Why PDF?
Why should you care about creating PDF files?The reasons are plenty, but the most important one is document portability. By portability, it means more than just moving computer files around. PDF is meant for preserving the presentation (i.e. the formating) of a document across all platforms. It is a digital equivalence to the paper-printed documents: the content and the presentation of content remain consistent no mater who you pass it to. Because of this property, PDF is already the de facto standard for data exchanged in the internet age. Most government agencies and banks now provide downloadable application forms in PDF format. Universities and professional groups are also requiring research papers to be submitted in PDF format.
Other reasons include privacy protection by means of encryption and password protection, and many more. For more information about PDF, check out this cool website by Adobe, the print expert company that initiated the format.
A simple tutorial
Let's create a PDF file from a webpage.- In Safari, open the 'Print' dialog, then look for the 'PDF' button.
- Click the 'PDF' button to reveal the PDF options, then choose 'Save as PDF' (the organization of the options may vary in different versions of Mac OS X, it doesn't matter).
- Give a name to the PDF file and click Save. That's it!
Note: You can create PDF file from anything that can be printed with the pinter.. that's basically everything!
Screenshots of MacNify.PDF
A PDF file named 'MacNify.pdf' is created.
Screenshot of MacNify.pdf.
Adobe Acrobat Professional
While Mac's support for PDF is impressive, it lacks the complete set of advanced functions found in Adobe's products. If you need to do more than just distributing documents, e.g. creating fillable forms, you may need Adobe Acrobat Professional (Amazon Link)
. Otherwise, save the bucks for your next iPod, Mac's support is good enough.