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| TrackingID : | 4778 |
| Posted : | Tuesday, July 12th, 2005 03:31:50 AM |
| By : | jkg |
| How to create PDF files for free? | Configuration: |
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How can I create PDF files for free. I cannot afford to buy Acrobat Writer etc.
| Operating System : Windows XP SP2
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Comments :
Re: How to create PDF files for free? by Anonymous Ghost on July 12th, 2005 03:32:37 AM
You can use GhostView. |
Re: How to create PDF files for free? by jkg on July 12th, 2005 11:56:58 AM
The Principle
- Create a postscript file from the document you want to convert. (Print the document we want to convert through a postscript printer driver to a file.)
- Convert the postscript file to a pdf file through pdfwrite device from Ghostscript.
Preparation
Install a Postscript Printer Driver
Unless you already have a postscript printer driver installed, follow these instructions. Even if you already have one, you may add another one for pdf purpose only. You don't need to have the actual printer.
- Click Start -> Settings->Printers or double click My Computer->Printer. Then your printer folder will show up.
- Double click Add Printer
- In Windows 98, Add Printer Wizard window will pop up. (Windows 95 should have something similar.) Click Next.
- Choose Local printer. Click Next.
- Choose a postscript printer driver. How? Choose one with "PS" or "PostScript" attached to its name. It is a good idea to choose a color postscript printer because you might want to make a colorful PDF file. For example, HP Laserjet 8150 PS will do the job.
- Click Next
- Choose a printer port. (I recommend FILE but LPT1 is OK.)
- Name your printer and decide if you want it to be your default printer.
- Click Next.
- Choose NO for printing a test page
- Click Next and you may be prompted to insert your Windows CD-ROM.
- Viola! You got yourself a new printer driver. Now look at your printer folder. Right click on your new printer and choose properties.
- Click Paper tab and choose Letter unless your standard paper is different.
- Click PostScript Tab. In the PostScript output format box, choose PostScript(optimize for portability - ADSC). Note: you can also create an EPS file by choosing Encapsulated PostScript (EPS). This file can be used as an image in LaTeX.
- That's all you need to setup the printer driver. However, you can experiment with other options and see what the output will come out. Click OK when you're done.
Install GSview And Ghostscript
For more information about installing GSview and Ghostscript, visit http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/. Here I will provide only the way I did it.
- Download gsvXXw32.exe (for GSview) and gsXXXw32.exe (for Ghostscript) from the site.
- Install both of them. (It doesn't matter which one is installed first.)
- Open GSview and you will be prompted to choose a version of Ghostscript.
Now you are ready to create a PDF file. Remember, the principle is Document file->Postscript file->PDF file.
Create a postscript file from the document. I will show you by example. Suppose you want to create a postscript file from a word document created by MS Word. (Other applications should follow the same pattern.)
- Open the document with MS Word.
- Click File->Print from MS Word menu panel.
- In the Printer Name box, choose the printer you have just installed.
- Check Print to file box. (If you choose FILE as your printer port, this step is not necessary.)
- Click OK. Then you will be prompted to name your postscript file. Click OK to save your postscript file.
- Now you have a postscript file but the file extension is .prn. You might want to change it to .ps. If your Windows doesn't show the file extension, you may do so by opening Start->Windows Explorer. Choose View->Folder Options. Click View tab and uncheck Hide file extensions for known file types.
Create a PDF file from the postscript file.
- Double click your .ps file. GSview will pop up with your postscript file open.
- Click File->Convert from GSview menu panel.
- Under Device box, choose pdfwrite. Select the Resolution you want. (Normally larger resolution means larger file and better quality.) Select the pages you want to print. The option Shrink to fit Page Size from the drop-down menu might be useful sometimes. If you like, you may experiment with the properties of pdfwrite. Then click OK.
- You will be prompted to name your PDF file. Write your file name with .pdf extension. (e.g. mydoc.pdf) Click Save and we're done. |
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