Microsoft® Word 2007 Bible

Chapter 29. Publishing as PDF and XPS

IN THIS CHAPTER

• PDF: Word 2007 versus Adobe

• XPS versus PDF

• Creating and viewing PDF files

• Creating and viewing XPS files

In this chapter, we look at a new feature—the ability of Word to save files in either of two competing printer-ready formats: PDF and XPS. Both are open [more or less] file formats that aspire to be the industry standards for distributing documents in such a way that they appear identical to the reader, regardless of the computer platform—PC, Macintosh, Unix, Linux, and so on.

Furthermore, when printed, regardless of what kind of computer or operating system is being used, the printed results should be more or less identical. While 100% identical under a magnifying glass is a bit too much to hope for, PDF and XPS do basically succeed in both missions. When viewed onscreen or when printed, all readers have essentially the identical reading experience. Yes, there are always going to be variations due to hardware capabilities, but to the extent possible, those differences are minimal.

What Is PDF?

What Is PDF?

PDF stands for portable document format. It is an open-standard file format owned and developed by Adobe Systems. PDF is designed so that any given document looks identical regardless of the operating system and other software used to display or print it.

A Word document you send to someone else will look different depending on answers to a variety of questions, including the following:

• Do they have Word or are they using different ...