Preparing Files for Commercial Digital Printing The Idea Behind PDF
If you have ever taken a file from your computer to another you will realise that document formatting, fonts and images can change when shifted between computers. Adobe (a large software company) invented PDF, Portable Document Files, to overcome this problem. This is why they are the type of file that we prefer for quick and easy printing of documents. PDF files need to be set up correctly for print, not for Internet viewing, and you need to thoroughly proof your work so that the text doesn't have to be changed and corrected.
Making .pdf files
All newer Adobe programs such as InDesign and Illustrator can save work as .pdf files. Many other programs have this feature, as do Apple Mac computers running OSX (Operating System 10) and the newest versions of Microsoft Office and Word 2007. (A plug-in is available for Office and Word 2007 from http://www.microsoft.com if you don't have it)
If you have a standard PC with an older version of Microsoft Word, Publisher or Office, you are unlikely to have the facility to create .pdf files. Your computer will have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is not the same as the parent Adobe Acrobat program.(Note Adobe PDF Reader software, freely available on new computers and the Internet, will read but not create PDF files.)
Adobe Acrobat is the premium software program that you can buy and install to convert the output from any program into a .pdf . If neither the computer nor software that you are using has the ability to create a genuine Adobe .pdf then we recommend the installation of Adobe Acrobat software. It is a good option for professionals and people who expect to be printing documents through commercial systems on a regular basis, but is probably not necessarily the right choice for someone producing one or two books.
Other Ways to Create PDF files
Other versions of .pdf creating software that allow you to create PDF files from any program are available on the internet, some of these programs are free, at least on a trial basis. Just search Google using pdf or pdf creator as the search words.
A very useful and free option is OpenOffice software that can be downloaded from http://www.openoffice.org/ This is a fully functioning suite of software which includes OpenOffice writer that exports high quality PDF files for printing. Microsoft word files can be imported into OpenOffice writer, edited, checked and exported as PDF files. OpenOffice writer is a sophisticated program and complete books could be written using it. You would need broadband to download it and it takes some time to set up but it is not an unduly complicated process.
