Convert Excel to PDF

Converting an Excel file to a PDF will allow anyone to open it, even if they don't have Office installed. It can also make for easier printing and distribution of your Excel spreadsheet. Excel allows you to create PDF versions from directly inside the program, but you can also use online conversion services if you need to convert a file but don't have Excel installed.

Steps

Using Excel (Windows)

1. Select the part of the spreadsheet you want to convert to PDF (optional). If there's only a certain part of the spreadsheet that you want to turn into a PDF, select it now. Otherwise, move on to the next step.
   • Note that a PDF cannot be easily converted back into an Excel sheet, but this method will preserve your original copy.
2. Click the "File" tab. If you're using an older version of Excel, click the "File" menu.
3. Click "Export". If you are using Excel 2010 or earlier, select "Save As" instead.
4. Click "Create PDF/XPS". If you are using Excel 2010 or earlier, select "PDF" from the "Save as type" drop-down menu in the "Save As" window instead.
5. Click the .Options... button. This will allow you to adjust the settings for the PDF file you are about to create.
6. Select what gets included in the PDF. In the Options window, you can select the range of pages included, whether the PDF includes your selection, the entire workbook, or just the active sheet, and if it will include the original document's properties.
   • Click OK when you are satisfied.
7. Choose your optimization (optional). Above the Options... button, you can select how you want to optimize the PDF. Most people can stick with "Standard" unless the spreadsheet is very large.
8. Name and save the file. Give your PDF a name and click the Publish button to create the PDF (Save if you're using 2010 or earlier).
9. Review the PDF. By default, the PDF file will open after it is created so that you can review it. If you aren't able to open the PDF file, you may not have a Open-PDF-Files.
   • It's not really possible to edit the PDF now, so if you need to make changes you'll want to make them in Excel and then create a new PDF.

Using Excel 2011 (Mac)

1. Ensure that the headers and footers on all of your sheets are the same (optional). Excel 2011 will only save all of your sheets as one PDF file if the headers and footers for each sheet are identical. If they aren't each sheet will be created as a separate PDF document, but you can also easily merge these afterwards.
   • Select all of the sheets in your workbook. Click the tab for the first sheet, hold down Shift, and click the tab for the last sheet to select all of them.
   • Click the Layout tab and then click "Header & Footer".
   • Click the Template:MacButton and Template:MacButton buttons to edit the headers and footers for all of the sheets.
2. Select the part of the spreadsheet you want to convert to PDF (optional). If there's only a certain part of the spreadsheet that you want to turn into a PDF, select it now. Otherwise, move on to the next step.
   • Note that a PDF cannot be easily converted back into an Excel sheet, but this method will preserve your original copy.
3. Click the File menu and select "Save As". Browse to the location that you want to save the file at, and give it a name.
4. Click the Format pull-down menu and select "PDF". This will save a copy of the spreadsheet as a PDF file.
5. Select what gets included in the PDF. At the bottom of the window, you can choose between "Workbook", "Sheet", or "Selection".
6. Click .Template:MacButton to create the PDF file. If the headers don't match, a separate file will be created for each sheet. Note that this will occasionally happen even if the headers and footers all match exactly.
7. Join the separate PDF files (if necessary). If the conversion process resulted in multiple PDF files, you can quickly join them together using Finder.
   • Open the folder that contains the PDF files and select all of the files that you want to merge.
   • Click the File menu and select "Create" → "Combine Files into Single PDF".
8. Review the PDF. Open the PDF file by double-clicking it. This will open it in Preview, allowing you to review it before you send it off. It's not really possible to edit the PDF now, so if you need to make changes you'll want to make them in Excel and then create a new PDF.

Related Articles

• Format an Excel Spreadsheet
• Change the Default File Extension from .Xlsx to .Xls on Microsoft Excel 2007

Sources and Citations

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