Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Alternatives to Acrobat

Acrobat is not your only option for creating PDFs. Because PDF is an open source technology, Adobe has opened the door to third-party developers who want to support the ability to save documents as PDFs.

The best place to look for PDF-related tools is PlanetPDF (http://www.planetpdf.com), the “home of the PDF community.” They maintain the most comprehensive and up-to-date listing of PDF tools and services.

Online PDF Converters

There are online PDF conversion services that convert uploaded documents to PDF for a small fee or subscription. Adobe has its own conversion service called Create Adobe PDF Online that charges a monthly fee, but your first five conversions are free. It is available at http://createpdf.adobe.com. Even better, check out PDF Online (http://www.gohtm.com), where they convert many file formats to PDF for free.

These services may be a good alternative if you only need to create PDFs occasionally. If you plan to make PDFs part of your publishing process, Acrobat is a good investment because of the advanced features it offers.