Print to PDF

Ensure that Acrobat is installed on your computer, otherwise, the Adobe PDF printer or the Save As Adobe PDF option won't appear. Don’t have Acrobat? Try Acrobat for free.

Video tutorial: Print to PDF

Watch this video tutorial to use the Adobe PDF Printer to create PDFs from almost any application.

Video (03:34) | Contributers: lynda.com, Claudia McCue

Print to PDF (Windows)

  1. Open a file in a Windows application.

  2. Choose File > Print.

  3. Choose Adobe PDF as the printer in the Print dialog box.

    To customize the Adobe PDF printer setting, select the Properties (or Preferences) button. (In some applications, you may have to select Setup in the Print dialog box to open the list of printers, and then select Properties or Preferences.)

  4. Select Print. Type a name for your file, and select Save.

For more information on Adobe PDF printer settings, see Using the Adobe PDF printer.

Print to PDF (macOS)

The Adobe PDF printer is not available on Mac. However, you can use the Save As Adobe PDF option to print a file to PDF on Mac.

Note:

In macOS Mojave (v10.14), when you try to print a document to PDF using the System Print Dialog > Save As Adobe PDF, the following error message is displayed: "This workflow contains the action Save As Adobe PDF, which is provided by a third party. Third-party actions must be explicitly enabled."

To resolve this error, see Error in saving as Adobe PDF | macOS Mojave 10.14.

  1. Open a file in a macOS application.

  2. Click the PDF button and choose Save As Adobe PDF.

  3. Choose the Adobe PDF Settings and click Continue.

  4. Type a name for your file, and click Save.

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