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Carlisle1500
Inspiring
September 7, 2022
Answered

Is there a difference between Acrobat PDF on Windows vs. Mac

  • September 7, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 11311 views

I'm a Windows (Primarily) and Mac User. I most create PDFs on Windows but I tried to do to it on Mac but could only "export" the file which was super-rich through Safari. If I install Acrobat though CC installer will files be larger on Mac? 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer JR Boulay

A PDF (file) is the same on Mac & Windows.

Acrobat Pro (software) is the same too, except for PDF conversion features from MS Office because Apple has blocked the installation of virtual printers other than its own. PDFMaker for Windows contains a multitude of features, unlike PDFMaker for Mac.

3 replies

JR Boulay
Community Expert
JR BoulayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 21, 2022

"Is Mac so different from Windows that Adobe has put no effort into this?"

In fact it is a very small difference for the users.
I don't know if it's still true, but for a long time Acrobat on the Mac was mainly used for its prepress and printing functions.
While on Windows it was mainly used for engineering, office tasks and links with MS Office.

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
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    Carlisle1500Author
    Inspiring
    October 21, 2022

    When I actually bought out the time to look at this. I realized a vast set of menus behind the print button. I just never realized it was there. In Windows, you print and then set options but in Mac I think it was probably set for the prepress

    JR Boulay
    Community Expert
    JR BoulayCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    September 14, 2022

    A PDF (file) is the same on Mac & Windows.

    Acrobat Pro (software) is the same too, except for PDF conversion features from MS Office because Apple has blocked the installation of virtual printers other than its own. PDFMaker for Windows contains a multitude of features, unlike PDFMaker for Mac.

    Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
      C
      Carlisle1500Author
      Inspiring
      September 15, 2022

      @JR BoulayLet's take a pause on this post. I'll mark you both on like and correct after a final short discussion. I need to verify recommendations and do some research.

       

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        Carlisle1500Author
        Inspiring
        October 20, 2022

        @gary_sc @JR Boulay Thank you both for your comments and help with this issue. Gary, I marked all you comments for solutions. Thanks for the screenshots. JR, I marked your comment too for your comments. This issue is closed. Again thanks for your patience and support.

          gary_sc
          Community Expert
          gary_scCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          September 7, 2022

          Hi Carl,

           

          You do not state what application you are mostly using that you wish to convert the documents to PDF, but for the most part, it doesn't make a difference. (Also, for the record, I"m a Mac user and have had very little experience on the PC. As such, I'll not make any comparisons because I cannot. But, I can talk about the process on a Mac,

           

          For the most part, the easiest way to create a PDF on the Mac (purple arrow) is to go to the Print window and click on the PDF text/icon in the lower left corner. From here, the first PDF option people come across is "Save as PDF." This instructs the Mac to use Apple's PDF generator to create the PDF. Adobe and Acrobat had nothing to do with that PDF creation. 

           

          Just a bit further down is "Save as Adobe PDF" (red arrow); this is what you want to use as it will provide the full strength and capabilities of Adobe Acrobat. Unfortunately it does take a bit more time, but just go with it.

          Most of the issues people have had deal with this issue: going to the first one and not seeing the 2nd option.

           

          If you're using Adobe Applications, they typically have some direct mechanisms for PDF generation. In Adobe Illustrator, you do a Save as… and from there, the PDF is one of the options. In InDesign, Command/Control-e will guide you through the PDF generation. 

           

          But to your other question: any differences between the two OSs? None that I'm aware of.

           

           

            C
            Carlisle1500Author
            Inspiring
            September 8, 2022

            I read your comments yesterday but was too busy to reply. I'm going to reply to this in the next hour. Sorry for the delay.

            C
            Carlisle1500Author
            Inspiring
            September 13, 2022

            OK, now that I know you are trying to work with converting a web page to PDF, that opens up a new can of worms. Fortunately, there are options.

             

            The issue is that web coding is a maze of options. I used to do some web work, but as the number of different ways to code a page exploded, I gave up. To make web pages, you either have to devote yourself to this full-time or give up. I chose the latter.  The point here is that converting all those different options into a coherent PDF is not easy for the PDF creation software. Your screenshots beautifully display the situation and problem. What you have to do is to try them all and select which one gives you the PDF you want.  Do NOT worry about the size, what you should be concerned with is the content. You might even try seeing what shows up in Safari with what shows up in Chrome. 

             

            But there's one more PDF generator you should check out: Print Friendly (https://www.printfriendly.com). It's free, and for me, it's the best converter from the web to PDF I've found. One of my favorite options is the ability to delete sentences, images, etc., that I do not wish to add to a PDF. It is NOT perfect, but more times than not, it does provide me with a better PDF. (One hint: there's no undo. If you delete something that you didn't want to, you have to cancel the whole operation and start from scratch.)

             

            Try this out, and let me know what you think.

             

            Good luck!


            @gary_sc 

             

            Is Mac so different from Windows that Adobe has put no effort into this?

            Your comments about web programming I found humorous but true but isn't this the case with all software? 

             

            Honestly, I don't see why all these people are moving to mac. To me, you move to this platform and you get less productive and more headaches.

             

            Thanks for your comments.

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