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Even though websites like Scribd and Issuu seem intent on killing the PDF by rolling out features that transform all the document-download links on a site into documents that can be viewed inside a browser window, PDFs remain a sought after file format.  If you wish to convert documents into PDFs without spending a dime, you can accomplish this easily by using a number of free tools.  Here’s a look at five of the free desktop and cloud-based market leaders:

1.) Bullzip PDF Printer

Bullzip PDF Printer caters to people who want to convert Microsoft applications to PDFs.  It acts like a special printer, meaning that if you want to turn a document into a PDF all you have to do is go to your file menu and select print.  The Bullzip PDF printer will be listed alongside your other printers.  Right out of the box, Bullzip PDF is loaded with a slew of useful features, such as the ability to adjust the quality setting of the PDF, password protect the file, and add or edit watermarks.

2.) Cute PDF

This program also installs itself as a printer in Windows, and since it installs itself as a printer “subsystem,” nearly every Windows application can be used to create professionally-looking PDF documents.  Cute PDF won many votes of confidence by not automatically adding watermarks to the final PDF file (unlike many of its skeevy competitors), and it’s also completely devoid of advertisements.  This software recently added support for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista.

3.) PDF 24

PDF 24 is a nifty Wordpress plugin that gives your blog readers the ability to email a PDF version of your posts to their friends or to themselves.  By placing a tiny email address form underneath your blog posts, readers can now convert your posts to PDFs in the push of a button.

4.) Open Office

Open Office by Sun Microsystems is a multi-platform, open-source office suite with a host of features including a PDF creator.  To save a document as a PDF, all you have to do is go to File and then hit “Export as PDF.”  In the same vein as Bullzip PDF, Open Office gives you the ability to adjust the quality of your PDFs.  By default, the image output is set to 90%, but many prefer to punch it up to 100%.  You can even adjust the security settings of the document by turning off the ability to modify the content of the file and disabling copying.  These security features put Open Office a step above cloud solutions like Zoho Writer and Google Docs.  Neither at present gives users the ability to alter the security settings of an exported PDF.

5.) Mac OS X built-in PDF Convertor

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Macs come equipped with a built-in PDF convertor (Windows 7 allegedlly will have one as well). This convertor makes turning documents into PDFs on the fly as simple as pie. To do so, follow these instructions:

In OS X 10.4 or later:

• Choose File -> Print.
• Click on the PDF button in the bottom left of the “Print” Screen.
• Select the option Save as PDF…

In OS X 10.3 or earlier:

• Open the document you wish to convert to PDF in the native Mac OS X application.
• Choose File -> Print, and continue:
  • Choose Save As PDF (Mac OS X v10.2.x), or click Preview and do one of the following (Mac OS X v10.1.x):
  • If Acrobat opens the preview, choose File -> Save As, and then choose Adobe PDF Files from the Format pop-up menu.
  • If Preview opens the preview, choose File -> Save As PDF.
  • Specify a filename and location, and then click Save.

The PDF may well become an antiquated file format with the advent of cloud computing and websites like Scribd and Docstoc, but in the here and now, many find they still can’t function without being able to turn documents into PDFs.  Frankly, the PDF probably should be eradicated since having less file formats to wrangle with would make life easier, but it isn’t likely to vanish until cloud computing’s reach hits the stratosphere, which might not be until 2011 or 2012.

What do you think? Would you like to see the PDF fade away?

For your convenience, I’ve added the PDF version of this blog post to Scribd.
How to Convert Documents into PDFs for Free