Create PDFs with PDFMaker Part 4

Create PDFs with PDFMaker Part 4

Create PDFs from Word mail merges

Mail merges from Word generate documents like form letters—for one common example—that are personalized with information like the names and addresses of the recipients. With Acrobat PDFMaker, you can save steps by using a Word mail merge document and corresponding data file to output mail merges directly to PDF. You can even set up PDFMaker to attach those PDFs to email messages that are generated during the PDF-creation process.

Note

For information on setting up files for the Word Mail Merge feature, see Microsoft Office Word Help.

  1. 1. In Microsoft Word, open the template that you have created as the basis of your mail merge, or create the file using the Word Mail Merge toolbar and Mail Merge wizard, as needed.

    Note

    Do not complete the mail merge in Word. Instead, set up and preview the mail merge as usual, so that you can verify that the merge will work correctly.

  2. 2. Do one of the following:
    • Choose Acrobat > Mail Merge.
    • Click the Mail Merge To Adobe PDF button on the Mail Merge toolbar (View > Toolbars > Mail Merge).

  3. 3. In the Acrobat PDFMaker - Mail Merge dialog box, select the options you want:

    • To specify which records in the data file will be imported into the merged files, select All or Current, or enter a range of pages by typing in the From and To boxes.
    • To name the PDF that will be created, type in the Specify PDF File Name box.
    Note

    The PDF will be named using this text plus a series of numbers. For example, if you type JulyLetter in the Specify PDF File Name box, the mail-merged PDFs might appear as JulyLetter_0000123, JulyLetter_0000124, JulyLetter_0000125, and so forth.

  4. 4. For Automatically Send Adobe PDF Files By Email, do one of the following:

    • To create and save merged PDFs for printing or sending later in email, leave the option deselected, and click OK.
    • To create merged PDFs and attach each one to an email message to the appropriate recipient, select this check box, and fill in the other Email options.

  5. 5. When the Browse For Folder dialog box appears, navigate to the location you want to use and click OK.

    Status indicators appear as PDFMaker generates the individual PDFs,

  6. 6. If you selected Automatically Send Adobe PDF Files By Email, a dialog box appears asking for your email profile. Enter the appropriate information and click OK.

When the job has finished, a message appears, telling you that the process was successful.

Email options for PDF mail merges

T o

Use the pop-up menu to select the field or column in the associated data file that contains the email addresses in each individual’s record.

Subject Line

Type the text that you want to appear in the subject line of each message.

Message

Type to add or edit text that you want to appear in the body of the email messages.

PDFs from Microsoft Project (Acrobat Pro)

There are specific differences to be aware of when you create PDFs from files authored in Microsoft Project.

You can create PDFs of only the current selected view. Views designated as non-printable in Project cannot be converted to PDF.

Convert Visio files to PDF (Acrobat Pro)

PDFs created from Visio files preserve page sizes and support layers, searchable text, custom properties, links, bookmarks, and comments, depending on the conversion settings. To specify the properties

  • (Visio 2010) From the ribbon choose Acrobat > Preferences

When you convert your Visio file, only shapes and guides that are printable and visible in the Visio drawing are converted and appear in the PDF. Shapes are converted regardless of their protection or behavior. Shape custom properties can be converted to PDF object data.

When you convert the Visio file to a PDF, you can preserve all or just some layers, or you can flatten all layers. If you flatten layers, the PDF will look like the original drawing, but won’t contain any layer information. When flattened, the contents of only visible and printable layers will appear in the converted PDF.

Convert Visio files

  1. 1. If you want to change the PDFMaker conversion settings, do the following. (For information about a setting, place the pointer over the setting to display a tool tip below.)

    • (Visio 2010) Choose Acrobat > Preferences

  2. 2. If you want to convert each page in the Visio file to a bookmarked page in the PDF file, choose Adobe PDF > Convert All Pages In Drawing. If this option is deselected, only the current page is converted.

  3. 3. Do one of the following:
    • (Visio 2010) Choose Acrobat > Create PDF.
    • (Visio 2010) Choose Acrobat > Convert To Adobe PDF. 
    • (Visio 2010) Choose Acrobat > Create and Attach To Email. The PDF file attaches to a new email message in your default email application. 
    • (Visio 2010) Choose Acrobat > Create and Send For Review. The file converts to an Adobe PDF file, and an email-based review process begins. 
  4. 4. If you want to include the custom properties of shapes, select that option.

  5. 5. Click Continue.

  6. 6. Select a layers option to retain or flatten layers in the resulting PDF, and click Continue.

    Note

    If you select Retain Some Layers In The Selected Page, you’ll be prompted to choose which Visio layers to include.

  7. 7. Click Convert To Adobe PDF, specify a location and filename, and click Save.

Select Visio layers to convert (Acrobat Pro)

You can convert a Visio drawing that contains layers to a PDF and retain some or all of the layers in the resulting PDF, or you can flatten the layers. You can also organize the Visio layers in layer sets, which are folders in the Acrobat Layers panel.

  1. 1. With the multilayered file open in Visio, click a button in the Adobe PDF toolbar, and select Retain Some Layers In The Selected Page.

    Note

    If the Retain Some Layers In The Selected Page option is not available, deselect the Convert All Pages In Drawing option.

  2. 2. Select one or more layers in the Layers In Visio Drawing list.

  3. 3. To add the selected Visio layers to the list of layers to convert to the PDF file, do one of the following:
    • To convert the selected Visio layers to individual PDF layers within a PDF layer set, click Create Layer Set, and optionally, type a layer name.
    • To convert the selected Visio layers to individual layers (but not grouped under a layer set), click the Add Layer(s) button.
    Note

    The name of a layer in the Layers In Visio Drawing list is unavailable if that layer is included in the Layers In PDF list. When you select that layer in the Layers In PDF list, a bullet appears next to the layer’s name in the Layers In Visio Drawing list.

  4. 4. Optionally, do any of the following:
    • To reorder the layers in the Layers In PDF list, drag an item up or down in the list.
    • To include a visibility property that can be switched on or off in Acrobat, deselect Locked On adjacent to the PDF layer; to lock the resulting PDF layer’s visibility on, select Locked On.
    • To save the current settings of Visio layers selected, click Save PDF Settings, and click OK. These settings are used the next time you convert the current Visio file to a PDF file.

  5. 5. Click Convert To PDF, specify a folder in the Save In box in which to save the PDF file, type a filename, and then click Save.

    Note

    Visio layers that were selected for conversion and that have Visio settings for visible, printable, or lock are converted to PDF layers; the visible and printable properties are included in the resulting PDF layers. If the Visio file contains a background page, header, or footer, the PDF file automatically has PDF layers named for those items.

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