# Is it possible to publish a PDF for free? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982 "2018-05-28T18:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mislav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mislav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mislav)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/1 "2018-05-28T18:05:56Z")
If so, how, and on what website/app? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/2 "2018-05-28T18:15:50Z")
I don’t know what you mean by “publish.” If you simply mean export a PDF, it is already native to the Mac. Just go to print, click Open PDF in Preview, then save. On Windows it’s the same, you go to the print and when you choose your printer there’s one called Print to PDF. This is with my Mac and my wife’s PC, which have the latest OS for both devices. The Mac has been doing PDFs as native functionality for several years. If it’s a text document and your PC doesn’t do it, you can open it google docs ([docs.google.com](http://docs.google.com)) and export it from the file menu. Or go here. [http://www.freepdfcreator.org/](http://www.freepdfcreator.org/) ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/3 "2018-05-28T18:16:52Z")
If by “publish” you mean put it online you can upload it to google docs then make it public. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/4 "2018-05-28T18:18:00Z")
Sure. I have one posted on my web site, with a copyleft. It’s also posted on the website of the people I wrote it for, where it is also available for free. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/5 "2018-05-28T18:47:33Z")
> [@Mislav](#): > > If so, how, and on what website/app? Please describe the finished result that you want to see. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/6 "2018-05-28T19:24:03Z")
And also describe what it is that you have now. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/7 "2018-05-28T22:50:07Z")
If your question is about whether you need to pay Adobe (or someone else) when you create a PDF document that is not for personal use, but posted for public use, then the answer is no. Adobe has patented the PDF format but grants an open licence, so anyone can use it for free. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/8 "2018-05-28T23:45:01Z")
I believe you can do that on Smashwords. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/9 "2018-05-29T00:46:28Z")
Chrome has a PDF creator built in. If you can display the file in a browser window, then print it, and in the print dialogue select PDF. That’s all there is to it. And since Chrome can read many formats like DOC, JPG, HTML, etc., there’s your PDF creator. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/10 "2018-05-29T01:37:52Z")
Absolutely everything on a Mac can create PDFs, too, and there are PDF printers you can install on Windows for the same effect. But I’m still not sure that’s what the OP is looking for (as opposed, for instance, to already having a PDF and wanting to distribute it to the world, or wanting to turn it into a printed hardcopy). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/11 "2018-05-29T06:09:53Z")
[Publishing on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?ie=UTF8&ld=AZFooterSelfPublish&topic=200260520) is free, either for print or Kindle. They even want submissions to be in [PDF format](https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202145060). ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/12 "2018-05-29T11:51:21Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Chrome has a PDF creator built in. If you can display the file in a browser window, then print it, and in the print dialogue select PDF. That’s all there is to it. And since Chrome can read many formats like DOC, JPG, HTML, etc., there’s your PDF creator. I think you have some extensions for Chrome that expand it’s functionality that are not core functions. (Confirmed – there is a print to pdf extension and three tools for opening/editing docs. Did not try any of them. Google docs can do both). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/13 "2018-05-29T12:41:39Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > I think you have some extensions for Chrome that expand it’s functionality that are not core functions. (Confirmed – there is a print to pdf extension and three tools for opening/editing docs. Did not try any of them. Google docs can do both). I’m not sure what you are confirming. I do not have any extensions installed in any of my several computers running Chrome, and this function works fine right “out of the box”. But I’m not sure this is what the OP is asking about. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-publish-a-pdf-for-free/814982/14 "2018-05-29T12:52:58Z")
Nobody is and I’m not sure he or she will be back. I was confirming that the extensions are available in case they do and do not experience what you do. I can print a PDF from Chrome but I can from any software, but the dialogue box is exactly the same as any other program so I suspect the functionality is on my computer, not Chrome. And I definitely cannot open a Word document without an extension; Chrome just downloads it.