Hello everyone, I am interested in writing my own ebook, but I'm not sure how to actually go about writing it. Can anybody recommend the best way to write a pdf document, or at least point me in the right direction so I can learn more about how to do it? Thanks in advance for any help.
Thank you for the quick reply....and wow! I didn't know it would be that simple. So, I can just use Microsoft Word and make a document exactly how I want it, then just use this site to convert it to PDF format and I'm good to go? That sounds simple enough. Thank you!
But please remember and I found out the hard way - support from Adobe beats all the support from the mentioned software/sites and I have to recommend getting the full product from Adobe.
I use OpenOffice to create my ebooks and use the the create a pdf function. But as Girl Gamer said, the downside from other software is the lack of support. Having said that, I have had no real problem using OpenOffice for my ebooks.
One downside: I have learned that you can read and edit Word documents using openoffice but you cannot use Microsoft Word to read OpenOffice documents. I learned this from experience at our church office. I had created a document in OpenOffice and was going to touch it up at the church office and Microsoft Word wouldn't accept it.
I love using OpenOffice for PDF conversions. It was amazing how simple it was to use.
Rhonda, I may suggest that when you save your OpenOffice files save them as Word 2003 or Word for XP and it should save it in the .doc format that Word likes so you can edit it at your church. Hope that helps some.
Thanks again for all the replies everyone. So it seems like the best way to make a pdf is to write a document in Word (or OpenOffice) and then just convert it to pdf format? That sounds easy enough. :)
Paul, thanks so much for that tip! I was using open office mainly for my ebooks online and didn't realize that I had that option for documents that I created for other purposes.
Openoffice (openoffice dot org) works very well with Acrobat Michael and in my experience is more stable in doing so than Word.
One quick caveat: when you create a Word document and you are constantly modifying and saving that same document for months or years as you write the book, the file may become 'unsavable' as a PDF.
The solution?
Copy and paste the whole file into a new document or do it in OpenOffice from the start.
I learned this the (very) hard way.
Have a great day.
Best regards
Terry Kyle
Author/Editor
"400 Latest & Greatest Small Business Ideas From Around The World"
www.Latest-Business-Ideas.com
Open Office is O.K. for making free pdf's, but a more complete free solution if you want to make an ebook is from software995.
They offer a complete suite of PDF creating tools for free. However, if you want support, and as already mentioned above, you can't go past Adobe.
Thanks for the warning Rhonda and Terry. I'm torn between using Word or Open Office. Would be a shame not to be able to edit the OpenOffice document in Word and not being able to save as a PDF on Word......
OpenOffice is probably the easiest route to go, and it's free as well. However, I find that if you compose and format your ebook in Microsoft Word, then open the .doc file in OpenOffice, the formatting, etc rarely stays exactly as you created it.
This is VERY frustrating! The best way to do it is to create the ebook directly in OpenOffice, and when it looks good to you, create the PDF!
> I find that if you compose and format your ebook in Microsoft Word, then open the .doc file in OpenOffice, the formatting, etc rarely stays exactly as you created it.
This is normal. It doesn't always stay the same when you reopen it in
Word. Buy a new printer, too, and the layout changes. Word is NOT a
tool for page layout, it's a word processor.
If you use a Apple Macintosh computer running OS-X (any version)
you can simply convert any document in TextEdit or TextWrangler
or other applications by clicking on the PRINT - and then choosing
SAVE AS PDF.
One click and you have a PDF file!
A problem is that hyperlinks are NOT active - and to insert them
you'll require either Adobe Acrobat or Open Office.
How can i create PDF file and lock it with password? Any Software for doing this will be helpful. So Please let me know, i need it badly. Thanks in advance.
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