If you're anything like me, you'd better kill yourself. But before you do that, that would mean that you've come across the problem of creating a PDF from a Word DOC file. Sounds easy, but unfortunately, it isn't as easy as it should be. As I understand it, you have a few options:

• Get the full version of Adobe Acrobat and you're all set. Easiest solution of all, of course. Problem is, Acrobat costs money, and we all know that people like me are totally self-absorbed and so want large complicated programs that perform specific tasks at no cost whatsoever. That's just the way it was meant to be, ya know?



• The open source Open Office can read in Word files, and what's more, it can export them to PDFs. So you get an intended replacement for Word that can produce PDFs too. Sounds good? It is - except that the filesizes it produces are a bit on the large size. If size is a concern, Open Office has a ways to go before it becomes your program of choice



• The free CutePDF writer installs itself as a pseudo-printer which lets you "print" stuff as PDF file. Definitely very nice, and better file-sizes than Open Office too. Do we have a winner? Looks like it.



• But what's this? Another free way that's just as good? Yes, it's true. You can in fact use the freely available GhostView and GhostScript to create PDF files. The idea is very simple - GhostView allows you to convert PostScript files to PDF files using its pdfwrite device. All you have to do then is make your Word file into a PostScript file. "How do I do this", you ask? Patience, young padwan. If you're lucky, your printer is PostScript compatible, and you've got it made. If you're not so lucky, then there's hope - Adobe has a generic PostScript printer driver for Windows, which does just the trick. Installing this will let you simulate a PostScript-compatible printer. In Word, you must convert the file to a PostScript file. Sounds even harder than making it to a PDF! But luckily, it isn't - because, you see, you can print a file's contents into a file in a format that a printer can recognize. So you just need to make this format PostScript. The way to do that is to go File->Print and check the "Print to file" box, which, if you're like me, you've neglected all your life. If you do this with your PostScript printer (or your Adobe PostScript driver printer), then you'll make a PRN file which is really a PostScript file. Open this in GhostView, click File->Convert, make sure pdfwrite is selected and off you go! Free PDF, fresh off the presses.

Once you're done reading my ramble, head off over to this site and hear someone who knows what they're talking about give it to you straight on how to make PDFs. Don't worry about me, I'm quite happy lurking in the shadows.