Today I got an attachment in an email. It was a Microsoft Publisher file, but even though I have Publisher installed I could not read it.
Why I couldn’t read it was clearly spelt out:
However, even if I had the proper fonts on my machine it is a bad idea to send Publisher files.
Why? you cry!
Because it assumes I have the program installed, the same version as the sender, and possibly for the same operating system. That is a lot to assume!
The standard way is to send attachments as pdf files. pdf is an acronym for portable document format. Portable because it will look the same on all computers and all that is needed to read it is a free program like Foxit Reader.
If you use Adobe Reader you owe it to yourself to click the link to Foxit Reader to see why you should switch. Today!
A pdf file has additonal advantages. You can put a password on it. You can decide that one may not copy text from it or be able to print it. And more.
Let’s finish off with a question we will answer one day: How do I convert a file to a pdf? If you use Open Office it is a piece of cake. On the file menu there is an option for exporting the current document to pdf. But, what do you do with other programs?