5 Ways of creating PDF files for free!

  07 Jul 2007 by ReviewSaurus

Pdf icon by bartelmePDF (Portable Document Format) is one of the most used format when it comes to distributing documents across the web. However, Adobe Acrobat is a paid program (not acrobat reader) and expensive too, so it becomes difficult for everyone to purchase such a software and have the ability to create the PDF files.

Here I would like to mention some of the ways through which you can create the PDF files for free and without spending even a single penny!

1. Using Open Office : With the help of Openoffice.org you can export the documents in PDF format. So, when it comes to quick exporting of the documents, you can always make use of this software.

2. Using Online Office like Zoho, ThinkFree or Google Docs : These service i.e. Zoho and ThinkFree or Google Docs allows you to export the files as PDF. So, when you have some important document, just open them in these online office’s and export them as PDF.

3. Converting the documents using free online converters : There are various online file format converters which allow you to change the documents format. So, you can upload any of your document and convert them into PDF. Zamzar is one of the most reliable service.

4. Using free software : There are various free softwares which allow you to create the PDF files. CutePDF is one of such softwares.

5. Through Microsoft Office : LyteByte has got a great article which tells you that how you can create the PDF files using Microsoft Office Applications.

Which way do you use or do know any other way of creating the PDF files for free ? Share them in comments section!

Credits : Barteleme for the image

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

37 Responses so far

  1. Mr.Byte July 7, 2007 1:09 pm

    Nice collection of PDF converters…

  2. Benedict Herold July 7, 2007 1:50 pm

    Great round up on this topic. Well done.!

  3. kuanhoong July 7, 2007 1:53 pm

    I am a OpenOffice and Google Doc user. So far so good. :-)

  4. Shankar Ganesh July 7, 2007 1:55 pm

    I’ve been using OpenOffice to convert stuff. Have to give PDF converters a try.

  5. reviewsaurus July 7, 2007 2:44 pm

    @ Everyone : I’m glad that you liked the topic and may be helpful too :)

  6. Kyle Eslick July 7, 2007 4:50 pm

    I use free software which I think is called PrimoPDF. It basically prints things to the PDF format and works great.

    Good roundup!

  7. reviewsaurus July 7, 2007 5:07 pm

    Hey thanks Kyle for showing me this product. Soon, I’ll be able to review it :)

  8. dEEPAK July 7, 2007 5:24 pm

    I’ve used CutePDF in past… But now it’s OpenOffice all the way :)

  9. reviewsaurus July 7, 2007 7:31 pm

    @ dEEPAK : CutePDF is no doubt good..it provides more options but OpenOffice.Org makes life simple :)

  10. Madhur Kapoor July 8, 2007 5:23 am

    Thats a cool list but i prefer CutePDF

  11. Madhur Kapoor’s Blog » Links for 08-07-2007 July 8, 2007 5:40 am

    [...] ReviewSaurus tells you about 5 ways of creating PDF files for free [...]

  12. Free PDF Readers | techdeep.in July 8, 2007 8:57 am

    [...] has a good article about how to create PDF. As we all know that PDF is the most used document platform for sharing files across various [...]

  13. Ken Xu July 8, 2007 11:39 am

    Free PDF maker? Good deal I think!

  14. Sunday Review - ReviewSaurus | Blogging on Tech, Web 2.0 and Money Making Tips July 8, 2007 12:39 pm

    [...] 5 Ways of Creating PDF files for Free [...]

  15. Nirmal July 8, 2007 4:59 pm

    Pretty useful list. :-)

  16. reviewsaurus July 8, 2007 9:08 pm

    @ ken : Thanks for the link back.

    @ Nirmal : I’m glad that you liked the list!

  17. jeremy July 9, 2007 7:49 pm

    The free software section could have used a few more links for us trying to convert graphic files into pdfs… But thanks anyway!

  18. reviewsaurus July 10, 2007 3:52 am

    @ Jeremy : Well, if you use cutepdf then you’ll be able to convert those graphics files into PDFs.

  19. Jason M. Lemkin July 10, 2007 7:23 pm

    Not core to the service, but EchoSign also offer a free online PDF converter that works on the fly:

    http://www.echosign.com/public/createPdf

  20. Shashank July 12, 2007 12:26 pm

    one more great pdf maker..works like a charm
    Nirtopdf but i think its a paid one…

  21. Showing some link love — Shankar Ganesh | Tech Blog July 12, 2007 1:04 pm

    [...] Mayank writes about 5 ways of creating PDF documents [...]

  22. Chris July 14, 2007 2:28 pm

    I use the doPDF - it installs as a “virtual printer” so anything that can be printed can become a PDF. I’ve been happy with how it works so far.

  23. Arun July 17, 2007 1:10 pm

    I use PrimoPDF. I haven’t tried CutePDF.

  24. Arun July 17, 2007 1:21 pm

    I use PrimoPDF. I checked out the features list of CutePDF and doPDF and both of them miss a new and useful feature of PrimoPDF. CutePDF offers this in the paid version, but PrimoPDF already has it for FREE! The feature I’m talking about is combining PDF files. If you have several documents (DOC, PDF, anything) to convert to one single PDF, you can open and then print them (in the order you want) to the same PDF file, choosing “Append” instead of “Overwrite”. This will add the new pages being printed to the end of the PDF file that’s already existing. Thus it allows you to combine all the seperate documents into a single PDF file.

  25. PDF, wedding site, images on Spawners July 18, 2007 9:19 pm

    [...] Mayank writes on 5 ways to create free PDF [...]

  26. NiouMedia July 22, 2007 8:35 pm

    5 manières de créer gratuitement un fichier Pdf…

    Le blog Reviewsaurus nous présente 5 manières de créer gratuitement un fichier Pdf.
    PDF (Portable Document Format) est l’un des formats les plus utilisés lorsqu’il s’agit de distribuer des documents à travers le Web. Cependant, A…

  27. Theodore Davey August 10, 2007 4:56 pm

    Google Docs has a limit of 500K on importing content from Word. Therefore it is not an important method for writing PDFs from substantial Word documents.

  28. ReviewSaurus August 10, 2007 6:36 pm

    @ Theodore : Well, yes that’s one point which certainly puts us back however, you still have the chance with rest 4 options :)

  29. Theodore Davey August 10, 2007 6:44 pm

    I had tried the GhostScript/Redmon approach and was not able to make it work.

    Then I tried the free version of CutePDF and it worked like a charm, first time. My 13Mbyte Word file, containing text, a jpeg, and several graphics, became a 670 Kbyte pdf file. It looks fine onscreen and off the printer. Very impressive!

  30. ReviewSaurus August 10, 2007 7:33 pm

    ah! that’s wonderful. Well, I’ve not checked Ghostscript way but what’s the use it didn’t work for you….so its better to stick with cutepdf :D

  31. Arun August 10, 2007 10:25 pm

    PrimoPDF guys! (see my previous comment) :P

  32. Binny V A March 4, 2008 11:47 pm

    If your are the geeky kinda guy, use Latex - that can be used to create PDF.

  33. K-La March 7, 2008 3:00 am

    I’m a PRIMO girl myself. But great lil apps here!

  34. brassman May 8, 2008 5:08 pm

    I believe any Mac OS X app that has printing capabilities will produce a PDF. Even the lowly Preview.

  35. davedlr July 25, 2008 3:52 pm

    For me - these tools are great - but you need the bonefide Adobe tools if you want to “Comment enable” your PDF for review, which is what we are using PDFs for more and more.

  36. Vinamra August 13, 2008 10:35 am

    CutePDF is Best.

    I love CutePDF

  37. PDF Creator / Use MS Office for PDF August 31, 2008 12:34 am

    [...] http://www.reviewsaurus.com/online-office/5-ways-of-creating-pdf-files-for-free/ [...]

Leave a Comment

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Comments