PDFs are among the best file formats to share information online. They’re easy to compress and won’t lose formatting settings between devices. In fact, PDFs can be a great way to share presentations between devices as they can be converted to and from PPT files. 

There is one big differentiation, or limitation, between using a PDF versus a PowerPoint, Google, or similar presentation file: PDFs are flat files that don’t easily accommodate animations. So, if you want to dazzle your audience with animated text, GIFs or videos, you’ll be better off converting your PDF into a PPT to add the animations.

So how do you turn a PDF into a slideshow? PDF.Live offers PDF to PowerPoint conversion entirely online.  

Convert PDF to PowerPoint

1. Go to the PDF.Live Studio and select the Convert to PPT option.

Either drag and drop your file into the converter or select the file wherever it’s located on your desktop or device. You can also select a PDF that you’ve already uploaded to the PDF.Live Studio.

2. Click Convert to PowerPoint.

Once your PDF is converted to a PPT, select Download File.

3. Open your converted PDF on the slideshow editor of your choice. 

From here, you can open your converted PDF on Microsoft Powerpoint, Google Slides, or another presentation program to test if your PDF was converted properly. Simply open the program and select the PPT file you downloaded from PDF.Live. If you’re using Google Slides, you will need to upload the downloaded PPT to your Google Drive account. 

From here, you can make further edits to it as you would any other PowerPoint. You can also test presenting the new slideshow to see how it will look when on the big screen. PDF.Live also offers a PPT to PDF converter, if you want to eventually turn your presentation back into a PDF. You can, for example, convert a PDF to a slideshow, make edits, and then convert it back into a PDF! PDF.Live has a lot of powerful tools you can utilize to make it as easy as possible to work with PDFs. 

The post How to Turn a PDF Into a Slideshow appeared first on pdf.live.

How to Save, Export and Convert Excel Spreadsheets as PDFs 

The spreadsheet editing software Microsoft Excel is one of the most effective tools for organizing, analyzing and interpreting large amounts of data. However, it’s not always the ideal choice for sharing data, especially if the person you’re sharing it with isn’t adept at spreadsheets. Sending an XLSX or XLS file directly would require them to open that file in Excel. In other cases, you may not want to share all the work behind the Excel pivot tables or graphs and, instead, show the final analyses. Yes, you could lock your spreadsheets to prevent others from making changes, but if you simply want to share a snapshot of a part of a spreadsheet, for a proposal or presentation, for example, we’ll cover that here. Exporting your Excel file as a PDF ensures that your data report is easy to interpret by anyone who receives it. 

How to Save Excel as a PDF

You can save your Excel files as PDFs directly from Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or Apple Numbers. 

1. Select File and Save as. 
2. Select Save as type and then PDF. 
3. Review the preview file to ensure your Excel document is exporting correctly. 
4. Select Save. 

Excel’s print to PDF will also allow you to save a spreadsheet as a PDF. Select Print and from the drop-down box that says PDF, select Save As PDF. Both methods will export your Excel document as a PDF. You can share it much easier across the web. 

Take note that your spreadsheet data may look a bit empty on the PDF if you haven’t formatted your Excel document. For example, consider adding a title to your document by editing the header and footer of your document. 

Convert Excel Sheets to PDFs Online

If you don’t have access to Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet editing program, there are options available to you. Consider using PDF.Live’s Excel to PDF converter to convert your spreadsheets to PDFs online. PDF.Live’s converter is easy to use and doesn’t require additional programs to operate.

Simply drag and drop your XLS or XLSX file into the converter and click Convert Excel to PDF. Follow the prompts to download your PDF. Use the PDF editing tool to annotate your PDF, if needed.

How to Convert PDF to a Spreadsheet 

What about the other way around: Saving a PDF as an Excel file? 

This is a bit more complicated as you won’t be able to open PDFs using Excel. Excel can only handle XLS or files that are intended for spreadsheets. However, if you’re sent a PDF that contains data in table format, and you want to extract the data to use in a spreadsheet program like Excel, you may need a PDF-to-Excel converter. 

How do you do this? 

For extracting data from a PDF to Excel, you’ll need a specific file converter that can turn PDFs into Excel documents. 

Just like with the above converter, simply drag and drop your PDF into the converter and click Convert PDF to Excel. The better quality the data is in the PDF, the easier the conversion will be. For example, data in a table will be easier to convert than bulleted lists or paragraphs of text. 

Download your converted PDF to XLS file to complete the process. Double click to open it with Excel. If you receive this message, it could be that Microsoft Excel has found some formatting issues, which is not unexpected. Remember, spreadsheets are designed to do mathematical calculations, so if they cannot recognize characters, they cannot do math.

Click Yes to allow Excel to do its thing and clean up the converted information. (This is why it is important to keep your software programs like Microsoft Office updated; the more recent the version, the better it will fix errors.)  

Below you can see the results. PDF.Live did a good job of recognizing the data in the PDF and converting it to an Excel sheet. Excel took it a step further by formatting the text and numerals. 

How to Insert a PDF Into Excel

Sometimes, the contents of a PDF is needed in a spreadsheet but doesn’t quite match the “cell” format that Excel demands. Fortunately, you can actually embed PDFs in spreadsheets as objects. An example of this use case might be for end-of-month reporting, when you want to include a PDF document in an Excel workbook for explanations or footnotes. 

To do this, open a spreadsheet in Excel and select Insert Object. This capability will range depending on which spreadsheet editor you use. For example, some versions of Excel require you to select Insert > Text > Object. 

However, once you’ve done this, you’ll have the option to create an object from a file. You can then select a PDF file. 

If your version of Excel doesn’t allow you to insert objects, you can insert your PDF as a picture. Keep in mind that this picture will need to be a JPG or PNG file — it will not accept a PDF. Keep in mind that when inserting PDFs into Excel, only the first page will be inserted. If you need to insert multiple PDFs, you’ll need to extract pages or separate the PDF’s pages.

If you convert your PDF to one of these formats, or just take a screenshot of it and save it as a picture, you can then insert it in your spreadsheet. Using the Snipping tool is an especially effective way to do this, as you’ll be able to insert specific elements of your PDF in a spreadsheet. 

Miscellaneous Excel and PDF Functions

Attach a PDF to Excel

To link a PDF to Excel, save it in a cloud drive, such as One Drive or Google Drive, copy the web address of the file and paste it into a cell on the spreadsheet:

• From Google Drive or One Drive, locate your PDF (or any file), right click and select Share.
• In your spreadsheet, navigate to the cell that has content you want to attach the PDF to, select Insert >> Hyperlink and paste the link in the Address field. 
• Click the link to test it. It should open the PDF within your browser.

Convert Excel to PDF Landscape

If you need landscape orientation but your page layout defaulted to portrait, you’ll need to change the page layout in Excel. And this takes a little bit of know-how in Excel. Before converting your Excel into a PDF, select Page Setup >> Orientation >> Landscape. 

Then, go to Print and, before selecting PDF, adjust your margins and scale to fit the page width as needed. For step-by-step tutorials, visit Microsoft’s support article on formatting spreadsheets for printing. 

The post How to Save or Export a PDF to Excel appeared first on pdf.live.

How do I change a PDF to a JPG?

JPEG file formats have a lot of benefits. JPEGs are compatible with almost any image editing software and don’t have overly large file sizes. In fact, if you do have a large one, and you moderately reduce its size, you rarely lose quality online.

With JPEG being so versatile, it can sometimes be beneficial to convert a PDF into a JPEG, but the use case is not very common. PDFs can have multiple pages. JPEGs are single “pages.” In fact, it’s more common to convert JPEG to PDF, so you can create multipage photo albums, look books or e-books.

Still, you asked, so we’re answering how to change from PDF to JPG. In this article, we’ll be going through how to perform the conversion of PDF to JPG on most devices.

How to Convert a PDF to JPEG on Mac

Open the Preview app and use the app to open the PDF you want to export as a JPEG. For example, this handsome fellow may be on a specific page of a multipage PDF and you want him as a JPEG.

Once you navigate to the page that you want as a JPEG, go to File > Export. The menu that pops up should look like this:

Here, you’ll see several options for file formats to export the single page of the PDF. You can also choose the folder where the JPEG will be stored. Then, hit save.

Preview can export only one page of a PDF into a JPEG at a time. Multiple pages in a single JPEG are simply not possible; the JPEG file format does not support multiple frames. If you need a single document with multiple pages (like a photo collection), the PDF is meant for this.

If you have multiple JPEGs that need to be in a single document, consider converting them into a PDF file with PDF.Live’s online JPG to PDF Converter. As with any JPG to PDF converter, PDF.Live converts one JPEG at a time; then, you can use the merge feature to combine several PDFs into one, and arrange the pages as you like.

How to Convert a PDF to JPEG on Windows

Windows does not come with a PDF viewer built into the system. However, you can download an app like Adobe Acrobat that allows you to open and edit PDFs. This app also allows you to export PDFs in any format that you need to. Here is how to do it on Acrobat:

1. Open the PDF file with Acrobat.
2. On the toolbar, select “Export PDF”
3. In the export menu, select Image > JPEG
4. Leave the “export all images” unchecked and then Export

Alternatively, you can use a free PDF to JPEG app on the Microsoft Store. The ClearBar App, for example, is a Windows desktop alternative that includes built-in PDF conversion tools. Other options also exist on the Microsoft store, depending on what specific features you’re looking for.

With most PDF to JPG converters, you can only export one page of the PDF into a JPEG at a time. Or, the converter will convert the multiple pages into several different JPEG files. JPEGs have resolutions (e.g. 500×800) and don’t work well with multiple images within a single file. A single file with multiple pages would have a very high resolution and look extremely oblong. They wouldn’t be usable on most devices. PDFs are better for storing multiple images within a single file.

Consider using PDF.Live’s online JPG to PDF Converter if you need to have multiple JPGs in a single file to send around online.

Answers to FAQs About Changing PDFs to JPEGs

Can you export PDF to JPG?

Yes, in some programs, PDFs can be exported as images such as JPGs. You will need to use a PDF viewer like Adobe Acrobat to do this. When you have the PDF open, select Export and then click the Convert To dropdown. Select Image. 

From here, you can select which image format you would like your PDF to save as. Note that with Adobe Acrobat, the image will be exported within a .zip file. 

Is it possible to convert multiple PDF pages to JPG?

Yes, this method allows you to convert multiple PDF pages to JPGs. However, it will convert each PDF page as a separate JPG. This is because if all the PDF pages were exported as a single JPG, the image would be very stretched out and difficult to read. The above method will “pack” all of your JPG pages into a single ZIP file.

In this example, a PDF with 6 pages was converted to 6 separate JPGs: 

Can you just save a PDF as a JPEG?

Technically, no. You need to use a PDF conversion tool to export your PDF as JPG images. The export process may look very similar to saving a PDF, but differs slightly. A web browser, for example, can be used to view PDFs but won’t let you save PDFs as JPG files.  

What if I need a high-resolution JPG?

When converting your PDF to a JPG, you may have noticed that you can adjust the image quality of the exported JPG files. The higher the image quality, the higher the resolution of the resulting JPGs will be. Note that this will cause the exported JPGs to have a larger file size and take more memory to store. You can learn more about file compression quality in this post about lossy versus lossless file compression. 

What is the best way to convert a PDF to a JPG?

The Adobe Acrobat Reader is the best way to convert PDFs to JPGs. The free version of the reader lets you open and view PDFs with some simple commenting and highlighting abilities. It also allows you to export your PDFs to image files. However, the Adobe Acrobat Reader is a separate program that does require a download to use. If you need to convert your PDFs to and from other file formats, check out PDF.Live’s web browser-based conversion services. 

The post How to Convert PDF Files to JPEGs appeared first on pdf.live.

What It Means to Change a File Format

To understand what file conversion is, you first have to understand what a “file” is. Files on your computer or device will generally contain information in a certain format. The name of the file ends in an extension (usually), which tells us what type of file it is. Examples include .pdf, .doc, .xls, and .jpg. These represent a file’s “type” or “format,” which conveys what applications the file is compatible with.  

A simple comparison might be to think of a computer file as a house (your computer itself might be the neighborhood or region where the house/file is located). 

Like a house, a file contains data or information about what’s inside and what it may be used for. Houses come in several types — apartments, condos, mansions, duplexes, and more. They can be converted into different types (single to multi, multi to single, residential to commercial, one-story to two stories, small to large … you get the idea). Files can be converted too.

A digital file conversion is changing a file format from one format to another, giving it a new use and, therefore, a new way to open and use it.   

What Changes When a File is Converted?

A file converter is a program that can identify the “old” file type and then convert it to a “new” format. In actuality, the file conversion process duplicates the original and gives it a new format. So, when you convert a Word doc into a PDF, you’ll retain your original .doc and have a second file with a .pdf extension.  

A PDF is a type of document that preserves formatting across all devices that use it. Your computer will open a PDF with a certain program like a PDF reader, web browser, PowerPoint, Word, etc. Therefore, to convert your PDF to a different file type is to change the extension, which tells your computer the way to store the file’s data. Your computer will then use a different program to open and view that data. 

The file converter must be able to recognize both the old and new formats. A file converter will specifically be things like PDF to DOC or JPG to PDF. These converters will only be able to accept their respective file formats and will only convert to a specific file type. 

What exactly changes when you convert a file? Well, in the background, the coding of the file changes. Sometimes, the appearance will change and functions will disappear. For example, when you change an Excel sheet to a PDF, you’ll lose the cell-by-cell functions and formulas; this type of conversion delivers a snapshot of a spreadsheet rather than the full functionality.

Why Do You Convert File Formats?

It’s often the case that the way that a file is stored dictates how it will be used. PowerPoint files, for example, are excellent for presentations; however, they are large files that aren’t practical for sharing. Converting a .ppt to a .pdf makes it more shareable. 

JPGs are great for pictures, but you can have only one .jpg per file. If you want to create a digital photo album, you’ll need to convert the .jpg files and merge them into a single .pdf file.

Lastly, you might want to convert a file into a non-editable format, so you can share it without worrying about anyone changing the contents.

In summary, these are the reasons to convert files:  

• So you can share them more easily
• So you can work with a file in a different program
• So you can combine multiple files into a single file format
• So you can protect the contents of the document from being altered*

*Protecting the format of a document is a complicated process. Learn more about locking and unlocking PDFs.

Are Free File Converters Safe?

File creation apps, like Microsoft Word, allow you to save or export documents as PDFs, which is essentially “converting” your document from a .docx file that’s editable by Word to a PDF. If you’ve got the software installed on your device, you’ll be able to make these conversions for free. 

PDF.Live’s file converters will allow you to upload JPEG, DOC, PPT and XLS files and convert them to PDF file types. PDF.Live’s converter is perfectly safe (and free to try!) but other free file converters may be less trustworthy. Always ensure that a site is safe and look for websites with HTTPS encryption, which is more secure. 

How Do You Change File Format? 

We mentioned earlier that you need a specific file converter for specialized conversions. This can be annoying, considering that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of possible file formats that you may use. 

You can convert your files in one of three ways: 

1. Save as… 

Using a file’s default program (like Microsoft Word with .doc files), open that file and then select File and Save As. When saving a file you’ll have a list of options, depending on the default program, that you can save a file as. In document editors, this may be more restrictive. But, in photo editors, for example, you may be able to save a photo file as a JPG, TIFF, PNG or other image format. 

2. Use a file converter service

File converter services are third parties that convert your files to other file types for you. File converter services tend to operate in your web browser and will grant you more nuanced conversions by having you drag and drop a file into the converter and downloading that file as a different format. Be cautious when using these, and use only file converter services like PDF.Live’s that are both safe and secure. 

3. Rename the file with a different extension

For the more tech-savvy internet users, renaming a file extension manually may be an option if you want to tell your computer a specific way to open a file without converting it. This won’t always work, as the type of data the file holds will need to be compatible with the app associated with the new file type that you intend to use. Files may not work properly when doing this, so consider a web search on your specific file conversion to find the best available method. 

What Is a PDF Converter?

PDF converters are very common on the web, as PDFs are difficult to modify without the use of a PDF editor. PDF converters change file formats to and from PDFs. For example, you may use a PDF converter to reformat a PDF to a JPG or a PPT to a PDF. The uses will probably be pretty specific, but the converter works similarly to how we outlined above: It translates the data within a file to a different format so that your computer can use a different program to open it. 

Consider checking out PDF.Live’s PDF converters to see a file converter in action.

The post What Is File Conversion? (What Does Convert PDF Mean?)  appeared first on pdf.live.