Keyboard Shortcut for "Save as PDF..." in OS X

Here is one thing that has been driving me crazy for some time. I constantly find myself saving from Safari to PDF. Whether it is a utility bill or legal research, I have a fetish for saving PDF copies. The problem is that in order to do so you must click print, then the PDF button, then the "Save as PDF" button. Each step requires me to get the mouse in the right place and read the menu. Granted this is probably less than 10 seconds but I do it a lot and it makes me just a little bit nuts.

So I've been thinking about this and wondering if there is an Automator action or perhaps an Applescript that can simplify this. Well tonight I stumbled upon an excellent hint at MacOSXHints that address this very problem very easily through with a keyboard shorcut.

Here is the walkthrough.

Open your Keyboard Shortcuts tab in the Keyboard & Mouse system preference pane.

Click the "+" sign to add a new shortcut for all applications.

Then a box pops up asking for the command.

Type in the Command exactly as it appears: "Save as PDF..." For the ellipses, use the combination: option + semicolon. Don't ask me why because I have no clue. Just do it.

For the keyboard shortcut use: command + P (I know this sounds like a conflict with the print shortcut, but trust me)

Now you are done.

Now go to your favorite webpage and hold down the command key and press "P" twice.

Bingo. "Save as PDF..." lickity split.

Comments

[gabe]

this is the most useful thing i have read in the last few months. customizing those keyboard shortcuts is way overlooked!

great tip

[Anthony]

Great tip. Another good one that I think I picked up at MacOSXHints (I think in a comment to a tip) is a way to add a button to the browser bookmark bar that, when clicked, automatically opens an email with a link to the page you are viewing so you can send it to someone. You do it by creating a bookmark with the following address

javascript:location.href='mailto:?SUBJECT='+document.title+'&BODY='+escape(location.href)

and then naming it something like "sendlink" and then putting the bookmark in the bookmark bar.

[Chris Scott]

Excellent!

Regarding Anthony's comment: Omniweb has that feature built in to it.

[MacSparky]

OmniWeb is one of those applications I've been meaning to kick the tires on, but never quite got around to it.

[Jono]

I managed to get it down to one keystroke (⌘⌥P) with an AppleScript but ⌘P twice sounds easy enough :)

[marieboyer]

Finally added this one, David. Nice!

[Alex]

Thanks, David. This is just so useful!

[Alex]

Yahoo!!
I've have been looking for something like this forever!!
Thanks!

[bernie]

Great tip, thanks. Can this be modified to save as PDF to a specific folder? I see a workflow in the pull-down menu that says "Save PDF to iPhoto" It would be nice to be able to add the pull-down menu or simply have the PDF directed to a folder.

[droidas]

Doesn't work for me. It prints the page same as I type ⌘P and enter

[AndyfromTucson]

Be sure to not capitalize "as"; Entering Save As PDF... will not work, but Save as PDF... does work.

[Jonathan]

I have been looking for this for HOURS. By far the best method. THANKS.

[Sarah W.]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Wish I knew this months ago.

[IPv6Freely]

My problem is that I want to save only pages 3-500 not 1-500 but I can't change those options via this method.

[peter]

Tiger 2009-09-01

Did not work, command + P twice doesn't work. Followed intruct exactly. is this Leo only?

[Ted]

Brilliant!!!

Make sure you write it EXACTLY the same. 'Save' - with capital 'S' and 'as' with small letters. Or just copy&paste from this page.

(Didn't work the first time for me because I wrote 'As' instead of 'as'.)

Using 10.5

[Peter Atkinson]

Thanks David, I have been wanting this feature for years. Why has this not been documented somewhere previously?

Does this still work in Snow Leopard ?

[David Sparks]

@Peter

Yup .. still works in 10.6

[Patrix]

you made my day buddy!!!
I have been looking for this forever!!!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

[D. Clark]

This has been bugging me for ever. I was so close, too. Thanks for sharing this. Awesome.

[Curtis]

Absolutely fantastic tip. The only unfortunate side effect is it seems to kill the Shift--I command for "Mail Link to This Page", but manually adding into Keyboard Shortcuts brings it back.

[Harry]

I read about this when first posted, and wanted forever to set up. Finally did. Beautiful. Thanks. - H

[eddie]

Found this very helpful. Thanks for finding the time to track this down and post.

[adrian boioglu]

I listen to to every episod of Mac Power Users, but I've neglected your blog. This post just took it to my list of Feeds. Great job, David!

[sfmitch]

This is AWESOME! Thanks so much for posting.