There are several ways to create PDF files out there. In this series I am going to go through some of my favorite ways to create them. I also encourage your feedback in the ways you deal with PDF and the multitude of office application extensions out there!

The one feature of OpenOffice that impressed me the most was the ability to convert Writer documents into PDF format with the click of a button. However if you do not want to go through the process of installing OpenOffice you can install the open source PDF Creator. This is a very handy stand a lone utility.

Just launch PDF Creator go to Document \ Add

When explorer opens up make sure you're looking for "All files". The Default is PostScript Files. Double click on the document you want to convert.

You will get the following confirmation dialogue box confirming the need to temporarily set PDFCreator as the default printer. I check the box to not ask again then click OK.

Next you will get a dialogue box to enter in pertinent information regarding the document. If you want to see the PDF result right away then place a check in the box to open the default PDF viewer. Then click on Save.

Now make sure you are saving the document as a PDF

And there we have it! As you can see I have my default viewer set to Foxit Reader.