How to export files and documents as PDFs.
Don’t worry if your document editor can’t export to PDF. Learn how you can easily convert practically any file to a PDF.
You’re about to finalize an important document and share it with your fellow students or co-workers. You save your file and start looking for a way to export it as a PDF, only to realize your document editor can’t create PDFs. Or maybe the exported file just doesn’t display correctly.
The good news is that there’s a solution. Using a PDF editor, like Adobe Acrobat, to export files to PDFs can help you get around both issues.
When you export your files to PDFs, it will help their formatting remain stable, regardless of the device on which they are opened. Because of its reliability and shareability, PDF has become a standard format for important communication. Sharing your file in PDF will not only be the most efficient, but it will also communicate professionalism. This tutorial teaches you how to quickly and easily export practically any file as a PDF.
Export almost any file as a PDF.
Learn how to export a document as a PDF using Adobe Acrobat:
- Launch Acrobat and select Tools from the menu bar.
- Select Create PDF in the Tools view.
- Choose the appropriate conversion type.
- Drag and drop your files into the conversion window or locate them manually.
- Start the conversion.
- Save and rename your files, if necessary.
You can also export files to PDFs using the Adobe Acrobat online PDF converter:
- Visit Adobe Acrobat online.
- Click “Select a file.”
- Choose a PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or image file.
- The tool will convert the selected file to a PDF.
- Download the converted file, or sign in to your Adobe account to share it with others.
What does export as PDF mean?
When you export a file as a new file format (like PDF), you change the format of your file and save it in the new format. File formats dictate the layout of your file and store your information. The information in your file is encoded and stored in different ways and has a specific layout or organization, depending on the format. Different file formats also allow you to perform different functions with your documents.
PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and it is a standard format in many industries. PDF is also practical for personal use. The main advantage of PDF is that its printable appearance remains intact, regardless of the program you use to open it. So, even if you open the PDF on your phone, it will look exactly like it did on your computer — and be ready for printing. If your file is a PDF, it also allows you to perform many functions, like encrypting, editing and annotating, and creating a form.
When you export as a PDF, you are changing your file format so that it’s easier to share and secure.
Where is “PDF from File” in Acrobat?
There’s another way to export to PDF. Here’s how you find “PDF from File” in Acrobat.
- Launch Acrobat and go to the File menu.
- Choose Create > PDF from File.
- Select your file. To find it, make sure your file type is selected in the dropdown menu.
- Start the conversion by clicking Open.
- Use File > Save or select File > Save As to save your file.
You’ll notice when you choose Create from the File menu that there are many different options for creating a PDF. You can turn a capture, web page, or scanned document into a PDF. You can also combine files into one PDF or create multiple PDF files at once.
Work with your exported PDFs.
Once you’ve exported your files to PDFs, you can take advantage of the many functions of PDFs to work with or optimize them further. If you are sending large files, you can easily compress and combine PDFs for easier sharing. If you need to organize a PDF differently, you can reorder PDF pages. For work with colleagues or clients, you can add comments and notes, request signatures, and even upload your file to Acrobat online to work together with your team in real time.
Discover everything you can do to improve your workflow with Acrobat today.