Stump: How to send a large calendar by e-mail

September 2nd, 2008, 5:54 am · 1 Comment · posted by Gadgetress

The North Orange County Computer Club helps The Gadgetress tackle the multitude of readers cries for help. NOCCC group has experts in Windows, Word and all sorts of computer topics. The club, which meets monthly on various topics, has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. To get this answer delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE.

Question: I use the calendar template in Microsoft Word and send it out as an e-mail attachment to a lot of people. It is a fairly large file and not easy to read. Is there a better way to create a calendar attachment that would be small and easy to read?

NOCCC: As you use the Microsoft Word program, you can download and use any one of a large number of the Microsoft Word calendar templates from this URL: tinyurl.com/3eydbj.

You should save the original template file and work on a copy. With the file open in Word, go to the month you wish to use, click on the first day and start entering your schedule. When finished, save the file.

The next step is to create a Portable Document Format document, also known as a PDF file. The Adobe Company invented the format. Their Acrobat 9 is the premier version of this type of software, and the one I normally use. But it’s also the most expensive.

There are several less expensive tools that will do what you need. The $50 Solid PDF Creator Plus from soliddocuments.com let’s you “print” from Word to a PDF file. DrawLoop, at drawloop.com, lets you upload your Word document and save it as a PDF – for free. There is a good list of other options at tinyurl.com/yrsllb.

Choose, download and install one of the conversion tools. Then save your Word file as a PDF document.

The PDF should be considerably smaller, and anyone who has the free Adobe Reader program will be able to read it. Adobe Reader can zoom in on the calendar, making the text large and easy to read. – Jim Sanders, President, NOCCC

Coming this Sunday, Sept. 7: The PC club hosts its monthly meeting at 2 p.m. at Irvine Hall at Chapman University. Guest speaker Don Baker of Klassic Specialties will talk about ink jet printers, their inks and papers. For more information, e-mail president@noccc.org. Details are at noccc.org.

Have your own quandary? E-mail gadgetress@ocregister.com and put “Help ME!” in the subject line. Please include your computer’s operating system and amount of memory. Visit the archive at ocregister.com/gadgetress/stump.

Image from DrawLoop

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