From Wikipedia:
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system.

So what does this mean?  Basically it means that if you can turn your document into a PDF it will look the same no matter what computer you open it on.  A lot of people are surprised by the fact that a document can look different depending on what computer it was made on and what computer it is being viewed on.  Microsoft Word is the program we have the biggest problem with here at Allegra, but it can happen in any program.  Here’s an example:

The document below was created on a computer here in our office in Microsoft Word, then saved and opened on another computer also in Microsoft Word:

Original

Opened on a Different Computer

See what a difference just another computer can make?  Without giving us any errors or indication that the file looks different, Word has replaced our fonts, changed our margins and lost our pumpkin clipart.

A PDF is the solution to our problem.  When a document is turned into a PDF all the Fonts, Images and layout are saved to a file that will look the same no matter what computer we view it on.  So now the question is… How can I turn my files into a PDF?  Well, what you need depends on what type of computer you have.

For Mac Users

If you have a Mac you can already turn anything you can print into a PDF, it’s already built in.  Let’s say you have a Word document that you would like to bring here to Allegra and have us print you out some copies.

First Open the file you want us to print (in this example it’s the Word Document from above) and Choose “File” then “Print”

Choose the "File" Menu, the the "Print" option

That will bring up the Print dialog box.  In the bottom left of that window is a button called PDF.  Click on that and a few options will pop up.  The one you want is “Save to PDF…”

Choose the "Save as PDF..." opiton

That will open another window that will let you tell the program where you want to save your PDF and what to call it.

Choose a Name for your PDF and where you want it Saved

Once your done just hit the “Save” button and that’s it!  You’ve got a perfect PDF you can bring to us and it will print exactly as you want.

For Windows Users

Making something into a PDF in Windows is a little more complicated than on the Mac side.  Windows does not have PDF creation built in so in order to turn a document into a PDF you need to have a PDF Printer installed.  If you have the Professional version of Adobe Acrobat a PDF printer comes with that.  Most people only have the Acrobat Reader though so we need another solution.  Lucky for you we have one!

Thanks to our friends at PDF24, we can distribute a PDF printer to you for you to use for all your PDF creation needs.  Click Here to download the Allegra PDF24 Installer. Unzip the file and run the installer.  You will be prompted through the following screens:

Allegra PDF24 Install

Once the Install has finished you will have a new Printer called “PDF24″ in your printers list.

To turn a document into a PDF once PDF24 is installed is similar to on the Mac.  Open your document in the program you created it.  We are using Microsoft Word again.  Choose to Print your document.  Make sure not to use the small printer icon in Microsoft Office products, that will print to your default printer and we need to choose the printer.

Choose Print from the File Menu (or Office Logo Menu in Office 2007)

When the Printer Dialog comes up choose the PDF24 printer from the list and click OK as if you were printing the document.

Choose the pdf24 printer from the list

The PDF24 window will open next.  Click the Save PDF button to save your new PDF to your computer.

Click the Save PDF button

Name your PDF and choose a location to save it.

Choose a name and a place to save your new PDF

Once your done just hit the “Save” button and that’s it!  You’ve got a perfect PDF you can bring to us and it will print exactly as you want.

You'll know everything worked by the confirmation