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Portable Document Format (PDF) is a handy way to share documents when you need to control what the reader can do with the content. You can make the document where others cannot change or even comment on the contents of the document. You can secure the document so that the reader cannot even read the document without a password. You can create electronic forms for collecting data, and you can create document consistency by embedding the fonts used in the PDF document. Most importantly, PDF is portable, working on most platforms and in most web browsers.
LibreOffice allows you to export most documents as PDF, including text documents, spreadsheets, drawings, and presentations. There are a lot of options for the exporting of LibreOffice documents to PDF – today is an overview of these options. In later articles, we may look at more specific applications and uses.
PDF Export
You can export a document as a PDF using the last selected options through the Export Directly as PDF button on the default toolbar. But, in order to change the options before saving the document, it is much better to use the File > Export to PDF menu option. This displays the PDF Options dialog.The dialog gives you six tabs with all the options for exporting your document as a PDF.
General Tab
The General tab gives you most of the common options.
The Range options allow you to specify what content is included in the PDF. You have options for All, Pages, or Selection. All will export the entire document into the PDF, while Pages allows you to select what pages are exported. You can enter a range of pages (1-6), individual pages separated by a semicolon (3;6;8), or a combination of ranges and pages (1-6;3;10-12;40;52). Selection will export only the currently selected contents of the document.
The Images options tell LibreOffice how you want it to handle the image quality. You can chose the Lossless compression option, but only if you have a good reason (eg, your document is a photo art journal). Lossless compression will greatly increase the file size. JPEG compression is a better choice, and a quality of 90% works for most photo images. The image resolution will depend on the end media for your PDF. If you are designing for online screen viewing a DPI of 75 or 150 is good. However, if there are plans for printing, a DPI of 300 or greater is better. Keep in mind that a higher DPI means a bigger file size.
The Watermark option is simple. Checking this option will create a transparent overlay on each page of the text in the text box. Use it to indicate a draft or sample.
The General options relate to the overall structure of the PDF. The Hybrid PDF option embeds the Open Document Format (ODT, ODS, ODP, etc) into the PDF document. This allows you to directly open and edit the PDF document in LibreOffice. After making changes, you can save it as a LibreOffice document or export it back to a PDF. Selecting this option disables the Range options since it will embed the entire document.
The Archive PDF / A-1a option embeds all the fonts used in the document in accordance with ISO 19005-1. This is a good option for creating archival documents or for preserving the use of special fonts or layouts. This is helpful if you need to print from a computer that does not have the same font set as the one you created the document on.
The Tagged PDF option allows you to create a tagged PDF document. Tagged PDFs contain document structure information and can allow the document to reflow better on some screens. The embedded structure is also used by some screen readers. A full discussion of tagged PDFs is beyond the topic of this article, but keep in mind that all that document structure information increases the size of your document. The Create PDF form option allows you to create a PDF form that people can fill out on a computer. This type of document could help you to collect data for use in other places. The Submit Format allows you to chose how the form data is stored. There are four options: PDF – the whole document with the information filled in is saved as a PDF.
• FDF (Forms Data Format) – only the data for the controls in the form are saved. • HTML – form data is saved in HTML format. • XML – form data is saved in XML format.
There is also a checkbox to allow for duplicate file names in the forms controls.
The Export bookmarks option will create bookmarks for table of contents and outline paragraphs. If you are curious about the outline paragraphs, you change their setting at Tools > Outline Numbering. You can also export LibreOffice comments as PDF notes in the document, as well as exporting automatically inserted blank pages. Finally, View PDF after export will open the newly created PDF after it is exported. This will allow to you see how the finished document looks.
Initial View Tab
The Initial View tab lets you set how the document will display when it opens.
The Panes options allow you to select which reader panes will open when you open the document. You have the options to open the thumbnails and page, bookmarks and page, or just the page itself. You can even set the document to open on a page other than page 1 by using the Open-on-page setting.
The Magnification options let you control the magnification of the document when it opens. Default just uses the default magnification setting of the reader, while other settings allow for whole page (Fit in window), page width, or zoom to fit the text and graphics in the window (Fit visible). You can also manually define a custom Zoom factor.
The Page Layout option determines how the pages will display. Again Default just uses the reader's default settings; however, you can chose to have it display just one page at a time. When you scroll to the end of a page, it will jump to the next page. If you chose instead to select the Continuous option, when you reach the bottom of one page, the top of the next page will start scrolling as though the pages were fixed together. The Continuous Facing works the same way as continuous, but displays two columns of pages like an open book.
User Interface Tab
The User Interface tab controls the options for the way the actual window responds when the document is opened.
The Window Options control how the window will respond to the opened document. You can have it fit to the size of the first page, center the window on the screen, or open the window in fullscreen mode. You can also chose to display the document title in the title bar.
The Transitions option relates only to the export of a presentation to PDF. If you select the option, the LibreOffice page transitions are exported into the PDF document.
The User Interface options control whether to hide the menus, toolbar, and reader's control tools. You may chose to hide some or all of these depending on the way you want the document used. Keep in mind that the user can reverse all these options.
The Bookmark option allows you to control whether all or just some of the bookmark levels are exported to the document. You can select to export all or specify the level to which to export the bookmarks.
Links Tab
The Links tab sets how internal and external links are handled within the document. All of these options assume the reader is capable of handling the different options.
The General options control how links are referenced. Exporting the bookmarks as named destinations allows other documents to directly reference the bookmark. When you convert document references to PDF targets, the PDF will reference a PDF document of the same name as the referenced document. This setting assumes you will convert all referenced documents to PDFs. If you want to move a document with external links to other computers, you can export URLs relative to the document; otherwise, they are exported as absolute links, requiring you to recreate the entire folder and file structure on the other computer.
With the Cross Document Links options, you control what program is used to open any links to documents. The Default option will use the operating system’s default program for opening the linked document, but you can specify that the document is opened with the current reader, or with the operating system's default Internet browser. Whatever you select, you have to assume that the selected program will open the file-type referenced. So, if you have a mix of document types, your best option is Default.
Security Tab
You set what the reader can do with the document on the Security tab.
The Password button lets you set two different passwords, one for opening and the other for permissions. To set either of the passwords, enter the password in the appropriate text box, and repeat in the second box to confirm. Leave the text boxes blank to not create a password for that feature.
If you entered and confirmed a password for permissions, the Print, Changes, and Contents settings are activated. The printing options indicate whether the reader is allowed to print the document without entering the password. The Changes section controls what changes are allowed without having to enter the password. The Contents settings control whether the reader can copy the contents of the document, or access the accessibility tools, without the password.
Digital Signatures Tab
The Digital Signatures tab lets you sign the document with a certificate. Digital signatures is a topic beyond the scope of this article, but know that you can add a digital signature when needed. The tab provides text boxes for the password and other information related to the certificate.
LibreOffice gives you many options for exporting your document to PDF. We have covered, in a passing overview, the options available. PDF is a good way to send a document to others without making it easy for them to edit the document. You never know when you might need it, as you could get a request for a document in PDF format.