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Do it yourself PDF is not hard at all! |
Ever since Craftsy's pattern marketplace bit the dust, I haven't been overly motivated to create PDFs for my tutorials. (The last one I did was for the Quilted Hanging File Organizer from over two years ago.)
These days, bloggers who go to the trouble of PDF-ing their tutorials usually charge for them. I don't want to get on board that boat, but I do realize that some folks like to have the option.
Therefore, for those of you who may want some of my more recent tutorials — or anyone else's for that matter — in PDF format, today's tip is for you. You can actually diy your own PDF fairly easily, without any extra software, plugins or apps.
The easiest way is to let your browser handle it via its PRINT function. The downside is that it will include everything that you see on your browser screen.
For example, using my last tutorial, the Chrome generated PDF looks like this:
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Web browser generated PDF saves "everything"... |
You probably don't want to have the left hand sidebar content saved to your file, but that's how a browser PRINT generated PDF works.
And unless you indicate a precise number of pages to process, this option will also include stuff you likely don't need from the bottom of the post, like this:
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Last page of your PDF likely not needed also... |
To avoid extraneous content from the end that you don't want, you can always PDF it once, check it out and then do it again, specifying how many pages to include.
The method I've always used to create PDFs is to copy the content into Microsoft Word, which many of us have. This process gives you control over what to keep; after everything is copied, you can delete whatever you don't need.
If you've never copied web content before, it's really no different from copying anything else. Assuming you're using a computer — because doing this on a device where you don't have an actual keyboard can be annoyingly tricky — click your mouse at the spot where you want to start copying, hold down the [SHIFT] key, scroll down to where you want to finish copying and click the mouse again. Everything in between should be highlighted.
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Web page contents selected (highlighted) for copying... |
Press [CTRL]-C to copy, open up a blank Word document and press [CTRL]-V to paste. You can now scroll through and delete whatever is not essential to the tutorial. I would also suggest downsizing any large images.
Note that this can simply be saved as a Word doc for your personal use. If you want to be able to access it across multiple devices, however, it's easier if you complete the final step of saving it as a PDF.
Depending on what version of Word you have, this could be slightly different for you. Generally speaking, choose the File tab or menu and then select Save As. Choose a location, and then from the drop down list beside Save as type, choose PDF. Give your file a name and click the Save button.
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Word's save as PDF option... |
That's all there is to it. If the option for Open file after publishing is checked off (as shown above), once you save it, the new PDF will open up automatically.
I've said this before and it bears repeating: things that you see online may not be there later when you look for them. Merely bookmarking them won't help. To prevent disappointment, I highly recommend that you make your own copies.
And now it's become easy to save web content as PDFs without any special tools or skills!
'Til next...
A quick way to save anything that is on your screen that a lot people don't know about is to use the PrntScr button. When you press that it captures anything on the screen and copies to the clipboard. Open up Paint and paste the contents CTR + V or Paste from the Home Ribbon and your screen print should appear as a new picture. Of course I'm talking about Windows here, Paint is including with the Operating System and the PrntScr button has been there forever. Paint does save as a picture type file, but, Ive then used them to insert into word docs etc. Especially when I don't want all the instructions but maybe a few notes
ReplyDeleteWhile the print screen button will do what you describe, it will grab even more content that you arguably won't need to keep, and you'll have to keep scrolling down and repeating it if you want to save more than what's on the current screen. In addition, having text winding up as an image file isn't my preference; I've previously blogged about Makerist sending out text "instructions" as JPGs and it was exasperating to no end. So while I wouldn't recommend your suggestion, thank you for adding another dimension to the discussion.
DeleteBy the way, if your intent is to have a screen captured image, the Windows Snipping Tool is a more efficient way of doing so than an entire screen print. :-)
Another option is to install the "print friendly" button to create a PDF without ads etc.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.printfriendly.com
This works easy with great results....
Thank you also for providing your take on this. I will reiterate, however, that my intent was to highlight a solution that did not require the installation of tools or plugins, which may or may not compromise the security of one's computer. (I'm not saying that printfriendly is unsafe, just that I have no personal experience with it.)
DeleteThis has been a frustrating problem for me, so thanks for the solution...always there in the "save as"...
ReplyDelete(Yes, I regret not saving content that has since 'evaporated' from the Internet.) Great tips!
Glad to be of assistance... and so sorry for the stuff that you've obviously lost. ;-)
DeleteYou may be able to find some of the "lost" internet information on the Wayback Machine. https://archive.org/web/ It's an arm of Archive.org. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion. I've used the Wayback Machine with some success in the past. It doesn't solve the problem of free things that are now no longer free, but some website content may be able to be found.
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