Productivity Portfolio

One of the main benefits of a PDF file is the output looks nearly the same on all platforms. You don't have to worry about file formats or the nuances of different operating systems. Another advantage is Adobe offers a free Acrobat Reader for many operating systems.

Although you could buy Adobe Acrobat and create your own PDF files, you might consider some very good free alternatives for occasional use. We should stress that none of these solutions are as good as the stand-alone version of Adobe Acrobat. Moreover, each of the solutions we reviewed is a stepping-stone to a more advanced solution.

Questions to Consider Before Converting

Before trying these solutions, you should consider the following questions.

Do you need to protect the PDF document?

Some documents need additional security such as contracts. While you may want the receiving party to print the document, you may not want them to edit the document. If your document calls for security, only Adobe's online solution will work. By default, Adobe Online will not use any security features, but you can edit or create a security preference to restrict access.

Does your PDF document need bookmarks or links?

One of our test files was a 17-page Word document that had a Table of Contents, bookmarks and hyperlinks. Although each product displayed the hyperlinks as blue underlined text, the links were inactive. You couldn't click the text to go to the appropriate website or link in the document.

Do you want to install software?

One conversion method involves installing a print driver on your computer. While this may sound cumbersome, the products we tested had easy installations. Rather than navigating to a website and submitting your file, you use the File | Print command from the application that created your source file such as Microsoft Word and select the print driver. In the example below, we changed our printer from Canon i560 to CutePDF Writer.

The alternative is to use an online PDF conversion service that will send an email on completion. In each of our tests, the file was returned within 5 minutes of submission, but this can vary based on server demand. Adobe clearly mentions that the free service is secondary to their paid customers.

While the online services such as Adobe Online and PDFOnline offer convenience, some people are reluctant to provide an email address. In the case of Adobe, they ask for more information, but not anything I would be reluctant to provide. If this is a concern, I'd suggest setting up a separate email for this purpose.

How big is your original file?

The biggest drawback to the online PDF conversion services we tested was they impose some sort of limit.

Adobe Online

PDF Online

- 2 MB file upload

Do you need to reduce the PDF file size?

Perhaps, the most surprising aspect of our testing was the size of the PDF file. At first, we thought each solution would produce a PDF file of the same size. That was until we opened our version of Adobe Acrobat and were reminded of how many settings exist. None of the free solutions offered the same array of settings as the commercial products. The closest contender is Adobe's Online service.

Converted PDF File Size Comparison

The table below represents the PDF file conversion sizes for the various products using the same source document, which was a 17-page Word document (181K file size) with three screen snaps.

Overall, we were quite pleased with the results. In each case, the visual presentation was comparable to the output Adobe Acrobat produced. Your results may vary based on the complexity and formatting of the original document. We think any of these solutions would work for most people's needs. If not, most likely these companies offer an upgrade path with the additional features you require for minimal cost.