Chapter 2
Ways of Distributing Your Work
IN THIS CHAPTER
Printing files
Saving files so that others can read them in Adobe Acrobat Reader
Sending a file by email
Saving a file so that it can be viewed in a web browser
This chapter explains how to distribute your work to coworkers and friends. You’ll be glad to know that people who don’t have Office 365 can still read and review an Office file you created. You can print it for them, save it so that it can be read in Adobe Acrobat Reader, or save it as a web page. This chapter explains all that as well as how to send a file right away by email. By the way, Book 4, Chapter 5 describes other ways to distribute PowerPoint presentations. You can provide audience handouts, ship presentations on CDs, and save presentations as video files.
Printing — the Old Standby
In spite of predictions to the contrary, the paperless office is still a pipe dream. The day has yet to materialize when Johnny at his computer is completely digitized and communicating with his colleagues without having to print anything on paper. The office is still awash in paper, and all Johnny can do for consolation is try his best to recycle.
To print a file, preview a file before you print it, and do all else that pertains to printing, go to the File tab and choose Print (or press Ctrl+P). You land in the Print window, as shown in Figure 2-1. From here, you can choose how many copies to print, choose a part of a file to print, and get a look at your file before you print it. Notice that the Print window offers Zoom controls buttons and buttons for going from page to page (or slide to slide).
FIGURE 2-1: Starting in the Print window, you can preview and print files.
Distributing a File in PDF Format
As shown in Figure 2-2, you can save and distribute a file in the PDF (portable document format) format if the person to whom you want to give the file doesn’t have the program with which it was created. For example, someone who doesn’t have Excel can still view your Excel file in PDF format. Moreover, you can post PDF files on the Internet so that others can view them there. Most browsers are capable of displaying PDF files.
FIGURE 2-2: A Word document in the Edge browser.
About PDF files
PDF files are designed to be viewed and printed in web browsers and in a program called Adobe Acrobat Reader. Nearly every computer has Adobe Acrobat Reader. If individuals to whom you sent a PDF file don’t have the program, they can download it for free at this web page:
Book 2, Chapter 2 explains how you can open and edit PDF files in Word 365.
Saving an Office file as a PDF
Follow these steps to save an Office file as a PDF file:
- Go to the File tab and choose Export to open the Export window.
- Choose Create PDF/XPS Document.
Click the Create PDF/XPS button.
The Publish as PDF or XPS dialog box appears. If your goal is to create an XPS file, not a PDF file, open the Save As Type drop-down list and choose XPS Document (*.xps). Microsoft created the XPS format to compete with the PDF format. As are PDF files, XPS files are meant to present data from different programs, in this case in Internet Explorer. However, the XPS format is not nearly as well known or frequently used as the PDF format.
Select a folder for storing your PDF (or XPS) file, give it a name, and click the Publish button.
Your file opens in the Edge browser application (or whatever your computer’s default web browser is). You can also open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Later in this chapter, “Saving an Office File as a Web Page” explains another way to distribute Office files to people who don’t have Office — by saving the files as web pages.
Sending Your File in an Email Message
As long as you handle your email with Outlook, you can send the file you’re working on to a friend or coworker without having to open Outlook. Moreover, you can send a PDF or XPS version of the file. You simply choose a command and send the thing over the Internet. Follow these steps to send an open file you’re working on to a friend or coworker:
Go to the File tab and choose Share.
The Share window opens.
Under Attach a Copy Instead, choose an Email option.
How do you want to send your file? Click one of these buttons:
- Send as a File: Send the file as an attachment to an email message.
- Send as a PDF: Send a PDF version of the file as an attachment to an email message.
An Outlook message window appears with the name of your file on the subject line and the file itself in the Attached box. Your file is ready to send along with the email message.
Enter the recipient’s address in the To box and a message in the Message box.
Book 5, Chapter 3 explains how to address, compose, and send email messages with Outlook.
Click the Send button.
That was fast! It was faster than opening Outlook and attaching the file to the email message on your own.
Saving an Office File as a Web Page
Figure 2-3 shows what a Word document looks like after it is saved as a web page and displayed in a web browser. Looks like a normal Word document, doesn’t it? Anyone with a web browser can view a Word document or other Office file after it’s saved as a web page. Save an Office file as a web page and post it on the Internet so that people who don’t have Office can view it.
FIGURE 2-3: A Word document saved as a web page, as seen through the eyes of a web browser.
These pages explain how to save an Office file as a web page and open a web page you created in a web browser.
Turning a file into a web page
Follow these steps to save an Office file as a web page:
Go to the File tab and choose Export.
The Export window opens.
Choose Change File Type.
Change File Type options appear, as shown in Figure 2-4.
Choose the Single File Web Page option and click the Save As button.
The Save As dialog box opens.
Click the Change Title button, enter a descriptive title in the Enter Text dialog box, and click OK.
The title you enter will appear in the title bar along the top of the web browser window.
- Choose a folder for storing your new web page.
Click the Save button.
If your file includes features that can’t be displayed in a web browser, the Compatibility Checker dialog box tells you what those features are. Click the Continue button to create your web page.
FIGURE 2-4: Change the file type to turn an Office file into a web page.
Opening a web page in your browser
To open a web page that you fashioned from an Office file, open the folder where you stored the web page in File Explorer and double-click the .mht file. For example, if your file is called Sales Projections, double-click the Sales Projections.htm or Sales Projections.mht file to open the web page.