Adobe Acrobat

Print Multiple Files:

Tools feature in Office 2000 and XP

In Word 2000 or XP, and Excel 2000 or XP, you can use the Tools feature to simultaneously convert multiple documents to PDF using the Adobe PDF printer.

Disclaimer: Adobe Technical Support does not support Word, Excel, Windows 2000, or Windows XP, but provides this information as a courtesy.

To convert multiple Word or Excel documents to PDF, place your Word or Excel files in one folder, set up a folder for the resulting PDF files, set up the Adobe PDF printer to print to the folder for the resulting PDF files, and then print the Word or Excel files to the Adobe PDF printer:

1. Place the Word or Excel documents in one folder.

2. If necessary, create a folder in which to store the resulting PDF files.

3. Choose Start > Settings > Printers.

4. Right-click Adobe PDF and choose Set As Default Printer from the pop-up menu. You can set another printer as the default after you've finished creating PDF files.

5. Right-click Adobe PDF and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.

6. Click the Ports tab.

7. Note the current setting in the Print To The Following Port(s), and then click Add Port. You can revert to the original port setting after you create the PDF files.

8. Select Adobe PDF Port, and then click New Port.

9. Select the folder in which you want to store the PDF files you create. (This is the folder you created in step 2.)

10. Click OK to close the Port Name dialog box, and then click Close to close the Printer Ports dialog box.

11. Click the Advanced tab and select "Spool print documents so program finishes printing faster".

12. Go to the General Tab and select Printing Prefernces and select the Adobe PDF Settings Tab

13. Deselect Prompt for PDF Filename and View Result in Acrobat, and then click OK to close the Adobe PDF Properties dialog box. (Deselecting this option causes the Adobe PDF printer to use the port or folder you selected in step 9 without asking you for a filename for each PDF file. You can select this option again after you create PDF files.) Click OK to close the Adobe PDF Properties dialog box.

14. Start Word or Excel. You do not need to open a Word or Excel document.

15. Choose File > Open.

16. Navigate to the folder containing the Word or Excel documents.

17. Shift-click or Ctrl-click to select multiple documents.

18. Click the Tools button, and then choose Print from the pop-up menu. (The Tools button is above and slightly to the left of the Open button.) Word or Excel prints the selected documents to your default printer, which is the Create PDF printer.

When you convert multiple documents to PDF from within the Open dialog box in Word, a soft limit may be imposed that limits the number of documents from the collection you can convert. For example, you attempt to convert 30 documents to PDF, but only 20 of the documents are converted. The soft limit may vary.

When you convert multiple documents to PDF from within the Open dialog box in Excel, Adobe PDF converts the PDF files using the default settings in the Print dialog box in Excel. Because Active Sheets is a default setting in the Print dialog box, Excel prints only the first sheet of the Excel workbook and omits other sheets from the print job. To print all the sheets, open the Excel workbook, print to Adobe PDF directly by choosing File > Print, and then change the Print What setting from Active Sheet(s) to Entire Workbook.