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Create PDF

This page explains how to convert Office documents into PDF.

You can also transfer images to a laptop or desktop PC and use MS Office or LibreOffice to convert them to PDF format. Use the function for inserting images into your document in whichever tool you are using, then follow the instructions below to export the files.

University of Hamburg makes the Microsoft Office software suite available to its students for free. You can use the program Microsoft Word to export documents to PDF.

LibreOfficeWriter is another tool you can use free of charge. It is a component of the LibreOffice open-source program suite. Please visit the official LibreOffice website to download the software and access further information, for example, the installation guide.

A brief guide on exporting PDF files from OpenOffice is available here.

Creating PDF files in MS Word

  1. Click “File” in the top left corner.
  2. Click “Export” in the column on the left.
  3. Click “Create PDF/XPS Document”.
  4. Specify a file name for your document. To prevent graphics from becoming illegible, select the standard setting under “Optimize for”. “Minimum size” reduces the quality of graphics too much, making any text they contain hard or impossible to read.
  5. Click “Publish”.

Tip: To create easily accessible PDF files, save your file as a Word document first. Now, follow the above instructions up to point 4. Click “Options...” and tick all boxes in the section “Include non-printing information”. Click “OK” to confirm. Click “Publish”. These options will be grayed out if you did not save the document as a *.DOCX file first.

Creating a PDF file in LibreOffice Writer

  1. Click “File” in the top left corner.
  2. Click “Export As”.
  3. Select “Export as PDF”.
  4. A menu opens. You can adjust the graphics compression settings here. JPG files can be compressed by up to 80%. Texts remain easily legible at a DPI value of 150; at lower values, small fonts may become difficult to read.
  5. Once you are happy with the settings, click “Export”.