MOS Talk: PDF offers better document sharing, file preservation

When my sister and I were in college, we often had difficulty sharing information by computer. I worked on an Apple Macintosh, while she used an International Business Machines (IBM) unit with a Microsoft Windows operating system.

Not only did that time period precede widespread public use of the Internet and Worldwide Web, but it was also before Macintosh and IBM began working better together for users.

The two personal computer platforms were, well, like comparing apples to oranges. Thankfully, we still had our corded landline telephones with which we used to call another.

Then, beginning in 1993, a new file format called Portable Document Format (PDF) was introduced. The idea was to create a file type that could be shared across different computer platforms.

Neither me nor my sister would benefit from this format for a few more years until we upgraded our computers to newer machines that featured Adobe PDF Reader software on them.

But once we did, sharing documents and files got easier.

Today you don't even need Adobe Reader to create a PDF formatted file, because it became an open standard in 2008 no longer under proprietary control.

As technology has advanced over the years, the usefulness of PDF file formatting has also expanded.

I share more Microsoft Office documents in PDF format than I do their default file types, because PDF files are so much simpler to transmit through the Internet and share over the Worldwide Web.

Complex page elements — such as graphics, themes, colors, font sizes, paragraph and spreadsheet formatting — are not only preserved using the PDF option, but they can also be compressed for easier portability.

If you are using Microsoft Office 2007, you might have difficulty even opening a Microsoft Office 2016 document because the newer program is not compatible with the older operating system or software platform. Too many essential updates have been made between them.

Likewise, if you use Microsoft Office 2016 to open an older version of the program, the contents may not look exactly as they were intended to because of software updates made to the programs over the years.

One way to mitigate these technology gaps is to save files in PDF format, which maintains the integrity of the original document for the benefit of whoever you are sharing it with.

PDF format also restricts editing by others, further preserving your file the way you created it.

Not everyone has the same document creation software programs on their computer systems, so mass emailing out a Microsoft Word or Excel document isn't the most effective way of sharing your files. Someone who doesn't have Microsoft Office to begin with won't be able to open a Microsoft Office document in the first place.

There are a couple of ways to save your file in PDF format.

First, go to the colored file tab and scroll down to the "save and send" tool. Select it and scroll to "Create PDF/XPS Document." Then click the button that says "Create PDF/XPS Document."

That's the long way around.

A shorter method is to select the "save as" tool under the color file tab, click on the "save as file type" drop down menu and select PDF from the list of formats.

Within the PDF format window, you can change file compression size for optimization and even select the parts of a document you want to convert to PDF format using the "options" button.

Utilizing the PDF format allows users to share their files regardless of document origin. Whether users have Mac or older versions of the Windows operating system makes little difference with PDF format.

All one really needs to do is double click on the file, and one will be able to see what you see.

Sending a file as PDF avoids having to ask other users if they can open your document, because reader software is now standardized these days.

Better yet, you won't get this embarrassing response: "Can't open. Don't have Microsoft Office 2016."

Oops.

Brett Fisher is a certified Microsoft Office Specialist instructor and writer residing in Carson City.