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    How to make a PDF (for Free, without Adobe)

    Make a PDF Baby


    I'm gonna show you how to make a professional-looking PDF file without an expensive designer, and without using Adobe.

    There's only 4 steps, they are all free, and it takes about 45 seconds to complete:
     

     

    Step 1.) Create a Google Doc.


    Just go to https://docs.google.com and create a doc.  This is just like Microsoft Word except completely free and online.

    Google Docs is one of the best text editors on the planet, and it converts files into PDF with more precision than any other tool I've ever seen.

    Whatever you create in your Google Doc will come out exactly the same as when you save it as a PDF.
     

     

     

    Step 2.) Make the document pretty.


    When people receive eBooks (aka fancy PDF files) it's a nice touch if they look halfway pretty.  Without having to hire a fancy designer, here are my best-and-fastest ways to spruce up a PDF and make it look awesome:


    • Step 1.)  Go to File → Page Setup and change all the margins to 1.

    • Step 2.) Go to File → Page Setup and change the Page Color to a nice color.

    • Step 3.) Set the smallest font to Arial size 14, color black.

    • Step 4.) Make a proper title and center it, and use formatting where needed.


    These steps will take an ugly PDF and give it a fancy makeover!  See the results below!

     

    UGLY PDF:

    Ugly PDF

    Uggh gross....  

     

     

    PRETTY PDF:

    Pretty PDF File

    Hubba Hubba Hubba!!


    Just putting a little effort into "beautifying" our PDF can make our content look MUCH more professional and MUCH more enticing to read!

     

     

    Step 3.) Write or draw whatever you want.


    The best part of about a Google Doc is that it's the best word editor on Earth.  It's also extremely simple to add custom drawings.

    You can add cool-looking tables like this:

    Google Doc Tables

    Dang, that's a good-looking table!


    You can even add "drawings" right within Google Docs to insert pictures without having to use Photoshop or some other software:

    Google Doc Callout

    Whoa....that REALLY grabbed my attention!


    If you're trying to turn a blog post into a PDF file, just copy/paste the entire blog post and drop it into a Google Doc!
     

     

    Step 4.) File --> Download As PDF

    On your Google Doc just click File --> Download As PDF and your PDF will immediately be downloaded!

    Google Docs Download As PDF

    You can then give away this PDF to anyone.
    Or if you chose to share this document with other people, they can download the document as a PDF (or any file format they wish).
     

     

    Step 5.) DONE!

    You now have a PDF document ready to go! Sometimes you just need to make a simple PDF to either:


    • Give away as a lead magnet.

    • Send a professional proposal to a company.

    • Send a document that retains it's formatting across any device.

    •  

    In these four easy steps you can now create professional-grade PDF's! Here's a quick re-cap for you:

    Free PDF Creation Steps:


    Here's some examples to demonstrate:


    Sincerely,
    Neville Medhora
     

    P.S. No PDF's were harmed in the making of this post.

     


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