Converting a load of .DOCs to .PDF

see317

I'm fairly certain it's been asked before, but my search-fu seems to be broken for me tonight, that or I'm just an idiot at the moment. Feel free to pick which is more likely.
I'm looking for a quick, efficient way to convert ~120 .DOC files to .PDFs for a side project I got assigned to at work.

My boss recommended just printing them individually as .PDF files, which seems like it would take an obnoxiously long time to do, so I'm asking the H/A Hivemind for a better option. Any suggestions on where to start looking?

Corvus

You can print the .docs to pdf without having the file open after it converts. You'll have to go in to the settings for Print to PDF and turn off the "open after creation" or whatever setting, which should work.

Vesty

If you have Adobe Acrobat installed you can highlight all the documents, right click -> convert to pdf. You'll still have to hit yes on the save dialog but it'll automatically go through all the documents without you having to open each individually.

Nija

I have Nuance PDF Converter 7 & 8 (paid for software). They both come with a PDF converter that I use to do the same thing you are. If this is something you need to do often, you might be better off purchasing some automation software.

see317

Thanks for the information. I was able to use a trial version of Acrobat to convert these files like Vesty suggested.
Fingers crossed this isn't something that's going to be a regular task, but if it is I'll definitely ask my boss to look into some automation for the task.

neth

see317 wrote: »

Thanks for the information. I was able to use a trial version of Acrobat to convert these files like Vesty suggested.
Fingers crossed this isn't something that's going to be a regular task, but if it is I'll definitely ask my boss to look into some automation for the task.

if you were using a trial, make sure that they converted all the pages, I can't remember if it was the adobe one or not, but one of them I used for a similar task only converted the first page unless you got the full version.

Nija

neth wrote: »

see317 wrote: »

Thanks for the information. I was able to use a trial version of Acrobat to convert these files like Vesty suggested.
Fingers crossed this isn't something that's going to be a regular task, but if it is I'll definitely ask my boss to look into some automation for the task.

if you were using a trial, make sure that they converted all the pages, I can't remember if it was the adobe one or not, but one of them I used for a similar task only converted the first page unless you got the full version.

Along this same line: Make sure they didn't embed a watermark or a "THIS SOFTWARE IS A TRIAL..." graphic/text on the documents.

LaOs

The Adobe trial is fully-functional, so there shouldn't have been a problem (don't panic and think you need to check through all those documents). I just recently got my boss to OK buying a license for Adobe after working the last month with the trial.

CourtOfOwls

If it does become a regular occurrence, I know there are Computer Programmers over at Reddit who I have come to when I needed a program to complete a minor/timeconsuming task. I'm assuming automating the process might potentially fall under under your responsibility.

Echo

Got a Mac? Automator makes it a snap to automate that stuff. You can set up an action where you just drop the .doc files in a folder and it spits out a PDF in another folder.