# Help me to make this Word Document look good when I submit it...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-to-make-this-word-document-look-good-when-i-submit-it/265799>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 24, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-to-make-this-word-document-look-good-when-i-submit-it/265799 "2004-09-24T01:40:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-to-make-this-word-document-look-good-when-i-submit-it/265799/1 "2004-09-24T01:40:08Z")

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Well, it’s pretty straight forward. I need the ability to submit a word document to a company asking for sponsorship, so obviously I would like it to be read only or locked in. I know this is possible with Word documents, but the problem with that annoying “read mode” is that it totally switches up the formatting of the document. I guess a PDF file would be nice, but I cannot go run out and buy Adobe Acrobat right now.

So, what should I do to make a professional, read-only impression on the companies which I beg from? Incedentally, does anyone out there want to sponsor a cycling team?

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-to-make-this-word-document-look-good-when-i-submit-it/265799/2 "2004-09-24T03:09:56Z")

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Tools  
Protect Document  
Editing restrictions  
\<put a password on the file\>

There are tools that produce PDFs without having to buy Acrobat, might even be some free ones out there.

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**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-to-make-this-word-document-look-good-when-i-submit-it/265799/3 "2004-09-24T03:59:15Z")

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[Open Office](http://www.openoffice.org/) will read your Word document and convert it to PDF. Free.

Can’t ask for more than that.