How to Create a PDF File with OpenOffice

Posted on April 15th, 2009 by Marck

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Microsoft Office may be a favorite among many people, but OpenOffice is now a very popular alternative for proprietary office suites. One advantage of OpenOffice above proprietary software like Microsoft Office is that you can easily convert documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to the popular Adobe Portable Document Format (more commonly known as PDF). Here’s how you can convert your OpenOffice files to PDF.

OpenOffice and PDF

OpenOffice is one of the most popular office suites available today. OpenOffice is free, takes up very little space, and offers the same functionalities as Microsoft Office, plus other additional programs that make office tasks easy and efficient:

Base is the same as Microsoft Access
Calc is the same as Microsoft Excel
Impress is the same as Microsoft PowerPoint
Writer is the same as Microsoft Word
Draw is a tool used to build and design worksheets
Math is a tool used to write equations and mathematical formula

PDF is a very useful file format for documents, and is widely used in the corporate world and in the academe because of its convenience. PDF fixes the elements of a page into the page itself, which prevents the objects, text and other elements to be disarranged. PDF is particularly useful for printing and distributing documents through email.

One of the key advantages of OpenOffice is that it has a built-in PDF converter. In Microsoft Office, you either have to download a program driver to convert your document to PDF, or use Adobe Acrobat Distiller or an equivalent PDF file converter. In OpenOffice, the PDF conversion utility is built-in.

Exporting OpenOffice Files to PDF

Here’s how to convert an OpenOffice document into PDF:

Look over the file carefully and check to see that all elements are arranged properly, that you’re using compliant fonts, and that you have eliminated all typographical and grammatical errors. If you’re working with a worksheet, check to see that all calculations, numbers, and totals tally and are correct.
Set the page length, width, and margins of the document (go to “Format,” then select “Page”), and go through the document again.
Save the file, either in OpenOffice format or in its equivalent file format in Microsoft Office.
Click the “Export Directly as PDF” icon right beside the printer icon on the main toolbar.
Assign a filename, and click “Save.”
Wait for the conversion to finish.
Open the new converted PDF, and go over the documet again to see if the PDF looks exactly like the original document.

Microsoft Office may be the top dog in the game, but OpenOffice has a lot of bite in it. With these steps, you probably will use OpenOffice more often to complement your other office suites and proprietary program, or perhaps even replace them altogether.