GO GREEN! Print Everything as PDF Files Using Free Software
By Huntter Karu
We are moving to a much more environment aware world. Nowadays we see a lot of individuals, schools, companies and government talking about going green. One very simple way that you can help and also save money is to print all your documents as PDF files.
People are used to paper and having all their documents in hard copy, they say that it gives them a feeling of safety, like you can "touch it" feeling... they are attached to it.
However, once you start printing all your documents, receipts and other things to PDF files you start to realize how easy it is to find them when you actually need them and how great it is to be paperless.
Of course you can always print your PDF file to paper if it is absolutely necessary one day.
How does it work?
The process is extremely simple, instead of sending the document you want to print to a regular printer with paper, you send it to a PDF Printer resulting a file.
In other words, it is a virtual printer that will be installed in your computer and you can print from almost any application. It is more like converting that Web Page you want to print or that Word document to a PDF file. Let's see this in more details.
But how EXACTLY does it work?
It is simple, all you need is a software. There are many free softwares that you can use to print to PDF. I like PDFCreator and Bullzip PDF Printer.
They are both great and if you have a little bit of extra time I encourage you to install them and try their different options.
Once you have at least one of them installed, you can now print to a PDF file.
Can You Show Me?
Sure. Here are some screenshots I took that will make it much easer to understand the whole process.
Let's suppose you want to print one of my Hubs, the 10 Quick Tips to Relax and Energize Yourself, please don't forget to check it out :)
All you have to do is select print, [picture 1] for Internet Explorer or [picture 2] for Google Chrome.
The Print window is going to come up asking you which printer would you like to use to print the page. [picture 3]
Remember: You can always use the same principle for almost any other application, browser or software in you computer.
PDFCreator
Once you click the Print button, the PDFCreator window will show up [picture 4]. Just press Save and you will print your page to a PDF file.
NOTE: Before you save it, you can select other options by pressing the button Options [picture 5]. Auto-save and saving in other file formats are some of them.
Bullzip PDF Printer
If you selected Bullzip PDF Printer, [picture 6] will show up. You can use the tabs to select any options or just Save to actually print the page to a PDF file.
The options are very interesting, like watermarks, keywords, quality, merge to other PDF files or even encrypt the file for extra security.
The Final PDF File
Here is the final PDF file. [Picture 7]
You can print this file to paper at any moment if you need.
 | Amazon Price: $379.00 |
How Can I Read My PDF Files?
May softwares can read PDF files, the best one is the Adobe Reader, which is a free software from Adobe.
You probably have the Adobe Reader already installed in your computer as most computers on the market today come with it pre-installed by default.
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One Final Word
Make sure you name your files right and put them on organized folders. I like to not only put the name of the document but also the date on the file name itself. Year_Month_Day. Here is an example:
'10_2_25 - Receipt from Amazon - Book……
If you like this, please leave a comment and let us know.
Thanks for reading and best wishes to all...
 | Amazon Price: $405.00 List Price: $399.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $499.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $187.99 List Price: $199.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $174.99 List Price: $199.00 |
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Comments
Thank you vocalcoach! I'm glad you could find this information useful ... I hope you go green and save some money printing to PDF :)
Hey Huntter. Been printing as pdf for years. That function was an easy "change" in my life years ago. Good function to use. I am sure there are many of your fellow hubbers that will love this hub. Thanks.
Wonderful C J Lee! I have been doing it for year also, so I decided to share :)
Huntter, wow this is so cool! So me obviously not techie and I found this to be really helpful. Will bookmark your hub so I could get into this!
Congratulations on your Hubnuggets nomination! Do check the links I am posting below:
Hubnuggets goes to the Psychic Fair: http://tinyurl.com/49uflen
Participate in the Hubnuggets Forum: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/69415
Let's go green!
Excellent information and step by step instructions. Much better to print to file or PDF than waste paper. Voted up.
@ripplemaker, I am glad I could help and thank you for the nomination :)
@Karanda, thank you! I am glad you liked it :)
This is an excellent hub with new information to me. Congrats on your nomination.
Thank you Pamela, the nomination was unexpected for sure.
I am very happy that more people will be able to read this hub and save a lot of money :)
I like the idea of printing everything to PDF files.
It saves a lot of other resources. Actually you can just save the pages you want to read off line. But it's a different approach. The other thing to consider is that pdf takes up more memory than some other file formats.
But it's a good option.
You may see some other paper saving ideas in my hubs
Whoa this is so cool and it's about time. Voted up, marked useful, bookmarked and shared.
Great tips - we can really cut down our wasteful use of paper by "printing" to PDF files. Useful and voted up!
Thank you all for your comments and votes... :)
Great hub on going green and saving our environment from destruction. I have used PDFcreator in the past and it is really effective when creating PDFs. It is free and I really recommend it.
Great speedbird! Thanks for your comment :)
Such a helpful hub. Thank you so much for this great info. Rated up and useful.
vocalcoach 16 months ago
Another very helpful hub! This is information I have needed for a very long time. You are generous to share your talent and knowledge. Clear, concise and direct. Voted up and awesome. Another big thanks!