Working With PDFs

You can work with PDF documents or convert documents to and from PDFs in many ways. Swarthmore has Adobe Acrobat available to all faculty and staff, as well as installed on all of the computers in our public computing labs.

Converting Documents to PDF

Microsoft Word (Desktop Application)

1. Click the Review menu
2. Run Accessibility Checker
3. Fix any issues found
4. Click the File menu
5. Choose the Save As option
6. Choose a location on your computer to save the PDF version
7. Change the Save as Type (Windows) or File Format (Mac) field to PDF
8. In the Save As dialog box, click Options
9. Click Document structure tags for accessibility
10. Click OK
11. Click Save
    
    

Adobe Acrobat Tips

Signing PDFs

You can easily add your signature to a PDF document or form. To view directions that include downloadable practice files, please visit Adobe's official documentation on how to fill and sign PDF forms. The directions for adding a signature are the same, even if the document you are signing is not a fillable form.

Adobe also allows you to have multiple individuals sign a PDF form with ease from the Adobe Document Cloud using Adobe Sign. For detailed instructions that include downloadable practice files, please visit Adobe's official documentation on how to get multiple signatures on a single document.

Insert New Text Into a PDF

1. Select the Tools menu
2. Choose Edit PDF, then choose Add Text
3. Click and drag to define the width of the text block you wish to add
   1. For vertical text: Right-click the text box and choose Make Text Direction Vertical
4. You can change the text properties using the options under Format in the right pane
5. Type your text
6. To resize the text box, click and drag a selection handle
7. To move the text box, place the pointer over the line of the bounding box (avoid the selection handles). When the cursor changes to the Move pointer (crossed arrows), click and drag the box to the new location. To maintain alignment with any other list items, press Shift as you drag.

Additional Resources

LibreOffice's Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA)

Microsoft's Create Accessible PDFs

WebAIM's Converting Documents to PDFs