How to print to PDF file – 5 Methods Explained

by Adeel Younas
Published: Last Updated on
how to print pdf

“Print to PDF” does not mean to take the hard copy of the required PDF from the printer. Here, to “Print” a PDF means to save something to a PDF file.

Printing to a PDF file is much faster than using any of the Conversion tools. It is beneficial as most people share their information in PDF file format and save an offline copy of a web page.

I am going to present multiple ways through which you can be able to save something to PDF.

SEE ALSO: How to Convert PDF Files to JPG Format

Suppose the operating system or a program in Use does not include support for PDF printing. Numerous third-party tools can help you in saving anything to PDF.

Method 1: Use the Built-in PDF Printer

Here are various methods through which you can save something to a PDF file depending on the type of operating system you are using.

How to Print PDF on Windows 10

In Windows 10, Microsoft has been providing a built-in PDF printer named Microsoft Print to PDF.

If you want to print to a PDF, you need to go through the normal printing process but select the PDF option instead of a physical printer and then select the position where you want to save it.

If you do not see the “print to PDF” printer in Windows, then follow these steps to install it.

  1. Go to Power User Menu by pressing Win+X from a keyboard.
  2. Select Settings > Devices > Printers & scanners > Add a printer or scanner.
  3. Then follow the link named The printer that I want isn’t listed.
  4. Click on Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings.
  5. Under Use, an existing port option, Choose FILE: (Print to File).
  6. Select Microsoft under the Manufacturer section
  7. Under  Printers, go for Microsoft Print To PDF.
  8. Follow the wizard of Add Printer and accept every default option to add a PDF printer to Windows 10.

How to Print PDF on Linux

Numerous versions of the Linux Operating System provides similar options as in Windows 10 when printing a document.

  1. Select Print to File rather than selecting a regular printer.
  2. Choose PDF as the output format.
  3. Give a name and location to PDF files, and then select the Print button to save it to the PDF format.

You can install a third-party tool if your Linux Operating System does not support PDF printing by default.

How to Print PDF on Google Chrome

  1. Press Ctrl+P or tap on the menu (the three horizontally stacked dots) and select Print…
  2. Under the Destination section, select the Change button.
  3. Select Save as PDF from the list.
  4. Give name and location to file, and then click Save.
  5. Safari on macOS
  6. Tap on File > Print or press Command+P shortcut from the keyboard.
  7. Choose a drop-down menu from the PDF drop-down option located on the bottom left side of the Print dialog box, and select Save as PDF…
    1. Other options like add the PDF to iBooks, save it to iCloud, email the PDF or send it through the Messages app.
  8. Give a name and location to save the PDF file.
  9. iOS (iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch)

iOS devices from Apple have a PDF printer option available, and you do not have to install any third party app.

Apple’s devices use the iBooks app to provide a PDF printer option, and if you do not own one, you need to install it.

  1. Select the desired web page, which you want to save in PDF format.
  2. Click on the Share option in your web browser (Safari, Opera, etc.) to open a new menu.
  3. Select Save PDF to iBooks.
  4. The PDF file will be created and saved to the iBooks app automatically.

How to Print PDF with Google Docs

You might know about Google Docs, as it is the most widely used word processing tool and has excellent PDF printing abilities.

  1. Open the Google doc.
  2. Select File > Download as > PDF Document (.pdf).
  3. This will automatically download the PDF file to your device’s default download location.

Method 2: Install a Free PDF Printer

If the Operating System or a program you are using does not support the default PDF printer, you need to install a third-party PDF printer application. There are a lot of programs that can be installed for printing anything to PDF files.

Once the virtual printer is installed, it will be located next to any other printer, and you can be able to use it just like other standard physical printers.

SEE ALSO: How to Convert PDF to Word 4 Methods Explained

Every PDF printer has its functionality and different options. Some PDF printers might immediately save the document to PDF, but some printers ask you how you want to save the PDF files, such as compression options, where to save the PDF, etc.).

Here are is a list of some PDF printer tools:

  1. CutePDF Writer
  2. PDF24 Creator
  3.  PDFlite
  4.  Pdf995
  5.  PDFCreator
  6. Ashampoo PDF Free
  7. doPDF
  8. TinyPDF

It would help if you were very careful while installing some of these PDF printers, especially PDFlite.

The reason is that such programs ask you to install some other harmful programs that you do not want to have for using a PDF printer. You do have the option to skip them, as you will be asked to install or skip them.

You can install these programs in the Linux Operating System by the following command in the terminal to install CUPS-PDF.

sudo apt-get install cups-pdf

The saved PDFs will be stored in /home/user/PDF.

Method 3: Use a Conversion Tool Instead

Let us discuss another method for printing a web page to PDF; you need not to install any third party printer in this method.

Therefore, here we will see how Online PDF printers can be used for printing web pages to PDF.

While using an online PDF printer, you need to enter the URL of a particular web page into an online converter. The online converter will immediately save the specific web page to the PDF format.

For instance, in PDFmyURL.com or Web2PDF, you need to paste the web page’s URL into the text box and then click on Save as PDF to download a web page as a PDF immediately.

One thing to be noted is that both of these PDF printers leave a watermark on a downloaded PDF file.

Moreover, you can also install Print Friendly & PDF add-on to Firefox for printing a web page to PDF format without installing any malicious programs.

If you are using a mobile device, your device might be built in PDF converter rather than uploading a PDF into any website. UrlToPDF is an Android app that can be used to convert web pages to PDF.

One thing to be noted that there are many other PDF converter programs that can be used to convert files to PDF format. Doxillion and Zamzar are used to convert MS Word files to PDF format.

This file printer program allows you to print DOCX files to PDF without opening it via DOCX viewer.

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