How to Save and Print PDF Documents

Saving Files

Acrobat lets you save your files in several formats. For instance, you can save your PDF file as a TIFF or EPS file by simply selecting that format when you save the file.

To save a PDF file with its existing name, simply go to File>Save. Acrobat saves the file with the existing name in the existing location.

However, if you've created a new PDF or want to change the name of the PDF when you save, go to File>Save As.

The Save As Dialogue box then appears:

Choose the location you want to save the file to, then type in a new name for the file in the File Name field. Click Save.

Exporting to Other Formats

If you have a PDF that you want to save as another format, simply go to File>Save As.

In the Save As Type field, choose the format you want to save the file in:

We're going to choose JPEG.

A little progress box will appear on the bottom right hand side as the file converts:

If your PDF contains more than one page, Acrobat will convert each page to a separate image when converting to image file types.

Minimizing File Size

When you save a document as a PDF, Acrobat has a feature that will enable you to minimize the file size. What this means is that Acrobat will rearrange the internal structure of the document and store graphics in a more efficient form. This feature is very helpful if you're going to email files because it reduces the size; therefore, the time it takes to send.

To reduce the size of a PDF, go to Document> Reduce File Size.

In the Make Compatible With field, choose the earliest version of Acrobat that your file must be compatible with. This is based on the version your readers might be using. The file can be reduced to a smaller size if you choose more recent versions of Acrobat, but what good is that if people can't view it?

When you're finished, click OK.

The Save As dialogue box will then open.

Interested in learning more? Why not take an online Adobe Acrobat course?

Choose a name for the smaller file.

Click OK.

Adobe then minimizes the file size for you and saves it with the new file name.

Printing a Document

To print a PDF file, go to File>Print. You can also click on the Print tool in the File toolbar.

In most instances, the default values listed in the Print dialogue box (shown above) are acceptable. However, we'll discuss those in the next section. For now, click OK to print. Adobe will then print your PDF.

Print Options

As you can see, the Print dialogue box contains a lot of options that you can set to determine how your PDF document will be printed. Let's cover these options now.

The first section of this dialogue box contains the Printer Controls:

Here you'll choose the printer name (Name). You'll also set the Comments and Forms. This is where you'll specify if you want annotations and form field contents (known as markups) printed with the document pages.

Next, is the Print-range Controls (shown below):

Choose the range of pages that you want to print. You can print all pages, the current view (pages that are showing in the document area), or the current page. You can also specify a range of pages. A hyphen indicates a contiguous range of pages. A comma should be used to specify discontinuous pages (1,3,5,7).

Subset allows you to choose to print even pages, odd pages, or both.

If you select Reverse Pages, Acrobat will print pages in reverse order.

The next section of the dialogue box deals with Page-handling Controls. It's pictured below.

Copies specifies the number of copies of each page.

Collate. If you print multiple copies of a document, pages are collated.

Page Scaling lets you resize the document pages. You can choose:

The None option prints in the original size.
Fit to Printable Area shrinks or expands the PDF so it fits within your printer's printable area. This way information doesn't run off the side of a page.
Shrink to Printable Area shrinks the page so it fits in your printer's printable area.
Auto-Rotate and Center. Check this box if you want the page repositioned so it's center on the paper. This is a great option if you want to center a small document on a large piece of paper.
Choose Paper Source by PDF Page Size. This setting overrides your printer's default paper size and uses each page's paper size that's specified in the PDF file. This can be used if you have multiple trays for multiple sizes of paper.
Print Multiple Pages on One Sheet of Paper

If you want to print multiple pages of your PDF on one sheet of paper, choose Multiple Pages per Sheet in the Page Scaling dropdown box.

Next, select the number of pages you want per sheet. You can choose custom or 2, 4, 6, 9, or 16. If you choose Custom (as we have), you can choose how many pages you want across and down each sheet. We have ours set as 2 by 2.

Select the Page Order.

Then, select if you want Acrobat to print the page border.

You can preview how the pages will look in the Preview Section:

Click OK when you're ready to print.