I am really struggling to figure out how to reconfigure 'save as pdf' settings on my mac

Hi, gosh really I'm having a hard time here—any help very much appreciated.

I would like to be able to have more control over exporting my pdf files from various non-adobe applications on my mac desktop computer. In the past, I have used Acrobat Distiller, and the 'print to pdf' feature, but don't have those options anymore.

I'm struggling to find a workable solution, because the files I am saving as pdfs from within the apple pdf print dialogue box are coming out looking quite badly, and are often unreadable and/or monochrome.

I've looked within the commnity discussions, have not been able to locate a fitting solution, and the organization of the discussions is honestly really overwhelming for my neurodivergent brain when I try to parse all of what's there. Please, if anyone can help me with advice and/or precise links to help me reconfigure my settings (or whatever I need to do to just format the files/web pages I need to save as pdfs, it would truly be a kindness.

Thank you!
(FWIW, I use Acrobat Pro often, and can do page layout in various applications, and am good at photo editing, but this particular area, when I'm not producing the layout myself, has evolved away from my present capabilities. Thanks again!)