How to save a PDF document

Do you need to send a web page or document to your colleague but you don’t know how to export them in PDF format, in order to make them more convenient to consult? Don’t worry, it doesn’t take much. All you need is a nice virtual printer! Don’t you know what I’m talking about? No problem, I’ll explain it to you right away.

You must know that there are programs (as well as “standard” features), dominated by virtual printers, in fact, which once installed allow you to transform any printable file (text documents, Office files, photos and much more) into PDF, taking advantage of the printing function of the operating system. In practice, the computer is made to “believe” that what is selected should be printed when in reality it is not so. Using them it becomes possible to save a document in PDF in the blink of an eye. Great, right?

Then? May I know what are you still doing standing there? Take five minutes or so of free time all to yourself, position yourself comfortably in front of your trusty computer and immediately start concentrating on reading everything listed below. I am sure that in the end you will be able to tell yourself very happy and satisfied with what you have learned. Ah, I almost forgot: for the sake of completeness of information at the end of the article I have also pointed out some alternative systems you have on your side to be able to export your files in the format in question. Maybe they can be convenient for you, you never know.

Index

• Programs to save a document in PDF
  • doPDF
  • PDF24
  • PDFCreator
• “Standard” functions
  • On Windows
  • On macOS
  • On Ubuntu
• Workarounds for saving a PDF document

Programs to save a document in PDF

As I said at the beginning, to be able to save a document in PDF you just need to use a virtual printer. Below you will find those that in my opinion represent the best resources belonging to the category. Put them to the test now, you will see that you will not regret it.

doPDF

The first of the tools belonging to the category in question that I want to tell you about is a small software called doPDF. It is a free program (in its basic variant) for Windows which, in fact, installs a virtual printer in the system to transform any kind of virtual document into PDF. It has no tedious limitations and works with all software that support the print function, from Office to the web browser to all photo viewers.

To be able to use it, the first step you need to take is to connect to the doPDF website and click on the Download Now! Button.  twice in a row, so as to download the program on the PC.

When the download is complete, open the file you just obtained (eg dopdf-full.exe ) and, in the window you see appearing on the desktop, remove the check from the box relating to the installation of the add-in for Microsoft Office and the one relating to the sending anonymous statistics. Then click on the Install Now button, on Yes and complete the setup by pressing Close.

At this point, all you have to do is use the classic print function from any application and choose the doPDF virtual printer as the printing device. Simply choose the Print item from the File menu of the application in use and select the doPDF item from the printers menu.

A window will then open with the PDF print settings, through which you can set the folder in which to save the converted document, by pressing the Browse button, and adjust the options relating to the quality of the file to be obtained.

For example, by placing the checkmark next to the Smallest file item you can keep the size of the document compact, while through the Embed all used fonts and Best quality options you can make sure that the generated PDF includes the writing characters and keeps intact the quality of the images included in it (but increasing the final size of the file).

Once you have chosen the desired configuration, just click OK and the PDF is saved in the previously indicated folder.

PDF24

If you are looking for an alternative tool to the one mentioned above thanks to which you can save a document in PDF I suggest you seriously consider  PDF24. It is a totally free virtual printer (for private use) and works on all Windows OS. It is quite simple to use and also integrates convenient options for editing and compressing PDFs.

To use it, first connect to the program’s website and wait for the download procedure to start automatically. If this does not happen, click on the Download button on the right to force it.

When the download is complete, open the file you just obtained (eg pdf24-creator-xxxexe ) and click on Yes, select I accept the terms of the license agreement, click on Next three times, on Install and to conclude press on Finish.

At this point, open the printable document that you want to transform into PDF using the program used for the purpose, call up the print function by clicking on the File menu and then choosing Print and select, from the menu for choosing printers, the item PDF24 PDF.

Now, select the quality of the PDF file you want to obtain via the drop-down menu at the top and then press the Save PDF button to proceed with saving the file in PDF format on your computer. Et voila!

If you want to preview the final PDF before saving the file, click the Preview button. If, on the other hand, before proceeding with saving, you want to edit the document or want to compress it, click on the Edit PDF and Compress buttons respectively.

PDFCreator

Another virtual printer to consider is  PDFCreator. It is open source in nature, includes several advanced options and even then it is a tool that works on all versions of Windows.

To download it to your computer, connect to the program’s website and press the Download button. In the new page displayed, click on the Download button located next to the wording PDFCreator Free.

When the download is complete, open the file you just obtained (eg PDFCreator-x_x_x-Setup.exe ), click on Yes, on OK  and on Next twice. Then click on Install, on Skip  (to avoid the installation of extra programs) and on Finish.

At this point, open the document you are interested in saving in PDF format with the software you generally use for the purpose in question and select  Print from the File menu. In the window that appears, choose PDFCreator from the list of available printers and click  Print.

Then indicate the location on your computer where you want to save the PDF by pressing the […] button corresponding to the Folder field:  attached to the additional window that appears, choose the compression profile you prefer from the Profile menu:  and press  Save.

If before proceeding with saving you want to assign a different title to the document, change the name of the author, the subject or assign tags to the file, fill in the dedicated fields at the bottom of the PDFCreator window. If, on the other hand, you need to access the advanced settings of PDFCreator, press the Edit button.

“Standard” functions

You can also save a PDF document by using the virtual printer included “standard” on Windows, Mac and Ubuntu. If you are interested, keep reading, you will find everything explained in detail right below.

On Windows

Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft has decided to integrate a virtual printer into its system to create files in PDF format without necessarily having to resort to the use of third-party tools.

To be able to use it, what you have to do is open what you intend to export to PDF using the program you usually use for that particular type of element, open the File menu, invoke the Print command  and choose  Microsoft Print to PDF  or  Save as PDF from the list of available printers.

If you want, before starting the export procedure in PDF format, you can also adjust the print settings, such as orientation and margins, in order to customize them according to your needs and preferences. characteristics of the final document. To do this, use the appropriate on-screen commands.

On macOS

Are you using a Mac? Also in this case the virtual printer is included in the system, in all versions of macOS. You ask me how to make use of it? I’ll tell you right away, it’s a real breeze.

Just open the printable file you are interested in using the default application designated for this purpose, click on the File menu and select Print… . In the window that appears, expand the PDF drop-down menu located at the bottom left and select the item Save as PDF.

Then type the name you want to assign to the file in the Save as: field, indicate the location where you want to save it using the Located in: menu  and click the Save button.

If you want, you can adjust other properties of the document, such as title, author and subject, before starting the creation of PDF files, using the options on the screen. You can also password protect the PDF by clicking the Security Options… button.

On Ubuntu

Do you use Ubuntu on your PC? Then you can save a PDF document using the virtual printer already included in the operating system. I’ll explain immediately how to do it.

All you have to do is open the printable file in relation to which you are interested in going to act using the default application designated for this purpose, click on the File item and select the Print command. In the window that appears, select  Print to file… from the list of available printers.

If you want, you can also adjust the settings related to the PDF file you are about to generate using the specific items that you see appear on the screen depending on the software used. For example, you can intervene on orientation, margins and so on.

Finally, press the Print button in the file … which is at the bottom right, indicate the location on your PC where you want to save the PDF you are about to obtain and press Save. Easier than that?

I point out that in case the PDF virtual printer is not present on the system, you can immediately deal with it by installing the CUPS-PDF package. It is directly present in the repositories of most Linux distributions. On Ubuntu in particular you can install it simply by calling the Terminal, typing the string sudo apt install cups-pdf and pressing Enter on the keyboard.

Workarounds for saving a PDF document

Resorting to the use of a virtual printer is not the one and only way to be able to save a document in PDF, although it is the most practical.

In fact, you must know that there are convenient online services thanks to which it is possible to create PDF files starting from documents in other formats, such as Word, Excel, JPG images and so on. They are very simple to use, require no installation and are free of charge. For further information in this regard, you can console my tutorial on how to create PDF for free.

Then there are programs, available for both Windows and Mac (as well as for Linux), which you can use to save your files in PDF always without having to go through the aforementioned virtual printers and which also integrate convenient tools for editing of the same. If you are interested in this and would like to receive details about it, read my tutorial on how to create PDF.