Quick Google Docs Tip: Save to PDF

Not all local-based word processors (meaning those that run on your computer) have the ability to directly save files to PDF. As far as I know, OpenOffice.org does support direct PDF output (including structured PDF). MS Office for Mac also supports printing out directly to PDF (though only linear). In other cases, you would have to install either the licensed Adobe Acrobat–not just the Adobe Reader–or a third-party PDF converter.

If you need to output structured PDFs, it’s best if you use Acrobat or other such add-ons. But most of these are usually not free. If you just need to save a document as a simple PDF so you can share it online or send by email, then you can use Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

Simply load a document onto Google Docs, and then click the File button.

Click the option that says Save as PDF …. Your browser will then automatically download the output as a PDF file (or open a PDF file directly, depending on how your browser is configured to handle PDF).

After the file is downloaded, you can use the PDF file as you please.

Of course, if you just want to share documents via email, then you might want to try sharing them directly via Google Docs instead.