By now, you’ve had time to check out Adobe CreatePDF and see what it can do—namely, create PDF files, combine files into a single PDF, and even print to PDF from your desktop applications. By now, therefore, you’ve surely noticed that Acrobat.com is feeling a bit neglected; while you’re still happily sharing your workspaces and collaborating on documents with Tables and Buzzword (and we’re sure that you are), it’s been a while since you’ve used the Acrobat.com service for creating your PDF files. Both of these services—Adobe CreatePDF and Acrobat.com—allow you to make PDF files from your documents; so how can you choose between them? The short answer: You don’t have to! Use them both! The longer answer… well, read on and see.
The all-important differences
The differences are quite clear-cut, actually. The guiding principle here is to decide what you’d like to do with the finished file after you’ve converted it. Adobe CreatePDF is a stellar service for quick and easy conversion: if you have a few files to bundle up into a PDF and keep it on your computer for future use and reference, this is probably your best shot. However, if you have grander plans for the final PDF file—if you want to immediately share it with a colleague, or if you prefer to keep your PDF files stored securely online—then you’d probably want to use Acrobat.com, where your converted files are kept in their designated Workspaces.
Remember, you can’t make a bad decision here; as long as your files are getting converted one way or the other, it doesn’t exactly matter how it happens. That said, each of these services can be used in a different part of your workflow to optimize your conversion times. Just check out what they can both do and decide where your allegiances lie.
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I still don’t know which service to use. I have the monthly subscription service and for a while the pdf settings worked (I could choose print quality pdf creation which embedded fonts) but now it just automatically makes pds from my files. I don’t know how to ensure the settings are for print, and my fonts are no longer embedded. Is there a monthly distiller service available? I’ve read that you can change settings with distiller. For my purposes, I really only need the Adobe CreatePDF. So is there a different service I can sign up for that will allow me to change settings? Please let me know. Thanks.
Hi Eden,
The trouble here seems to be that there are two CreatePDF services: there’s an older service, Create Adobe PDF Online (to which you seem to have had a subscription), that has been discontinued and replaced with the new Adobe CreatePDF. The newer service doesn’t allow for granular control of PDF settings, however; for that, you may have to use Adobe Acrobat desktop software. Acrobat allows you to do many things with your PDF files, including preparing them for multiple publishing platforms. For more information, please see:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat
Let me know if you need any more guidance here!
Thanks,
Rebecca