How to create decent looking PDFs?

by MemberWing

Posted: 15 years ago 18 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Here's my newbie Q:
How to create decent looking PDF documents with all the nice looking headers, footers, paging, proper formatting, nicely laid out etc..

Something that you wouldn't be shy to sell as an informative guide.

I use zoho.com to create online documents but when I export them to PDF they look like 4-letter word.

Gleb

#create #decent #pdfs

RaynayValles 15 years ago

I use createpdf.com, the online service by adobe. Works great. Priced right.

Good luck,
Raynay
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- 1 reply
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- oldwarrioruser1 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Raynay Valles
  
  I use createpdf.com, the online service by adobe. Works great. Priced right.
  
  Good luck,
  Raynay
  
  Buzzword!!
  
  Thanks
  
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Takuya Hikichi 15 years ago

I sent you the information you might be looking for via PM.
- Thanks
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MemberWing 15 years ago

Raynay, thanks.
But it seems this is only "converting" service?
I need rather "creating" service or product.
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- edhan 15 years ago
  
  You can try using Open Office.
  
  When you export to PDF, remember to set in the General for images as Lossless Compression. This way, you will not lose out the graphic looks.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Thanks
  
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MemberWing 15 years ago

Edhan, yes, i will look into it, thanks.
I disappointed in Zoho's quality. The doc looks nice online - but useless otherwise.

Gleb
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Abledragon 15 years ago

I agree with Edhan - using Open Office works great.

You can style the document in OO. The export process to PDF gives you a lot of options and is very quick. Seriously quicker than doing it from Word.

Cheers,

Martin.
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mrmatt 15 years ago

I am with edhan. Open Office is the way to go. Plus it's free.
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MemberWing 15 years ago

Thanks guys. Speed difference between 5 seconds and 15 seconds doesn't really matters after I spent 2 hours trying to squeeze something useful from my current document.

OO is the way then.

Gleb
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- Bev Clement 15 years ago
  
  All the formatting features you need are in Word and OO. You should use the headers and footers, and select an automatic page numbering system, so regardless of the number of changes the page number will change.
  
  Too many people use the enter key and keep doing that until they get a new page, the problem is that doesn't always remain the same when you convert it to pdf.
  
  You need to have a hard page break.
  
  Also make sure you use the formating for headings, sub heading, and then use those to automatically generate the table of contents. That way you can put in a new one once any editing has been done.
  
  Thanks
  
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  Sean Kelly 15 years ago
  
  I think this is why Bev was suggesting the hard page-break, the MS-Word page size is letter but the PDF converter is stuck in A4.
  
  *Blatant promotion warning*
  
  My product PdfPrinter (its free) is one of the few PDF converters that will create your PDF pages in the same size as they are in Ms-Word.
  
  eg: Try creating a business-card sized page in Ms-Word and converting that to PDF, most PDF converters will create a letter or a4 size PDF.
  
  Remember Armand Mornin's PDF that was a custom size? You didn't scroll your PDF, it looked like a powerpoint presentation except it was a PDF. Try doing that with OpenOffice, etc, not possible. AFAIK the only converters that can do this right now is Acrobat Professional and PdfPrinter.
  
  If your graphics are looking crap in your PDF this is because they are scaled in your ms-word document. Make sure you insert them in their original size in your document and not scaled - then they'll look much better in your PDF
  - This is because of the way the image rendering engine of Ms-Word works.
  
  Sean
  
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expertcapper

15 years ago

I myself use microsoft word..pdf is to complicated for me

Thanks
1 reply

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Jason Moffatt

15 years ago

"Pages" on the Mac is the way to go.

Since most people don't have Macs or the ability to make sweet looking ebooks, my girlfriend set up this service....

Trendy Ebooks - Home Page

However she isn't really taking many clients at the moment as she's book solid for a few gigs.

Thanks
2 replies

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https://www.jasonmoffatt.com

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Kevin Riley 15 years ago

I use OPen Office and have created my own templates. Here's a video I uploaded to You Tube last year, which shows how:

YouTube - How To Make A Book With The Free PDF...

Disclaimer: Picture quality is not up to my standards, but you can see how to create the PDF.
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TheRichJerksNet

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Jason Moffatt

I have an online PDF Creator but I have to agree with Jason.. I just purchased iWork 09 and I was looking at KeyNote, Pages, and Numbers .. Looks like a great upgrade that could produce some quality presentations..

James

Thanks
1 reply

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Minisite Nerd 15 years ago

Once you get a "feel" for Open Office, you can really do some damage making great looking PDF's. For a free software, it doesn't get much better.

It's not Acrobat or InDesign, but it's pretty capable.
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Tracy Yates 15 years ago

I have to cast my vote for OpenOffice as well.

It truly is a wonderful alternative to other PDF creation programs that is, as was previously mentioned a bunch of times, free. Plus, you can get pretty creative with your layout formats too.

I'm living proof of that!

Tracy
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WinsonYeung 15 years ago

I use microsoft 2007 to write my document and export it into a 2003 format.
Then I import the 2003 version to my open office and export it as a pdf format.

It's working perfectly for me, even all the formatting as well
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How to create decent looking PDFs?

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