Create a PDF File

Short for Portable Document Format, PDF is a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. To view a file in PDF format, you need Adobe Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems.

PDF format is a popular formatting for displaying content on the web and most web-users already have access to a PDF viewer.

Often people would like to produce their own PDF files from existing MS-Word documents, Excel Spreadsheets or publishing applications such as Corel Draw or Microsoft Publisher rather than take the time to author content in HTML.  The are multiple tools that can easily create PDF files from popular packages such as MS-Word or MS-Publisher.

A few packages that can convert source files to PDF format are listed below: