How to create a PDF from Office and save it back to SharePoint
There are three ways that an Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) can be converted into a PDF:
- Print to PDF
- Export to PDF
- Save As/ Save a Copy to PDF
In order to save the generated PDF directly back to SharePoint, the document must be opened in desktop mode, not in the browser (as the browser only allows for the "Download as PDF" functionality) and options 2 or 3 must be used.
The following steps will illustrate how to do this via the two aforementioned methods.
Export to PDF
1. In SharePoint, open the document you would like to save to PDF. This document will open in the browser.
2. Open the document in Desktop Mode via the Editing drop down button.
3. When the document opens in the desktop, ensure that you are signed into your UofT credentials by looking at the top right of the Window.
4. If you are signed in, select “File” from the top left > then select “Export” from the left navigation.
5. From the Export tab, select “Create PDF/XPS Document”, and select the square button icon of the same name from the right side of the screen.
6. A file explorer window will launch that will show you your SharePoint library file path. You can use this to find the folder you want to save your PDF.
7. When the location is selected, you can rename your PDF file if you like and select “Publish” in the bottom right-hand corner to save your PDF to SharePoint.
Save As to PDF
1. In SharePoint, open the document you would like to save to PDF. This document will open in the browser.
2 .Open the document in Desktop Mode via the Editing drop down button.
3. When the document opens in the desktop, ensure that you are signed into your UofT credentials by looking at the top right of the Window.
4. If you are signed in, select “File” from the top left > then select “Save a Copy” from the left navigation.
5. From the “Save a Copy” tab, select your SharePoint site or OneDrive.
6. On the right side of your screen, you will see save functionality as if you were saving this document to your local computer system. However, because you selected your SharePoint site above you will be able to move through your SharePoint folder system to select a location for the file to be saved to. You can move through the folder system using the arrows (at the top of the screen) and folder names.
7. Once a folder is selected for the PDF to be saved to, rename the file name if you like and access the drop down menu of file formats underneath. Select the PDF file format.
8. When you are done selecting a location, changing the PDF name and changing the file format, you can select the “Save” button – slightly to the right of the drop-down menu.
9. Your PDF will now be saved in SharePoint.