Why convert Word doc to PDF format?

[Dij]

Hi,

Why do people convert their Word documents to the pdf format?
Sometimes, they would convert the pdf files back to .doc format. Rather
confusing for me.
Please advice! Thanks

Dij

 

[fahdshariff]

- Not everyone uses Microsoft Windows Programs. PDF files are readable
by Windows, Mac and Unix users i.e. there is cross platform
compatibility. Being a Linux user myself, I get particularly frustrated
when people email me Word documents.

- PDF documents can be read with a free viewer/reader.

- I think that Word files are smaller when converted to PDF. The
smaller the file the quicker the transfer.

 

[Gordon]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:
|| - Not everyone uses Microsoft Windows Programs. PDF files are
|| readable by Windows, Mac and Unix users i.e. there is cross platform
|| compatibility. Being a Linux user myself, I get particularly
|| frustrated when people email me Word documents.

Do you not have Open Office?

 

[Gordon]

Dij wrote:
|| Hi,
||
|| Why do people convert their Word documents to the pdf format?

PDF documents are not alterable, unless you have the software and know-how
to do so. Most normal users don't and don't! Therefore PDF documents are
used for things like the publishing of Statutory Reports on Websites etc
etc.

 

[xfile]

Another thing that many people use PDF (apart from being viewed with a free
reader across platform) is the document is more difficult to be edited.

 

[Steve N.]

- Not everyone uses Microsoft Windows Programs. PDF files are readable
by Windows, Mac and Unix users i.e. there is cross platform
compatibility. Being a Linux user myself, I get particularly frustrated
when people email me Word documents.

RTF is also readable cross-platform and is not proprietary.

Steve

 

[JerryMouse]

- Not everyone uses Microsoft Windows Programs. PDF files are readable
by Windows, Mac and Unix users i.e. there is cross platform
compatibility. Being a Linux user myself, I get particularly
frustrated when people email me Word documents.

Convert to Windows and end your frustrations.

 

[Gordon]

JerryMouse wrote:
|| (e-mail address removed) wrote:
||| - Not everyone uses Microsoft Windows Programs. PDF files are
||| readable by Windows, Mac and Unix users i.e. there is cross platform
||| compatibility. Being a Linux user myself, I get particularly
||| frustrated when people email me Word documents.
||
|| Convert to Windows and end your frustrations.

Not at all. All he needs is Open Office.

 

[Steve N.]

Convert to Windows and end your frustrations.

LOL!

Windows does not include MS Word, so how is converting to Windows going
to solve that issue? He might as well convert to Mac.

Steve

 

[Leythos]

LOL!

Windows does not include MS Word, so how is converting to Windows going
to solve that issue? He might as well convert to Mac.

Not to mention that sending documents are PDF permits them to retain
formatting that might be list on another version of Word or another
platform. When I send documents to the printers (as in printing company) I
send them as PDF's since they can print to press directly from my PDF.
When I send documented to clients I also use PDF as they retain their
complete look/feel without any chance of error.

Since I also use Linux and OO, I can honestly state that many documents we
get from MS Office don't look anything like they do in Word once imported
to OO. I run both XP and FC3 and never mix the type types of documents -
the only close method is to export to RTF and that's a crapshoot as MS
tends to do non-standard things in their RTF output.

 

[Steve Shattuck]

Why do people convert their Word documents to the pdf format?

Sometimes, they would convert the pdf files back to .doc format. Rather
confusing for me.

1. Virtually everyone in the world can view and print a PDF (portable
document file) without regard to type of computer, operating system
(Windows, Linux, OSX, etc.), or even the fonts installed on the
viewing system with a FREE viewer/print program from Adobe.

2. The most important feature is that a PDF document looks and prints
EXACTLY the same under all the above situations.

3. Some documents, for example legal documents, need to be shared in
a NON-Editable format to assure that no changes are made to the
original.

4. PDF files are usually smaller and thus cheaper to send over the Internet.
Not everyone has broadband connections.

5. RTF, which someone suggested, is not standard, does NOT do all of the
above, and does NOT produce identical output over all platforms as PDF,
and I can't for the life of me understand why someone would recommend
it.

 

[Steve N.]

1. Virtually everyone in the world can view and print a PDF (portable
document file) without regard to type of computer, operating system
(Windows, Linux, OSX, etc.), or even the fonts installed on the
viewing system with a FREE viewer/print program from Adobe.

2. The most important feature is that a PDF document looks and prints
EXACTLY the same under all the above situations.

3. Some documents, for example legal documents, need to be shared in
a NON-Editable format to assure that no changes are made to the
original.

4. PDF files are usually smaller and thus cheaper to send over the Internet.
Not everyone has broadband connections.

5. RTF, which someone suggested, is not standard, does NOT do all of the
above, and does NOT produce identical output over all platforms as PDF,
and I can't for the life of me understand why someone would recommend
it.

The person I replied to was complaining about people emailing Word
documents to him and I suggested RTF as an alternative for that purpose.
PDF is not generally suitable for sharing editable documents.

"Someone" (Steve)

 

[Dij]

Thanks every one for the useful informations on pdf files!!!

 

[Opinicus]

I use RTF almost exclusively because it produces more
compact files. Certainly more compact than DOC.

 

[Steve N.]

Not to mention that sending documents are PDF permits them to retain
formatting that might be list on another version of Word or another
platform. When I send documents to the printers (as in printing company) I
send them as PDF's since they can print to press directly from my PDF.
When I send documented to clients I also use PDF as they retain their
complete look/feel without any chance of error.

Since I also use Linux and OO, I can honestly state that many documents we
get from MS Office don't look anything like they do in Word once imported
to OO. I run both XP and FC3 and never mix the type types of documents -
the only close method is to export to RTF and that's a crapshoot as MS
tends to do non-standard things in their RTF output.

Good points. RTF used to be more uniform across platforms and
applications as I recall. Maybe it still is if things are kept simple in
the documents.

There are things I do not like about PDF. The main pain for me is that
people put horribly scanned documents into PDFs that take a long time to
download and expect others to be able to read them. The worst are
software and hardware manuals published on the web by manufacturers.

Another irritant is people create application forms in PDF and put them
up on the web. I've lost count of how many times I've had to explain to
users that no, they cannot fill out PDF forms on line. Government
agencies are the worst, IME.

The other annoyance has to do with Adobe Reader. To view a PDF from an
online source it has to download it into the reader. To save it locally
the reader has to download the dang thing again. It's already there
somewhere in memory, why dl the stupid thing again?

Steve