When creating material for the web, it is best to use web-compatible file types for easy viewing. For more information about the web-compatibility of file types in general, click here.
Word processing software produces formatted text files (.doc, .rtf, and others), the most well-known being Microsoft Word (.doc) and Corel Word Perfect (.wp). Files in all of these formats can be downloaded from the web, but to open them requires having the appropriate software program installed on your computer. The best way to make a formatted text file web-compatible is to convert it to a PDF document (.pdf). PDF documents are readable across platforms with the free Adobe Reader, and they preserve formatted text and special characters very well. PDFs are especially helpful for making foreign language documents available because they preserve the foreign language characters without requiring that the foreign language font be installed on the local computer.
PC Users: You can convert word processing documents to pdf with Adobe Acrobat Professional. If you don't own this program, you can use it in a campus computer lab or download a free pdf converter program. Once you have followed the directions for installation, you can convert word-processing documents by printing the file to a PDF document. (Note: You do not "save as" .pdf, but rather you choose the PDF converter as one of your printer options.)
Mac Users: With OS 10.2 and higher, converting to PDF requires no additional software installation becaue PDF is automatically one of your printing options. Simply open your word-processing document and choose the print command. After the printing options dialogue box opens, click the button for saving/printing to PDF.
Final Note: You can convert other kinds of files to PDF as well, such as Powerpoint documents, but you still perform the conversion by printing to a PDF file.
Last updated October 26, 2005 by mg