Creating and Editing PDF Files

A PDF, portable document format, is a great format to save documents  before sending to someone else because  a PDF file is basically a picture of a file that you have created.  Without converting to PDF, if you send a document directly, such as a .doc, you assume the recipient has Word installed on their computer and exactly the same fonts that you have used as well.  (If they don’t have the font, their computer will choose a replacement font).

Actually, the easiest solution for creating PDF files is under the last heading on converting files, so skip to the end of this post if you like. (You’ll also learn how to edit PDF files under that heading.)

Creating and Editing PDF Files Using Microsoft Office

Probably the most straight-forward solution for a PC is to download the add-on for Microsoft Office 2007.   After downloading you will have a Save As… PDF option in your Office software.  I also like this option best because the hyperlinks work within the document.

If you don’t have Microsoft Office 2007 or you want to edit a PDF file. . .  read on!

Creating and Editing PDF Files Using PrimoPDF

I’ve used freeware called PrimoPDF for a few years and recommend it.  After you download and install PrimoPDF, it appears as a virtual printer in your list of printers.  When you select PrimoPDF, as your “printer,” it will produce a PDF version of your document.  After you click “OK” you’ll see a window from PrimoPDF.  You can choose a name and location to store your new PDF file, so when you click on “Create PDF”, PrimoPDF will put the new file in the folder you choose and it will open Outlook with the new file already in the attachment.  However, none of the links will work within the PDF document.  (That was true the last time I used PrimoPDF. Maybe they work now.)

Converting PDF, Word, or Excel (AND Editing PDF Files)

As I promised, here’s your easiest option for creating PDF files.  The same company that created Primo has an internet site to upload a file and convert it:

• PDF to Word,
• Word to PDF, or
• PDF to Excel.

Upload your document to one of the above sites and you’ll receive an accurate, and editable, Word or Excel document via eMail. (If you thought you “can’t edit” a PDF file, you can with these converters!)

Do you create or edit PDF files using other software?

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The Craft of Writing. . . Well

You’re on staff, so you’re also a writer.  You pull out a pen or a laptop and compose prayer letters, eMails, thank you notes, blog posts, Bible studies, books, and more.  Your writing in any of these ways is a ministry to others.

Whether or not you enjoy writing, do you take any time to improve your writing?  Good word choices, proper punctuation, and accurate spelling all add credibility to your writing, while a dash of spice in your writing invites others to continue reading.  In her delightful way, Heather Holleman offered us five tricks for adding spice to our writing in How to Write with Flair:

Eliminate feeble verbs… These verbs don’t show anything happening. Use exciting verbs. I love verbs like grapple and fritter. Grapple with strong verbs to fritter away the feeble ones.

(After this great advice, I better examine my verbs on this post!)

We want to help you be a better writer, so here’s some more of the many recommendations you’ll find on eQuipping for eMinistry. . .

Stephanie Reeves encouraged us recently to consistently use Campus Crusade for Christ’s style manual:

Whenever we are writing as representatives of Campus Crusade for Christ, whether in prayer letters, blogs, ministry communications or whatever, it is important for our professionalism as a ministry that we keep our terms consistent.  ( Read more at In GOS We Trust)

So, even though I may think I’m writing well, I may be slipping up in the way I’m representing Campus Crusade.   Downloading and using the style manual would be a minimum action point I’d hope you take away from this post.

We learned from Michael Hyatt’s 18 Tips about eMail Usage and Abusage:

Don’t discuss multiple subjects in a single message.

(Ouch!  I know I’ve done that!)

I know you’re busy, but well-crafted written communication is important for effective ministry. Try taking one idea from this post and working on that area.

Where do you go for answers to your grammar, punctuation, and just good-writing-style questions?

Other Recommendations

• Heather’s book, How to Write with Flair
• Writing tips posts on this site.
• My Fun, Creative Outline for Writing and Speaking by Judy Douglass
• I enjoyed reading today How Blogging Taught Me to Be a Writer and recommend it even if you aren’t blogging.
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Lynne Truss’ dry, British wit makes learning punctuation enjoyable.
• Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style” is a good reference book to have on your shelf for whenever you need to refresh your English skills.

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Pin It!

I’ve found pinning a very helpful way to find quickly what I use often. (No, I’m not referring to the latest popular social site, Pinterest, which allows you to “pin” your favorite images to a virtual “corkboard”.)

• Windows 7 allows me to pin programs to the taskbar, along the bottom of my monitor screen, so I can readily open Outlook, Excel, Mozilla Firefox, TntMPD, and other programs I use daily.  (Read how…)
• I especially like pinning files in the “recent document list” in Word 2007, Excel 2007, or Powerpoint 2007.  (Read how…)
• You can also pin specific web pages to the taskbar with Internet Explorer 9. (Read how…)
• If I prefer not to have a lot of icons in my taskbar, I can pin programs in the Start Menu.  (Read how…)

Picasa for Your Photos

If you love photos and would either like to organize them, tweak them, or share them, Picasa may be what you are looking for.  I’ve been using Picasa from Google for several years now and love it.

Organizing

I had already put my photos in folders in My Pictures, but with Picasa it’s easy to see the content of those folders.  (See to the right).

You can also do a sort by a timeline or a search (which will bring up specific folders and photos with that search name so you can quickly locate photos).

It’s also very easy to use Picasa to make a photo album page on the web.  Instead of filling our blog with photos from a trip, I will send our family and friends a link to a slideshow of our trip.  (For example,  click here to see our online Picasa photo albums or  watch a slide show with captions of a trip to Tampa Bay.)  Again, Picasa makes it easy to put all this together, but if you have any questions when you try it, feel free to write in the comments for help.  Picasa offers help, too, of course, and a getting started guide.

Tagging

You can tag your photos by geographical location either in  Picasa on your computer or in your photo albums on your internet site.

The name tagging is similar to Facebook.   Picasa’s incredible face-recognition feature will find other photos of that person once you tag a friend or family member.  When I first started tagging, I had to laugh because Picasa recognized Planter’s Mr. Peanut on a can in the pantry in the background of a family photo!  Of the many times I had seen that photo, I had never noticed poor old Mr. Peanut smiling in the background!

Tagging goes fairly quickly.  After you have done your tagging then you can use the tags to help you find specific photos.  For instance, I searched for my son, Josh, and also for “Steve Douglass” and found a photo of the two of them at a high school graduation dessert.  I found the photo a LOT faster than if I had just tried clicking through My Pictures’ semi-organized folders.

Unfortunately, when I upgraded my computer, I “lost” all the tags, so I haven’t bothered to label the tags for people again.  I mention it here as a warning to you to not spend a lot of time tagging photos.  Either that or find out how to save the Picasa folder which would have the tags in it.  Maybe just do your significant people.

Editing

Picasa has basic editing tools.  I often use straighten to fix a horizon.  Red eye is a nice feature and will remove most glowing red eyes. You can adjust color, contrast, and lighting and add special effects.  You can tell from the duplicate photos of my dad (see photo to the left) that I was able to make several color and lighting adjustments to fix old photos.

You won’t be able to do some photo editing, like removing unwanted background items from a photo.  So, if you want to do more complex photo editing, you can spend a lot and buy Photoshop.  (If you follow the link, have fun tossing the pictures around!)  Or you can use the free download, Gimp.  We’ll have a series of articles in the future about using Gimp.

Download Picasa for free here.

ZOOMING in (and out)

I’m sure you’ve used larger fonts when you need to, especially to make your newsletters and brochures readable for your older friends.   Hopefully, you also use View and Zoom in  Microsoft Office programs if you can’t read a document or spreadsheet.

Recently, though, a friend wrote that she couldn’t read something on the internet.  She has an easy solution using keyboard keys.  She can zoom on any internet page by holding down the CTRL key and the + key at the same time.  If she does the CTRL and – keys, the screen will zoom back down again.  If watching a video, she should zoom first before playing the video.

Related Posts:

• Keyboard Shortcuts – other keyboard shortcuts
• Mouse Tips – how to use your mouse to zoom

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