DOC files to PDFs

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I have been uploading some of my wife’s docs (knitting patterns done in Microsoft Word 2003) to google drive and then converting them to pdf with good success. However recently, the multipage docs have had several formatting errors which are not fixable.

What do you all recommend to convert docs to pdf? We only need do this a few times a year so we were looking for a free utility. Perhaps online?

Thanks kindly, Robby K

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Robby,

I use NitroPDF Reader freewhich also installs a PDF Printer driver so any app that allows you to select a printer can send it’s output to a file in PDF format. It works great and so does the PDF reader portion of the software. Before switching to Nitro I used PrimoPDF also free but it only has the printer driver function I had to use FoxIt Reader to read pdf files which is one of the reasons I switched to NItro where I only need one application. HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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If you have Office 2007 or later, Word can save direct to PDF. Also, Adobe has made version 8 of Adobe Acrobat Pro available as a free download (http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4683-adobe-acrobat-8-free.html – note the serial# mentioned there) and that can be used like a printer driver to ‘print’ a document to a PDF file.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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Foxit Reader 6 includes a print-to-PDF printer driver. I’ve used it for years after getting sick to death of the bloat and slowness of Adobe Reader. I recommend Foxit Reader with one caveat. You must pay attention during the install otherwise the default is to bundle in the execrable Conduit Search. I’ve just installed the latest version of Foxit Reader and made the following changes to the default installation.

1. Remove the default tick in the Add-on for Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome checkbox.
36436-foxit1
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2. Here’s how I configured the Additional Tasks.
36437-foxit2
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3. Very important: Do not choose Express (recommended). Instead, choose Custom installation (advanced) and remove the tick from the Install Search Protect… checkbox.
36438-foxit3
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4. After installation, amend the Preferences so the Start Page and Adverts are hidden. (I also swap back from the Ribbon interface to the Basic menu.)
36439-foxit4
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5. You can now ‘print’ to the Foxit Reader PDF printer.
36440-foxit5

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Thanks for the responses. I have Office 2003 and we could convert to pdf for a time, but now it says the time has expired and we will need to buy the version when we click on the link.

We don’t need to print (well, occasionally), my wife just publishes her pdf files / patterns to Ravelry, etc (all online or email…) so all we need do is convert.

I’ll look into Nitro PDF Reader his afternoon

Thanks again, much appreciated.

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robbyk,

If Office 2003 has expired then you may wish to try the LibreOffice office suite. It’s free, imports DOC files (and DOCX files from later versions of MS Word) and can export to PDF natively, i.e. from within the default toolbar.

36442-LibreOffice
Click to enlarge

As a result it could be used to convert your docs to PDF and be used for your occasional printing needs.

Hope this helps…

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I have been uploading some of my wife’s docs (knitting patterns done in Microsoft Word 2003) to google drive and then converting them to pdf with good success. However recently, the multipage docs have had several formatting errors which are not fixable.

What do you all recommend to convert docs to pdf? We only need do this a few times a year so we were looking for a free utility. Perhaps online?

Thanks kindly, Robby K

If you have already converted a document from DOC to PDF, and it has problems, it may be possible to repair the PDF. If you can view it in a PDF writer program, you can print it from there to PDF. In effect, you are allowing the PDF writer program to recreate the PDF document. I have had some success doing this with very long PDF documents which had errors; letting Adobe Acrobat regenerate them cleaned them up, eliminating the errors.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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I have been using a program called doPDF which is available online and free for personal use. Like some of the others, it installs as a printer driver. It creates very compact PDF files.

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DoPDF works great.
And it does not take gazillions of MB of storage, nor does it require any additional emulation software.

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Thanks kindly once again for all the replies and extremely helpful suggestions!

I am embarrassed to say, but as I was working through the above comments, I decided to start over from scratch. I went back and uploaded my wife’s doc to google, coverted it to a google doc and then downloaded as a pdf file and…this time all was well (spaces, table shading, etc.) in the multi page document. I am good to go.

But if it ever happens again (she has me do this 2-3 times per year), I know I have Plans B & C, etc delineated above.

Thanks once again for the extremely helpful and kind guidance!

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For those with an interest and who like a ($25) bargain, Corel has a special on their PDF Fusion which I think ends tomorrow.

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Another free PDF document converter (which can be installed as a printer driver that works in all versions of Word, as far as I know – I certainly used it in Word 2000 and Word 2003) is PDF995: http://www.pdf995.com/
Paul

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Get Adobe Acrobat Professional for free. Adobe is giving away older versions of it’s program. I used 8 for years professionally and now it’s free!

http://josephlo.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/acrobat-8-pro-free-giveaway-from-adobe/

I got it from here the other day when my wife got a new laptop:
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4683-adobe-acrobat-8-free.html

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Another choice is BullZIP PDF Printer:
http://www.bullzip.com/

I have been using it for years at work and home.
It has always worked well.

I carry it on my USB for quick installation where ever it’s needed.

Have Fun!

brino

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