Mac formatting question.

Factual Questions
1

I have a Mac, a mini, with OSX, and am not, how you say, computer savy!

I need to submit a document created in Appleworks, (.cwk) to a site that requests documents be Word, .rtf or .pdf. :mad:

I have zero familiarity with those and don’t have Word. So before I dive into my very dry and somewhat out of date, and often of little use, manuals, I thought I’d just ask y’all.

Left to my own resources I’ll probably concoct some stupid work around only to later discover there was an easy way to do this. :smack:

See, I am getting smarter, I’m asking first, before I get all frustrated and pissed off. And swear and stuff.

How about it? Can it be done? Is it hard? Can you explain it to this simpleton or at least point me in the right direction?

2

The easiest way to get a PDF out of any Apple application is to print it. In the dialog box that pops up, there’s usually a button in the lower left that will either say “Save to File…” or “PDF…” or something along those lines (depending on your version.) Select this and another dialog box will open prompting you for the filename.

3

Easy way to make a PDF from anything:

Open the document, go to File -> Print.

In the Print dialog, you’ll see a popup menu (I think it’s in the lower left) called PDF. Use that to save the document as a PDF file.

Test your spiffy new PDF document by opening it in Preview.

4

I don’t have Appleworks, but can you print the file to PDF?

File > Print

Click the PDF button and it should be able to print to a PDF file.

5

Is it Appleworks 6.0? If so, you might be out of luck :

Unlike previous versions of the program, AppleWorks 6 can’t open the native file format of such ubiquitous programs as Microsoft Word and Excel. Likewise, you can save word processing documents only as AppleWorks, AppleWorks 5.0, ClarisWorks 4.0, ClarisWorks for Kids, HTML, and text files. Reportedly, Apple stripped every bit of 680X0 code from AppleWorks for greater compatibility with the upcoming OS X, and the previously included translators depended on this older architecture.

This explanation offers little balm for the many AppleWorks users who must deal with countless documents created by Microsoft applications. Although you can add translation capabilities to AppleWorks with DataViz’s $100 MacLink Plus Deluxe ( http://www.dataviz.com ), you may be able to avoid paying a C note for translators if you have ClarisWorks or a previous version of AppleWorks; their translators work with AppleWorks 6 as well.

6

Doesn’t matter, since you can print to PDF regardless.

7

has anyone told you to print to pdf?

D & R

8

Y’see, there was an easy way!

Y’all rock! Thank you so much for your help, it was right on.

I do have Appleworks 6 and yet, there was the ‘save as PDF’ button exactly as described!

You have saved me endless hours of frustration and aggravation, manuals - grrr!

I so wish I could return the favour, but, unfortunately lack any real expertise at anything useful.

Instead I will perform a few random acts of kindness hereabouts!

Oh, and hope that Heaven’s finest blessings shower down upon you all!

9

According to what I’ve read online, Appleworks 6.0, from Appleworks 6.0.3 onward, should also be able to save to RTF. Check your version and, if it’s old, update it.

10

As a point of clarification, the print to PDF function is a feature of Mac OS X so you’ll get it regardless of what application you’re using. As long as the application can print, you can always print to PDF.

11

Classic excepted.

12

For future reference, try the “help” button at the top of the screen. Open Mac help and search for “print to pdf” or anything else. May not have the answer, but frequently it does. (Or post here, us Mac heads will be happy to help whenever possible.)