If you haven’t heard about Google Docs then its time you get on the bandwagon.  It’s the new way of doing things.  It’s the answer to Microsoft Office products.  It’s basically an online Office application which allows you to create, share, and publish documents and spreadsheets online.  The convenience of creating documents and spreadsheets online is that you can access it anywhere without the need of having your personal laptop or computer.  If you have internet access then you are able to access your files. 

Okay, we have the explanation, so let’s get on with it.  Google Docs is the perfect solution for creating PDF files.  If you write eBooks or have a need to create PDF files then Google Docs is all you need.  I was searching for a free PDF converter that perserve anchor links but couldn’t find a free PDF converter that would do it.  Every free PDF converter I came across simply did not support the option of clickable anchor text links (i.e. Ant Onaf), they only support clickable hyperlinks (i.e. http://www.antonaf.com).  This to me is not acceptable because sometimes I use long URL’s which I can’t show the raw URL string due to the long length.  So, my quest for a PDF converter that I feel is useful led me to Google Docs.  I always knew about Google Docs, but I continued to use Microsoft Office, I guess I am use to it and I haven’t warmed up to the idea of having all my docs online yet, especially with the prying eyes of Google — cause you know they love to track user behavior and crawl content.

Creating a PDF file in Google Docs is simple, here is what you do:

1. Select NEW
2. In the drop-down choose DOCUMENT
3. Write your document
4. Click FILE
5. In the drop-down choose EXPORT as PDF

That’s it!  And with Google Docs PDF converter your anchor links and hyperlinks are perserved and clickable as they should be.  Going forward I think I will use Google Docs a lot more and it may become my default ebook creator.

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