Conclusions
Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: online, pdf, creator | Themes: Software, The Internet
9. Conclusions
Conclusions
There are clearly a number of different ways to convert PDF files online for free. Whether you want to convert a Webpage into a PDF file or a PDF document into a Word file, you certainly have options.
On the straight and easy side of converting a Word document into a PDF file, all of the services converted our test DOC file without an issue, with the exception of ExpressPDF and FreePDF. Certainly, there are many different usage scenarios and types of document files with interesting formatting, so just because the services worked well for our test doesn’t mean they’ll do everything perfectly.
On the Excel side, our almost complete lack of initial success is somewhat concerning. Sure, there are always settings in a file or service that can be tweaked, but it’s always better when a service is smart enough to figure it out for you. Only PDF Online was smart enough to automatically figure out the proper formatting for our simple XLS test file.
That said, considering how much you can do for free, it’s easy enough to try out one or more if you don’t at first succeed.
For Word-to-PDF conversions, there are no clear winners; Primo PDF fares well as does Zamzar, Neevia, PDF Online and Create PDF. Certainly the cost factor with Adobe’s Create PDF could be a long-term deterrent for that service but for your first five conversions it is free. But if you just need basic document conversion and aren’t terribly interested in large files or long-term storage, you can do your conversions for free, so there is little need to actually pay.
On the PDF-to-Doc side, Zamzar did well with our test case, but again that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be ideal for all types of documents. Google’s Gmail (something we didn’t include in an individual breakout) also does PDF conversion in a roundabout way. When you get a PDF in your Gmail account you can choose to download it or view it as an HTML document (which in our Magna-Carta-test-document case turned out well).
For Webpage-to-PDF conversions, only FreePDF correctly and consistently grabbed the Tom’s Guide Website home page. Again, your own mileage may vary as images can be rendered differently on different sites (flash on some, simple jpg and gif on others) which can impact conversion.
Overall, there is no one perfect site that offers completely free online PDF conversion services, but there are specific sites that do certain things very well. The bottom line is that you don’t necessarily need to install or pay for desktop-based software for PDF conversions. All of the services we looked at have some free elements and there is no risk in trying any of them to see if they fit the bill for your PDF needs.
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Good Article. Micosoft Word and Excel are horrible programs for desktop publishing. Converting to PDF from these programs without reflow and pagination errors when passing the file from one PC to another is tough. The only way to guarentee 100% success is to generate the PDF on the PC the document was created on.
I have been in the print on demand and publishing business with a large firm for 18 years. Anytime someone sends native files in Word or Excel, we absolutely cringe. It can be very time consuming to convert the documents and have them turn out the exact way the creator sees the documents on their end. So, I guess you could say that in the end, you get what you pay for. Free service.....I wouldn't expect miracles with Word and Excel.
May also want to take a look at PDFescape (an online PDF editor):
http://www.pdfescape.com
Good article for those looking to create PDF files though
I'm very happy with having pdf "printers" installed on my computers. Saves me from all the troubles and hassles on services you just listed. Plus they are more secure and flexible when concerning private data like web purchase receipts and such. Sourceforge.net has several on it that are free and easy to install. I think it would be more natural from a users point of view too.
Ah how I love OpenOffice, I have yet to have any problems with it's PDF converter.
Ah how I love OpenOffice, I have yet to have any problems with it's odt/doc to PDF converter. Admittedly I have only ever converted text and tables with it.
You could always use a Mac and you can convert about anything from any program to a .pdf file. Built into OS X through the print function.
When you tell a program to print something a print box appears. You can then tell OS X to save the document to a .pdf file.
I do love my Mac.
Glenn
Good article. I hope I can get you to consider making a simular one on making the new Words docx documents into the old doc format, so I can read them using OpenOffice.
I have to mention that from an Adobe perspective, even though the PDF spec is public and open for anyone to use, Adobe does not guarantee the stability and accurateness of PDF files created from third party applications (meaning, programs other than Adobe Acrobat). That's not a sales pitch - that's just a fact of using an open specification that any programmer can interpret and potentially mess up. So what is my point? Be very careful of the programs you use if storing stable PDF files is critical for you.
Another great product for creation / conversion into PDF format are any of the products from www.cutepdf.com
We use at my work and I love it. Very inexpensive too.
Nice !
Nice review indeed.