The PDF file format is an excellent choice for sending and receiving documents online. This is because PDFs display information with the same format settings across all devices. But, of course, PDFs wouldn’t be of much use if you couldn’t convert your documents into them. So there need to be several ways to convert other file types to and from PDFs. 

1. Converting PDFs With Browsers

PDFs can be opened and displayed on your browser, in cloud storage solutions like Google Drive, and even in some document editors like Microsoft Word. 

Many web browsers allow you to select print to save opened web pages as PDFs. 

2. Converting PDFs Using Google Drive

Upload a Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint to Google Drive, and then use Google’s Doc, Sheets and Slides apps (respectively) to convert the Microsoft formats into Google formats. Keep in mind that sometimes, converting from Microsoft’s programs to Google’s programs isn’t always seamless. Sometimes formatting is lost. Then, using File >> Download, save your files as .pdf formats.

Convert Google Docs to PDF

Select File >> Download and select .pdf, then save it.

Or, when you print a Google Doc, choose Destination >> Save as PDF. 

Convert Google Sheets to PDF

From Google Sheets, select File >> Download as and then choose PDF.

Likewise, you may choose File >> Print and change the Destination to Save as PDF. However, with Sheets, you’ll first need to select the cells that you want to print or save as PDFs. 

Convert Google Slides to PDF

Converting PDFs into Google Docs, Slides and Sheets

When you upload any PDF doc to drive, double click and Google will ask you what you want to open it with. Select Docs for text-heavy documents. 

Google Sheets and Google Slides do not open or convert PDF files. 

3. Other Ways to Convert PDFs

If you have a Mac computer, the Preview app allows you to export PDFs as other files. With a PDF open in Preview, you can select File > Export and see the file type options available in the pop-up menu. 

What if you didn’t create the document and want a tool that can directly convert a doc to a PDF? This is where PDF.Live’s file conversion services come in handy. 

4. Best Way to Safely Convert PDFs

Use PDF.Live’s Converter for Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint

PDF.Live allows you to convert PDFs both to and from several popular file formats entirely online. Here are the options available to use for fast, easy conversions that are both safe and reliable. No additional programs required to download, just drag and drop your PDF into the tool to start converting.  

Convert to PDF:

• Convert Doc to PDF. Convert documents constructed in Word into PDFs.
• Convert Excel to PDF. Converts files built in Excel into PDFs. 
• Convert PPT to PDF. Converts Powerpoint Presentations into a PDF. 
• Convert JPG to PDF. Converts JPG digital images into a PDF. 

Convert from PDF:

• Convert PDF to DOC. Converts a PDF back into a Word doc so it can be edited further. Some formatting settings may be lost. 
• Convert PDF to Excel. Converts a PDF into a spreadsheet to interact with the data. Formatting settings may be changed or lost. 
• Convert PDF to PPT. Converts a PDF back to a Powerpoint presentation. Each slide in the PowerPoint will be a page from the PDF. 

PDF.Live’s converters work with any computer and any operating system because they function entirely on your web browser. Consider trying it out today for free to see how useful it can be.

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So how do Google Docs and Google Sheets work with PDFs?

Google Docs allows you to store and create PDFs online. This means you can create a document and then save the Google Doc as a PDF. In this guide, we’ll show you how to work with Docs and Sheets to create PDFs. If we don’t cover a question you had in this article, consider checking out our Working With Google Drive post where we answer other common questions about how PDFs work with Drive. 

Google Doc to PDF

If you’re creating and editing a document in Google Docs and want to send it out to other people, the PDF file format is the best choice. This file format ensures that anyone, on any device, can view your document as you originally intended it. It’s also helpful if the recipient doesn’t have a Google account. PDFs are also compact and easy to send across the web. 

So how do you make a Google Doc into a PDF?

1. Open the Google Doc you want to create into a PDF.

2. Navigate to File. In this area, you’ll see an arrow next to Download. Hovering over this allows you to see file format options in which you can download your Google Doc. 

3. Select PDF Document (.pdf). A download will appear at the bottom of your screen with your document in the .pdf format. 

Google Sheets to PDF

Google Sheets follows the same method as Google Docs. However, when you select download as PDF, an additional menu will appear. 

Although this menu says Print Settings, it won’t actually be printing a physical version of your Google Sheets. Instead, you’ll see Export listed on the top right. The settings on the right-hand side of the menu allow you to adjust how your Sheets will be exported into a PDF. The middle section is a preview of what your PDF will look like. 

Because Sheets displays information differently than page-by-page (as with Docs), the PDF version of your Sheets may not look exactly how you intend. The menu allows you to make sure it does by scaling the PDF, adjusting the margins, and otherwise formatting the PDF to display information correctly. 

Once your document looks correct, select Export and you’ll see a PDF version of your Google Sheets download at the bottom of your screen. 

Can you Edit a PDF in Google Docs?

Google Drive has both file-storing and document-editing capabilities. You may have noticed that PDFs stored in Google Drive have the option to Open with Google Docs. 

However, when a PDF is converted to a Google Doc, many of the original formatting settings in the PDF will be lost. To avoid this, we recommend a dedicated PDF editor, such as PDF.Live’s entirely online PDF editor. 

This editor functions entirely in your browser, just like Google Docs, and allows you to make edits to a PDF without losing formatting settings.

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Google Drive is one of the most-used cloud-based storage solutions. It is a repository that saves many types of files, from large video files to single-page documents and spreadsheets. Google Drive also works seamlessly with Google’s apps: Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, to name a few. Here’s how you can use Google Drive to work with PDFs, as well as pros and cons of using PDFs with Google Drive.  

Google Drive stands as one of the best ways to create and share documents across the web. It is a cloud-sharing platform that allows you to create and upload documents to share with others. Google Drive allows you and other users to view and collaborate on documents with ease. And, as it just so happens, the PDF is one of the best document formats available for sharing and conveying information. So, does Google Drive work with PDFs?

Yes! In fact, Google Drive is a great place to upload, save and host a PDF. We’ll be going through the strengths and weaknesses of using Google Drive as a platform as well as how PDFs work with Drive. 

First, you’ll need to set up a Google account, if you don’t have one. This tutorial on Google’s site explains how to set up a Google Drive account.

Converting PDFs to Google Docs

Google Drive allows you to create and host documents in a number of formats. Some formats you may be familiar with, like .doc, .docx, .xslx, and, of course, .pdf, work on Google Drive. If you already have an existing PDF document, dragging and dropping the file into Google Drive will upload it to the cloud. This means that you can now access it from any computer logged into your Google Drive account. 

Once the PDF is uploaded to Google Drive, you have a few options. 

You can share it with other Google Drive users (this will require them to setup a Google account), get a direct link so that anyone with the link can view the PDF, as well as rename and manage the PDF’s properties. 

But what if you want to convert an existing PDF to an editable document in Google Docs?

While this is technically possible, it will likely alter or even damage the formatting settings that were originally placed in the document. 

To convert a PDF document to an editable Google Doc: 

1. Upload the PDF on Google Docs.
2. Right-click the PDF in Google Docs.
3. Select Open with and then Google Docs. 

You can also double-click the PDF to view it and then select Open with Google Docs at the top. Note that the formatting will be heavily altered during the conversion, though. Here is an example from a Harvard Business Review ebook we uploaded to Drive and used Google Docs to convert. One the left is the cover of the HBR article “as is,” and on the right is the cover as Google converted it. You can see that it strips away formatting.

While Google has some kinks to perfect with its PDF to Google Doc converter, you can use PDF.Live’s PDF to DOC converter, which retains as much of the original formatting of the PDF document as possible. In the next screenshot, you’ll see that when we converted the HBR article, “The New Sales Imperative” using PDF.Live, the formatting of the cover was retained. When we open it in Windows, this is what we see:

Converting Google Docs to PDFs

If you’ve built a document in Google Docs, which is Google Drive’s document editor, that you’d like to share with someone else across the web, you can do that using the Share button in the upper right.

If you’d prefer to convert it to a PDF format before sharing, it’s easy to convert a Google Doc to a PDF. Here is how:

1. Open the document you want to convert in Google Docs.
2. Select File in the top left corner
3. Select Download and then PDF. 

You can then re-upload this PDF to Google Docs if you’d like to host the PDF on Google Docs to share with others. 

Converting Google Sheets to PDFs

Google Sheets is Google Drive’s equivalent to Microsoft Excel. Sheets allows you to create spreadsheets, make databases, and host numerical information to make complex calculations easy. Again, to share, you click the Share button in the upper right, enter the recipient’s email address, and select whether you want to give them Viewer (view only), Commenter (view and comment), or Editor (view, comment and make changes) permissions. You can also add an expiration date for sharing the file. 

If you’d prefer to download your work in a PDF, perhaps to protect the formulas or to share only a portion of a sheet, the PDF is a perfect file format for this. 

To convert a Google Sheets to a PDF:

1. Open the document you want to convert in Google Docs.
2. Select File in the top left corner
3. Select Download and then PDF. 
4. You will receive a preview of the exported PDF. In the options tab, you can adjust the paper size, the scale of the text, as well as the margins. 

Going the other way around (converting a PDF to a Sheets or Excel document) isn’t quite possible in Google Drive. For this, you’ll need a dedicated PDF converter tool, such as PDF.Live’s converter tool, which allows you to convert various types of files to and from PDFs.

Converting PDF to Google Slides

Google Slides acts as Google Drive’s Microsoft PowerPoint equivalent. Google Slides is great for when you need to present information in an official capacity online. Having a Slides document allows you to present the information in full-screen mode and move through the slides as you present. 

Unfortunately, you cannot convert an existing PDF document to a Google Slides file. You will need a converter tool to perform this action. PDF.Live allows you to convert a PDF to a PowerPoint, or .PPT, format that will work with Slides. 

Converting Google Slides to PDF

A Google Slides presentation can be easily converted to a PDF within Google Drive. To do this, follow these steps: 

1. Open the document you want to convert in Google Slides.
2. Select File in the top left corner
3. Select Download and then PDF. 

You will then receive a document that has separate pages corresponding to the different slides of your presentation. For more tutorials on working with PDF files, visit PDF.Live’s Resource Center.

Photo credit 254150161 | © MRMake | Dreamstime.com

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