There is a running joke that you might hear with some of the younger generation members. Basically, it goes that you can tell when someone belongs to an older generation not by their outdated clothing style or the wrinkles on their face, but by whether they can open a PDF file on their computer. That’s somewhat of an exaggeration, but it’s probably safe to say that some older individuals are just as confused by PDF as they are by documents in Word.
You can always convert your Word document to a PDF file, or vice versa. It should not be too difficult. In fact, you can find more than one online PDF to Word Converter that will do the job for you in a matter of seconds.
However, you might not be clear on when you should use PDF or Word format. There are situations when each one is appropriate. Let’s take a little time to talk about them now.
What is Word Format?
First, let’s define both Word format and PDF to make sure that you understand what we mean when we use each one. Word means a document that you have created using Microsoft’s Word writing program.
Microsoft created the first version of Word over 40 years ago. Most individuals belonging to Gen X and the Millennial generation will certainly be familiar with it. They will probably have grown up using it, and they will know their way around it with no issues.
A shorter way of indicating that a document is in Word is to say that it is in .doc or .docx. This type of word processing software can also store and organize text, as well as other document elements.
What About PDF?
As for PDF, that stands for portable document format. It has been around now for almost as long as the original versions of Word.
Adobe was the original creator of it. Much like Word, it became popular very quickly. If you go to some URLs on the World Wide Web, you will find that what you’re looking at is in PDF format.
You can usually tell that with just a glance if you’re familiar with this format. Like Word, there are various functionalities that are unique to PDF. However, there are probably more similarities between the two than there are major differences.
Now, let’s talk about some times when you will want to use Word versus when you will want to use PDF.
What Did the Recipient Ask For?
Probably the easiest way to tell whether you should use PDF or Word is that the recipient might ask for one or the other. For instance, maybe you are trying to get the manuscript of your novel published. You sent a query letter to a publishing house, and they expressed an interest.
They will probably ask that you send the document as a PDF or as a Word file. Usually, you can just attach either one to an email and send it to the recipient.
In some other situations, the person requesting the file might be a college professor. Maybe you are one of their students, and they asked you to write a term paper. They may ask that you send them a file as either Word or PDF.
In short, in many instances, you will be able to tell which file format to use because the person asking for it will specifically mention one way or the other.
Does the Recipient Want to Be Able to Correct or Revise the Document?
You can also sometimes tell whether to send a file as a Word document or in PDF because you will either want to collaborate on a project or not. In many instances, if you want to allow someone to make changes to a file, and the two options available are PDF or a Word doc, you will want to send it as a Word document.
Word has some features that make it very easy for the recipient to change any sections that you want revised. For instance, maybe you’re a freelance writer, and someone has hired you to create a Word doc of an article that they intend to publish on a website. You have been asked to add an affiliate link that goes to a client’s site.
You will almost always want to send that to the client as a Word doc instead of a PDF. You might also have a situation where someone created a Word doc, and they hire you because they want a freelancer to correct what they’ve already written, checking it for things like grammar, spelling, and syntax.
If so, that’s another situation where they will share the document with you in Word so that you can easily make any changes that you feel are necessary.
Some Rebate Offers Want Only One Format and Not the Other
You may have an image that you are being asked to send somewhere. For instance, you might buy a product and then try to use a cashback app to get a rebate of a couple of dollars on it.
The app will ask that you take a picture of the product’s barcode or the receipt that proves you purchased it. You will then send that picture to the app’s management team so that they can verify you did indeed buy the product in question.
You will almost always be asked to send the image as a PDF. Word is capable of handling certain images if you want to insert one in a text document, but PDF works much better for images, as a general rule.
For the most part, you will know whether to send something as a Word or PDF because of formatting requirements that someone will ask for. However, if you have either a Word doc or a PDF, and you need to convert one to another, it’s seldom very complicated. Using one of the free services that does this for you is typically all that it takes.
