This guide will walk you through the process of printing a document to PDF format. Many applications offer the ability to save a document to PDF in the save dialog box. All of the images in this are guide are in Microsoft Word, but these steps can be used in almost any application on a Mac.
1. Create or Open a Document
Either create a new document or locate an existing document on your Mac that you havre created and open it in your application of choice. As mentioned before, this process is not limited to Microsoft Word.
2. Navigate to the Print Menu
- Locate your menu bar and click File
- Select Print
It may seem odd to use Print when you are saving a file, but PDFs are a special type of file. They are essentially a digital version of a printout. When you print a small image it shows up in the center of your page, this is the same with PDF documents. The computer treats the content the same way as it would if you were actually physically printing.
3. Save as PDF
After you have clicked print from the File menu you will be brought to the print dialog box. In the bottom left corner of this window there is an dropdown menu with the title PDF.
- Click PDF
- Select Save as PDF from the dropdown
4. Name the PDF
Give the PDF an appropriate name. It may be the same as the original document and that is fine, but it may be easier to give it a more distinguishable name. If they are given the same name, the next step shows how you can determine which file is which.
5. Make Sure the File Saved Properly
Locate the original file and the PDF you have just created. Most likely they will be in the same folder, but you may have a reason to save them somewhere else.
- Select the list view from your view options
- Check to make sure that the new file saved is listed as PDF under Kind.
You have now successfully created a PDF. Remember, this can be used an many different places on your Mac. Another example would be to save a webpage as a PDF.
