# Best way to convert word docs into Adobe .PDF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760 "2004-10-29T00:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bittersweet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@bittersweet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bittersweet)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/1 "2004-10-29T00:21:13Z")
I’m trying to convert a few articles into .PDFs from Word .docs. Does anyone have a clue as to the best way of doing this? I could have SWORN I saw an option to do this in Word, but I may have been delusional. Any help is appreciated. Muchas gracias. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/2 "2004-10-29T00:30:35Z")
You may have this option, depending on the Word version you’re using. At work, I have Microsoft Office for Mac OS X. When you choose “Print,” one of the options is “Save as pdf.” ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/3 "2004-10-29T00:37:23Z")
There are a number of programs available that can do the conversion. Here’s one: [Convert DOC to PDF](http://www.tucows.com/preview/343084.html) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/4 "2004-10-29T00:38:29Z")
Lacking that version of Word, there’s a few free PDF creators available (try [download.com](http://download.com)). But I’ve found them to be unreliable. One option would be to use [OpenOffice](http://www.openoffice.org/), which can open a Word document and export to PDF, the advantage being you can check it’s not been distorted _prior_ to conversion. ---
**Author:** ![bittersweet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@bittersweet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bittersweet)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/5 "2004-10-29T00:56:55Z")
You guys ROCK! I knew I could count on y’all. 😉 I’m at work right now, so I’ll probably try it when I get home. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/6 "2004-10-29T01:05:27Z")
Alternately, you could just use [OpenOffice](http://www.openoffice.org/), which is free, and (IIRC), lets you save a document as just about any compatible file type - .doc and .pdf the same. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/7 "2004-10-29T01:23:47Z")
Here’s [another one](http://www.pdf995.com/). Freebies, and seems to work fine. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/8 "2004-10-29T12:30:13Z")
Adobe has a free PDF converter on its Web site (but you get only 5 freebies). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/9 "2004-10-29T13:25:37Z")
I tried a couple of the free converters and had bad font problems, formatting issues, and crashes. I do a lot of PDF work, which has to be accurate, so I finally just bit the bullet and bought the package from Adobe. If you’re just doing a few, go with what **Scarlett67** suggested. The [online PDF converter](https://createpdf.adobe.com) works beautifully, runs pretty fast, and the first five uses are free. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-convert-word-docs-into-adobe-pdf/271760/10 "2004-10-29T13:42:02Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > Here’s [another one](http://www.pdf995.com/). Freebies, and seems to work fine. That’s the one we use at work. The free version even correctly formats things that are stuffed up by the expensive PDF editor we used to use. The fact that it installs as a printer is great.