How To Convert Your Persian Word Document To A PDF File
What is a PDF file?
It is a way you can put a text on your website without having
to worry what operating system, browser, and fonts the user has. All the
user has to do is download and install the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader. The
text can both be viewed and printed out. Most people have the Reader
already, but if not, they can get it here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
While the Adobe Acrobat Reader is free, the programs needed to CREATE PDF files
are not. The most well-known is Adobe Acrobat which you can find more info
about here:
http://www.adobe.com/ . (You'll find instructions for 2 different ways
to make PDF files with this product at the bottom of this page.) Alternatively,
you can get an almost free version downloadable from
http://www.pdf995.com/download.html . (Instructions for downloading and
using at the bottom of this page.)
Here is an example of a Persian Word
document which has been made into a PDF file.
Why can't I just put a Word doc (text.doc) on my site
which the user can view in Word? Why do I need to convert it to text.pdf?
You certainly CAN do that, especially if you take
advantage of the "embed font" utility in later versions of Word.
However, if you have typed your .doc in a font such as Nazanin and you don't
embed the font in the .doc or your user does not have your exact font installed
on his or her machine, you risk 2 glyphs coming out incorrectly: 1) the final "yeh"
may or may not end up in Arabic style with 2 dots underneath and 2) if you've
used the [increasingly rare] glyph "heh + yeh" (aka "heh+hamzeh above), it will
appear as a "tah marbuta" (i.e. a "heh" with 2 dots above). Font problems aside, you have to make sure the
user has the EXACT same computer set up
as you. For example, a Word document written on a WinNT with Word2000 may end up looking a bit different to someone viewing it on WinXP with
Word2002 with one or two letters switched. The user will assume you don't
know how to spell! This is not something that comes up with documents written in
English but it happens all the time with Persian. So be warned: it is
better to not post your .doc at all than to post as .doc and not be sure what
your user will see!!! Use .pdf format instead!
Why are PDF files a big deal for Persian typography?
Because of the problems in making web pages in Persian.
In the best case scenario, the users may have an operating system and browser
which will display (in HTML) all the Persian characters correctly and
running in the proper right-to-left direction. However, you can't assume
they'll have a Persian font on their computer. You have to assume that the best
they've got is the Times New Roman font. (You may think that with a name
like that, it must be a Latin script font but it's actually got subsets with all
kinds of exotic scripts.) This is the Windows default font and is the font which
will kick in if no other font is specified or available. While the Times New
Roman font is quite acceptable for conveying information in languages like
Persian whose scripts are derived from the Arabic script, the "look" of the font
is a bit on the "Arabic" side which may or may not suit the content of your
site. Besides this, the users who are not using a Windows computer may not
even get the Times New Roman or any Arabic font at all. Until the day when
all computer users can be expected to have some Persian font installed on their
machine (not going to happen soon!!) PDF files are a great way to ensure the
users see your text exactly as you meant it to be seen.
The catch
In order to convert your Word document to a PDF file, you have
to make sure your font has had embedding permissions enabled. In some
cases the font proprietor will have disabled this utility intentionally.
In the case of the many free, shareware Persian fonts widely distributed on the
internet, the embedding permissions have not been disabled intentionally.
Rather, the makers simply did not foresee the need for enabling permissions at
the time they were making these fonts. Fortunately, in recent days a whole
slew of fonts has just been revamped and embedding enabled. You can find them at
Borna Rayaneh. (If you visit their site, be sure to drop them a thank
you note. That was nice of them to do that!) You will notice they've put a
"B" in front of the new improved fonts. That means that if you've just typed a
Word document in, for example, Nazanin font, you'll need to download and install
the BNazanin font before you can make a PDF file.
We already explained earlier how to download and install
fonts for each version of Windows. Once you've installed the new "B" font
on your computer, you only need to open up your Word document and do
"Select All" and change the font of your document to the new, improved "B" font:
1) Edit > Select All
2) Change font
Now you're ready to convert your Word Document to a PDF file.
Using Adobe Acrobat and Distiller
Since there are so many variables involved, it is impossible to
give a set of instructions and imagine you'll be able to follow exactly and
achieve success without having to deal with the peculiarities of your own set
up. Therefore, here are two completely different ways of going about it.
Try one way, and if it doesn't work, try the other way. Be prepared to
improvise on certain steps because your setup will surely be slightly different! Once you know how,
it only takes about 30 seconds to perform this operation so don't feel bad about
having to invest a little time on the first go.
METHOD One:
The "Quick & Dirty" method. Involves "printing" your Doc to
your desktop and running it through Distiller so you go from file.doc to
file.prn to file.pdf. Instructions
HERE.
METHOD TWO:
The Elegant method. Involves using Acrobat by just
hitting buttons while still in Word. Best if you're planning to make a lot of
PDF files in a systematic way in the future. Instructions
HERE. (By the way, METHOD TWO
comes to you courtesy of the Boise School District in Boise, Idaho whose
webmaster, Julia Rice first came to this site to find out how to make the school
forms available in Persian for their Persian-speaking families. It is she who,
in the best spirit of Internet collaboration is responsible for bringing
about this section on PDF files and generously made all the instructions for
METHOD TWO just for you! Hope you'll send her your thanks
(webmaster@boiseschools.org) and hope you'll
also be inspired by her example to contribute whatever tips & tricks you've
learned to this site so others can benefit.)
Using pdf 995
For shareware, it's sure easy to use! Instructions
HERE.