From Publisher, to Adobe

Problem: User needed to convert an MS Publisher file to PDF format. There is no direct way to do this. That is, no way to save the Publisher file as a PDF file.

Solution: I talked to a few people who know Publisher and found it's possible to do this, and they pointed me in the right direction (I figured this was better than spending the whole night working on a product I'd never used before). Anyhow, all you have to do is save the Publisher file as a Post Script file. During this process you need to specify which type of printer the PS file will eventually be printed on (even if you never intend to print the PS file); look at the dropdown list and choose a color PS printer. After the PS file is created, open it with Adobe Distiller, which will do the conversion to PDF. Not pretty but it works.

The MS Publisher help dialog has this documented, by the way. So, if you're inclined to read, unlike me, you probably knew this already....