How to convert Word, Excel and PowerPoint to PDF

How to convert an Office document to PDF

Open the tool, click "Open converter", upload the Word, Excel or PowerPoint file, wait and click "Baixar PDF Convertido" (the converter window is in Portuguese; the button means "Download converted PDF"). The PDF keeps the formatting faithful to the original. The converter accepts .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt and .pptx, plus the OpenDocument formats .odt, .ods and .odp, one file at a time. Unlike most AtlasDocs tools, this conversion happens on our server, and the file is discarded right after.

1. Open the tool and click "Open converter". The message "Getting the converter ready… this may take a few seconds. Please wait." shows while the service loads.
2. Inside the converter window, upload the Word, Excel or PowerPoint file (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx) or an OpenDocument file (.odt, .ods, .odp). One file at a time, up to 200 MB.
3. Wait for the message "Convertendo documento para PDF..." (converting the document to PDF) to go away and click "Baixar PDF Convertido". The PDF keeps the original file name.
4. Open the PDF and check fonts, tables and page breaks before attaching or printing it.

Why send a PDF instead of the original file

When you send a .docx or .pptx, the person on the other end sees the file however their program decides to show it: the font can swap, margins shift, the spreadsheet misaligns, the slides move around. A PDF freezes the document: it arrives as you closed it, with font, page design and colors in place, and it opens the same on a phone, a computer or a browser, without needing Office installed.

• No lost formatting: what you see is what the other person sees.
• Opens on any device, with no need for Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
• Not edited by accident: nobody deletes a passage by mistake just by opening the file.
• Looks like a finished document, ready to send or print.

What the tool does (and what it doesn't)

• Input: Word, Excel and PowerPoint (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx) and OpenDocument (.odt, .ods, .odp), one file at a time, up to 200 MB. Output: a PDF with the formatting faithful to the original.
• Runs on our server: the file is sent for the conversion and discarded afterwards. That is why there is an "Open converter" step and a wait of a few seconds.
• Does not edit the document: adjust text, margins and page breaks in the source program before converting.
• Does not password-protect the PDF or merge several files into one; use the AtlasDocs PDF tools for that after the conversion.
• Does not replace a check: open the PDF and go over fonts, tables and page breaks before sending it.
• The converter window is in Portuguese. If something fails, it shows "Erro na conversão" (conversion error) with the reason. A file over 200 MB is refused with "Arquivo muito grande! Máximo: 200MB" (file too large).

Tips before converting

• Spreadsheet (.xlsx): the tool lays each sheet out on landscape A4 pages and shrinks the columns to fit the width of one page; the rows flow across as many pages as needed. To limit what goes out, set the print area in Excel first.
• Presentation: each slide becomes one PDF page, with no animations or transitions: what is on screen is what comes out.
• Word document: keep tracked changes and comments visible only if you want them to appear; whatever is visible goes into the PDF.
• Old .doc, .xls or .ppt file: modernize it first (see below) and check the result before generating the PDF.

And the way back, from PDF to Word?

Received a PDF and need to edit the text? The PDF to Word conversion returns a .docx in one of two modes, picked inside the window (in Portuguese): "Cópia Fiel" (faithful copy), which reproduces the page design, including scanned PDFs, with text recognition; and "Texto Editável" (editable text), which delivers clean text only, without images. The file name gets the suffix _copia_fiel or _editavel. It also runs on our server, with the same discard notice. Both modes, and why the formatting sometimes breaks, are covered in how to convert PDF to Word keeping the formatting.

Old file (.doc, .xls, .ppt)? Modernize it first

Old Office formats can open with the formatting out of place. The safest path is to convert to .docx, .xlsx or .pptx first, open it to check, and then generate the PDF. The step-by-step guide is in how to convert old .doc, .xls and .ppt files to .docx, .xlsx and .pptx.

Just want to view the document, without converting?

If all you need is to open a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file that arrived by email, the Office viewer shows the document right in the browser through the "Open viewer" button, with nothing to install. What it shows and its limits are in how to open Word, Excel and PowerPoint online without Office.

When a PDF is the right call

• Résumé: it lands well presented on any HR computer, with no risk of the formatting breaking.
• Contract and proposal: the text goes out locked, exactly as agreed, with no accidental edits.
• Report and results spreadsheet: numbers and tables keep their alignment on the reader's screen.
• Deck to send: the slides become a single document, easy to open and flip through.

Unlike most AtlasDocs tools, which run in your browser, the Office to PDF conversion happens on our server: the file is sent to generate the PDF and discarded afterwards. If the document is highly sensitive, consider whether you can send it before using the tool.

If the goal is to deliver a locked document that opens the same everywhere and won't be changed by accident, converting to PDF before sending is the step that heads off almost every problem on the other end.