How to transform an ODT to PDF

A colleague of yours has sent you a document in ODT format to be checked and then exported to PDF to publish it on the Net but you don’t have the slightest idea how to do it? No problem, I’m here to give you a hand. Just resort to the use of some special software and specific online services and that’s it.

So give me a few minutes of your free time and I will show you how to transform an ODT to PDF in a completely free way and, above all, without unnecessary waste of time. For the use of all the resources that I am about to show you, in fact, it is not necessary to put your purse in your hand and it is not necessary to have particular technical skills (at least not following the instructions I am going to give you). How do you say? Do you use a Mac? Don’t worry, I will also take care of the Apple operating system and even in this case you will not have to do anything particularly complicated.

Now, however, let’s try to go in order and see how to deal with this type of documents on Microsoft operating systems, then we will move on to the world of the “bitten apple” and, as already mentioned, if you need it we will also see how to convert documents in ODT format into serious and not using convenient online services. Good work and good reading!

Index

• Convert ODT to PDF on computer
  • On Windows
  • On Mac
• Transforming an ODT into PDF Online
  • Online2PDF
  • ODT to PDF
  • Convertio

Convert ODT to PDF on computer

Let’s start this guide dedicated to how to transform an ODT into PDF by reviewing what are the “classic” solutions, that is the programs that can be installed on a computer (or that in some cases are already installed) and that can allow you to this or that document from one format to another at any time, without the need for an Internet connection.

On Windows

Let’s start by looking at how to convert ODT to PDF on a Windows PC. To do this, I highly recommend using LibreOffice , a free and open source productivity suite alternative to Microsoft Office and also to OpenOffice (with which it shares part of the source code).

To download LibreOffice on your PC, connect to the program’s website and click on the link  Download version xxx . When the download is complete, open the LibreOffice installation package (eg LibreOffice_4.4.4_Win_x86.msi ) and click first on Next twice consecutively and then on Install , Yes and Finish to complete the setup.

When the operation is complete, start LibreOffice Writer (the alternative software to Microsoft Word) by clicking on its icon in the Start menu , select the Open item from the File menu and select the ODT document to be transformed into PDF.

Finally, choose the item Export in PDF format  always attached to the File menu , click on the OK button in the window that opens and indicate the folder in which to save the document once converted. If you want, you can also convert only some pages of the source ODT document to PDF by placing the check mark next to Pages and indicating the page numbers in the appropriate text field. Furthermore, you can adjust the quality of the output file (using the appropriate text field) and you can apply a password protection to the file by going to the Security tab and pressing the Set password button .

Finally, I would like to point out that if you find yourself dealing with an ODT file that contains a fillable form, you can go to the window that appears after selecting the Export to PDF format item from the File menu  and make sure that the Create form option is also selected PDF . Otherwise, the generated PDF will not be fillable, as can be easily understood. For more details on this, read my tutorial on how to create editable PDF  in which I proceeded to talk to you about the matter in great detail.

On Mac

As for the Mac world, to convert ODT to PDF just rely on the applications included “standard” in the Apple operating system. I refer in particular to TextEdit , the basic text editor for Macs, which fully supports ODT documents and thanks to the system virtual printer can easily transform them into PDF. How? I’ll explain it to you right away.

All you have to do is open the ODT file to convert by double clicking on it. If the document is not automatically imported into TextEdit, right-click on its icon and select TextEdit from the Open With menu .

At this point, call up the Print command  … from the File menu , select Save as PDF … from the PDF drop-down menu located at the bottom left and choose the folder to export the file. Easier than that?

I would also like to point out that, apart from TextEdit, as well as being available for Windows operating systems, LibreOffice, the open soruce productivity suite I mentioned in the previous lines, can also be used on Mac. LibreOffice on Apple computers is practically identical to what was seen for Windows, absolutely nothing changes.

The only thing that differs is the installation procedure. More precisely, after going to the program’s website and clicking on the button to download the software, you must install it by copying LibreOffice in the Applications folder of macOS / OS X and then you must go back to the suite website and download the Italian translation package (which in the Windows version is included in the basic installation package). To do this, click on the Translated User Interface button  .

When the download is complete, open the package in .dmg format that contains the Italian translation file, right-click on the LibreOffice Language Pack  icon  inside it, select the Open item   from the menu that opens and click on the Install button  to proceed with installing the language pack.

Transform an ODT to PDF online

As I said at the beginning, it is possible to transform an ODT into PDF also directly from the browser, using some special online services. The Web, in fact, offers numerous tools designed specifically for the execution of the most common conversion operations, including that of the type of file in question. They are all very easy to use but it must be taken into account that to work, unlike the software mentioned above, they always need an active Internet connection.

Online2PDF

Do you need to convert a lot of documents in batches? Then you could opt for an online solution, such as Online2PD  which allows you to do everything from the browser (any browser) without downloading software to your computer and without resorting to special plugins. It supports documents with a maximum total weight of 100 MB and respects the privacy of users by deleting all the files that are uploaded to its servers within a few hours.

To find out how it works, linked to its home page via the link I just provided, drag the ODT documents to be transformed into PDF on the Select files button  (if the drag does not work click on the button and select the documents “manually”) and presses on Convert . After a few seconds and the converted files will be automatically downloaded to your computer, in the Downloads folder (if you have not made any changes to the default settings of the web browser you are using).

If you want, before starting the conversion procedure, you can also make changes to the final file using the options attached to the Compression , View , Protection , Header / Footer and Layout tabs  at the bottom.

I also point out that you can also merge the contents of two or more ODT files and export everything in a single PDF. To do this, all you have to do is select the  Merge files  item from the drop-down menu Mode :, arrange the documents in the order you want to be respected in the final PDF (by clicking and dragging) and click on the Convert button .

ODT to PDF

Another online service that I invite you to try to convert your files is ODT to PDF . It is an online resource that is also totally free that allows you to work up to a maximum of 20 files at a time and then download everything in the form of a compressed archive.

You ask me how to use it? Nothing easier. First of all, go to the home page of the service via the link I have just indicated, then click on the Upload files button and select the ODT documents stored on your computer that you want to transform into PDF. If you prefer, you can also take advantage of drag and drop by dragging the ODT files on which you intend to intervene directly in the browser window, corresponding to the wording Drag your files here on the service page.

Then wait for the document upload procedure to start, then pass the cursor over the individual previews and click on the Download button or download everything in a single ZIP file by pressing Download all . The files will then be saved in the Downloads folder of the computer (unless otherwise specified in the settings of the browser you are using).

Convertio

To conclude, as they say, I want to tell you about Convertio, another online service that is very easy to use and capable of converting an ODT to PDF in no time. It has a nice user interface, allows you to upload files with a maximum size of 100 MB and also to upload documents from the most popular cloud storage services.

To use it, connected to its main page via the link I indicated a few lines above, click on the From a computer button and select the ODT files stored on your PC or Mac that you would like to be able to convert. You can also upload files via drag and drop, simply by dragging them into the web browser window.

Are your files located online and not on your computer? There are no problems. In fact, you can also upload it via Dropbox or Google Drive , as I had already anticipated, by clicking on the appropriate buttons on the screen, or you can download it directly from the Web, by clicking on the button with the chain and then indicating the url (you can also add more than one file using the appropriate empty fields that are proposed to you).

Once the file has been uploaded, simply click on the Convert button at the bottom to start the conversion procedure. Then presses the green Download button to download the final PDF in the Download folder of the computer (provided that, even in this case, you have not made any changes to the default settings of the Web browser used) or presses the buttons with the icons of the services cloud storage to store your transformed document directly online.