When to send documents in .pdf format?

If you send your CV to your future employers in the formats *.doc, *txt, *rtf or other editable format, do not be surprised if you do not have much success in your application.

If you want the documents you send just to be read and not edited – convert them into *.pdf format first and then email them. We advise this, because different programs (MS Office Word, Libre Office Writer, pages) on different operating systems read files with the same extension, but visualise them differently. Which means that the document you worked so hard to shape perfectly may not be visualised the same way you saw it on you computer it not converted to .pdf.

Converting to *.pdf is a process in which the document is created in a new format. This format fixes the positions of the elements of the editable document in a way that any device with any software and hardware will visualise the document in the same way.

Examples for documents you should convert to *.pdf format before sending are:

  • CV you send for job application.
  • A presentation you send to your teacher.
  • Fully prepared contract ready to sign.
  • Table with report about the monthly working hours of the company-partner.
  • Any other document, you wouldn’t want to be further edited.

Examples for document you should send in an editable format are:

  • A presentation you send to a college to finish.
  • Contract with empty gaps, which needs to be filled in.
  • An article for a newspaper or blog.
  • Content for your web site to your programmers.
  • Any other document which needs to be edited after you send it.

When you upload files to your web site, the same rule applies. If you send one-sided information to your users, you should convert the document to .pdf. When you wish to give your users the opportunity to fill or modify the document, you should leave it in editable format.

You can convert almost all text and graphic files into *.pdf format. Here is a list with some of them:

  • *.docx, *xlsx, *.pptx ;
  • *.png, *.jpg, *.gif, *.bmp ;
  • *.psd, *eps, *ai ;

Some sites offer the opportunity to generate a *.pdf file with the information of the page you are on. The user could download this file on his/her computer for convenience. Example of this is the automatic generation of invoice in *.pdf format, after the user has filled in all the required fields. If you need this functionality on your site, e-commerce or web application – contact us.