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You can create PDFs from documents printed on paper, Microsoft Word documents, InDesign® files, digital images, and more. Different types of sources have different tools available for PDF conversion. In many applications, you can create PDFs by selecting the Adobe PDF printer in the Print dialog box.
If a file is open in its authoring application (such as a spreadsheet that is open in Microsoft Excel), you can convert it to PDF without opening Adobe Acrobat. Similarly, if Acrobat is already open, you don’t have to open the authoring application to convert a file to PDF.
Every PDF balances efficiency (small file size) and quality (such as resolution and color). If the balance between the file size and the quality is critical to your task, you must use an appropriate conversion method.
For example, you can drag files to the Acrobat icon to create PDFs. In this case, Acrobat applies the most recently used conversion settings without providing access to those settings. If you want more control over the process, you’ll want to use another method.
Refer to the following lists to determine the methods available for the different types of files.
File Type | PDF Creation Methods |
---|---|
Any file format | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create. Then, select a file type and then select the file that you want to convert to PDF. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create and then select the appropriate file type and follow through the steps. Method 2: Drag and drop a file from your system to the Acrobat Home page. Method 3: Right-click on the file and then select Convert to Adobe PDF. Method 4: Open the file in its source application and go to Print > Adobe PDF printer. |
Paper documents (Requires a scanner) | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create. Then, select Scanner as the file type, select the scanner, and follow through the steps or browse to locate a pre-scanned page. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create from scanner and follow through the workflow. |
Microsoft Office documents | Method 1 (Windows only): From the authoring application toolbar, select Adobe Acrobat > Create and Share Adobe PDF. Method 2 (Windows only): Open the file in its source application and then go to Print > Adobe PDF printer. Method 3 (Windows only): Right-click on the file and select Convert to Adobe PDF. Method 4: Drag and drop the file from your system to the Acrobat Home page. Method 5 (macOS only): From the authoring application, select File > Print > PDF > Save as Adobe PDF. |
Email messages | Method 1 (Windows only): Within Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, select Acrobat PDFMaker or select Adobe PDF menu options (Outlook) or the Actions menu (Lotus Notes). Method 2 (Windows only): From the email application, go to Print > Adobe PDF Create a PDF (not a PDF Portfolio). Method 3 (Outlook 2010 or later): From the email folder or selection of messages, right-click and then select Convert to Adobe PDF. |
Web pages | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create. Then, select Web page as the file type and follow through the steps. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create > PDF from web page and follow through the workflow. Method 2: Drag and drop the HTML file from your system to the Acrobat Home page. Method 3: Right-click on the file and then select Convert to Adobe PDF. Method 4: From the top-right corner of the webpage, select> Print > Adobe PDF. |
Content copied on the clipboard | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create. Then, select Clipboard as the file type and follow through the steps. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create > PDF from clipboard and follow through the workflow. |
AutoCAD files (Acrobat Pro for Windows only) | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create and then select the file. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create > PDF from file and follow through the workflow. Method 2: Drag and drop the HTML file from your system to the Acrobat Home page. Method 3: Right-click the file and select Convert to Adobe PDF. Method 4: Within AutoCAD, go to Print > Adobe PDF. |
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign files | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create a PDF and then select the file. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create > PDF from file and follow through the workflow. Method 2: Drag and drop the file from your system to the Acrobat Home page. |
PostScript and EPS files | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create and then select the file. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create > PDF from file and follow through the workflow. Method 2: Drag and drop the file from your system to the Acrobat Distiller icon or Acrobat Distiller window. |
3D files (Acrobat Pro) | Method 1: From the top tools bar, select Create and then select the file. Or, select the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS) > Create > PDF from file and follow through the workflow. Method 2: Drag and drop the HTML file from your system to the Acrobat Home page. Method 3: From Microsoft PowerPoint, select Adobe Presenter > Publish. |
You can select various settings to ensure that your PDF has the best balance between file size, resolution, conformity to specific standards, and other factors. The settings you select depend on your goals for the PDF that you are creating. For example, a PDF intended for high-quality commercial printing requires different settings than a PDF intended only for onscreen viewing and quick downloading over the Internet.
Once selected, these settings apply across PDFMaker, Acrobat, and Acrobat Distiller. However, some settings are limited to specific contexts or file types. For example, PDFMaker options can vary among the different types of Microsoft Office applications.
For convenience, you can select one of the conversion presets available in Acrobat. You can also create, define, save, and reuse custom presets that are uniquely suited to your purposes.
For scanned documents, you can choose from Autodetect Color Mode or several scanning presets that are optimized for scanning documents and images in color or black and white. You can modify these presets or use your own custom scanning settings.
Try these online PDF tools: convert Word to PDF, convert Excel to PDF, convert PowerPoint to PDF, convert JPG to PDF