You can use a PDF writer to create PDF files from 21st Century Accounting reports. PDF files are a widely accepted standard for exchanging information.
A PDF writer produces PDF files that look exactly the same as the original document that you created. The recipient of your PDF file can read and print the file using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Your PDF writer can be acquired in one of the following ways:
- Download a “PDF driver.” A PDF driver is a software printer driver that will create a PDF file from virtually any printable document. Most downloadable PDF drivers have a free trial period, after which you can purchase the driver for a price in the $10 - $60 range. We recommend that you enter “PDF driver” in an Internet search engine and try some of the results until you find a PDF driver that you like.
- Purchase Adobe Acrobat. The current version of Adobe Acrobat is available for purchase in the $250 - $300 range. (You can also usually find copies of the previous version for considerably less.) You need Acrobat (not just Acrobat READER, which is free) to generate PDF files from your applications. When you install the PDF driver or Acrobat, you install a “PDF printer” (to file only). Adobe's is called “Acrobat Distiller.” A downloadable PDF driver will have a “printer” name or a procedure for providing a name.
This “printer” should automatically become available to all your applications that print, including 21st Century Accounting. It converts the document you select for printing into a PDF file, which you can then handle like any other file, including printing on paper and attaching to emails.
Follow these instructions for converting a 21st Century Accounting report to a PDF file.
1. When you are ready to prepare a report in PDF format, in the 21st Century Accounting Print Select Options window, click Select Printer.
2. From the list of available printers in the printer selection window, select Acrobat Distiller or the name of your downloaded PDF printer.
3. Click the Print button.
4. When the Print Select Options window re-displays. Click the Print button.
5. In the Save PDF File window, select a location and a name for the file that you will be able to find again.
6. Click Save.
7. The PDF file is generated in the location you indicated. Acrobat may then automatically open the file.
8. Inspect the report and close Acrobat (Exit on the File menu).
9. The PDF report you generated is ready to send electronically.
When you send the PDF report to someone, you might want to include the URL to the Adobe Acrobat Reader in the “cover letter” email that you send to the client and to which you attach the PDF report – in case your intended recipient doesn't already have the Reader.