, type the name you want to give the PDF in the field Filename:, the position for saving by pressing the button [...] at the field Folder: and his bottone award Save bottom right.
You can also change the name of the author, the subject or assign tags to the file. To do this, just fill in the appropriate fields at the bottom of the PDFCreator window. If you need to access the advanced settings of PDFCreator, press the button instead Modification.
Further solutions
In addition to using a virtual printer, as I have indicated in the previous lines, it is possible to convert a file to PDF quickly and easily using the appropriate programs for computers and comforts online services. If you are interested in this and therefore want to learn more about the decent, I suggest you read my article on how to convert files to PDF.
If you are looking for specific solutions for the conversion of papers Office and images in the format in question, I recommend that you read these dedicated guides in you specific to the topic: convert Word to PDF, convert Excel file to PDF, how to convert PowerPoint to PDF and how to transform images to PDF.
Another way to be able to convert a file to PDF is to rely on free and open source office suites LibreOffice ed open Office. In fact, they integrate a special feature useful for exporting documents in PDF format. I told you about it in my guides on how to download LibreOffice and how to download Open Office.
To recall the function in question, just open the document you want to convert to PDF in LibreOffice or Open Office, click on the menu Fillet and select the option Export to PDF format from the menu you see appearing. Through the window that will later open you can adjust the quality, resolution, etc. To finish, click Export and indicates the location on your computer to save the output file.
Convert a file to PDF on Mac
Are you using a Mac? Then I am happy to inform you that even in this case you have a convenient virtual printer already included in the system thanks to which you can transform your files into PDF. Using it is a real breeze! To find out more, keep reading, you will find everything explained below.
"Standard" virtual printer
As anticipated, a virtual printer already included in the system is also available for the computers of the "bitten apple". You ask me how to make use of it? I'll point it out to you immediately. It's that easy!
All you have to do is open the printable file you want to turn into PDF using the default application designated for this purpose (ex. TextEdit for text files), click the menu Fillet I will select the voice Stampa .... In the window that appears, expand the drop-down menu PDF located at the bottom left and select the item Save as PDF.
Now type the name you want to assign to the file in the field Save col nome:, indicate the location where you want to save it using the menu Located in: and click your bottone Save.
If you deem it appropriate, before saving the PDF as I have just indicated you can modify the other properties of the document, such as in the case of title, author and subject, using the options on the screen. You can also set a password for your file in order to protect the PDF by pressing the button Security options .... and adjusting the security options, in fact, from the additional window that appears. For example, you can ask for a password to open the document or just to copy its contents and print it.
Further solutions
Also with regard to the Mac side there are alternative solutions to the virtual printer that you can rely on to convert a file to PDF. To be precise, I refer to LibreOffice ed open Office, which I told you about in the previous lines about Windows, and ai online services that allow you to convert any type of document into files belonging to the type in question, as in the case of the tools that I reported to you in my article on how to convert online.
If you need to convert gods instead Word file in PDF through the computers of the bitten apple, you can refer to my tutorial on how to transform a Word file into PDF with Mac through which I proceeded to talk about all those that in my opinion are the best tools belonging to the category in question.
How to convert a file to PDF