DON'S FREEWARE CORNER -- MAR 2015
PDF PRINTERS
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DON'S FREEWARE CORNER 2015-03
PDF PRINTERS
©2015 Donald R. Snow
These Freeware Corner notes are published in TAGGology, our Utah Valley
Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) monthly newsletter, and are
posted on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
where there may be updates, corrections, or additions.
PDF PRINTERS
©2015 Donald R. Snow
These Freeware Corner notes are published in TAGGology, our Utah Valley
Technology and Genealogy Group (UVTAGG) monthly newsletter, and are
posted on
http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html where there
may be updates, corrections, or additions.
WHAT ARE PDF PRINTERS?
PDF stands for Portable Document Format and is a file format that has
been accepted worldwide since it prints exactly the same no matter what
computer, operating system, or printer you are using. Many
organizations such as the LDS Church have adopted this format for all
their manuals, handbooks, magazines, conference reports, etc.
To form pdf's programmers have written small programs called pdf
printers that install on your computer in the printer menu so anything
you send to the regular printer is redirected to form a pdf file
instead. You just select that as the printer instead of your
regular hardcopy printer and it asks you what to name the file and
where to save it. This file can then be archived, copied,
emailed, or printed, as needed. PDF printers are
sometimes called pdf virtual printers or writers and many are
free. This article will discuss several free ones and give
some ideas about using them.
EXAMPLES OF FREE PDF PRINTERS
CutePDF Writer -- http://www.cutepdf.com/
doPDF -- http://www.dopdf.com/
Doro PDF Writer --
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/doro_pdf_writer.html
PrimoPDF -- -- http://www.primopdf.com/
Each of these is small, easy to install, and easy to use. An
article that lists and reviews these and several other free pdf
printers is
http://dottech.org/95529/windows-11-free-pdf-creators-aka-pdf-printers-or-pdf-writers/
. This is a website that I have subscribed to and trust their
recommendations. Some free pdf printers put a watermark on
the first page and some put one on every page. None of the
above do, but if you want to use one that puts a mark on the first
page, just include a blank page at the start and discard that page
after the pdf is formed. To delete the first page of the pdf
use a pdf editor. See my class notes PDF's AND DOCUMENTS on
my webpage
http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html for
information and links. PDF printers usually have a setting so
that as soon as the pdf is saved you see it in your default pdf reader,
e.g. Adobe or Sumatra or many others.
Instead of printing to pdf, you might want to save a webpage to
pdf. Some browsers have built-in pdf printers, e.g. Firefox,
so you don't need an extra pdf printer program. Sometimes
when you print to pdf you want all Internet hyperlinks to be active in
the pdf so when someone clicks on them in the pdf they take them to
that website. This includes both links starting
with http:// , as well as words that are
hyperlinked. Most pdf printers will not yield pdf's with
active Internet links unless you are printing from a word processor
(LibreOfrfice, OpenOffice, Word, etc.) where you have the links in the
doc file already. To make pdf's of webpages, not just
screenshots, etc., and keep the links active there are extensions in
browsers that will do this. In Firefox use Print Pages to Pdf
-- https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/print-pages-to-pdf/
. In Chrome use CleanPrint and Save --
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/print-or-pdf-with-cleanpr/fklmmmdcofimkjmfjdnobmmgmefbapkf?hl=en-US
. There are also readability programs that install in
browsers to save webpages in more readable form, e.g. Print
Friendly & PDF , Clearly (for Evernote) , and
Readability . However, these readability programs usually
change the format of the page, so even though you are forming a pdf
with active hyperlinks, it doesn't look exactly the same as what you
saw on screen. For some uses that is fine, but not for others.
USES OF PDF PRINTERS
1. Set one as the default printer on your computer
I set a pdf printer as the default printer on my computer.
Then when I am ready to print something, I print it to pdf and see if
it is exactly the way I want before I make hardcopies. At
present I am using CutePDF as my default pdf printer, but I have used
several others. When I'm sure it looks the way I want, I save
the pdf with a name that describes what's in it, and then print the
hardcopy from that.
2. Keep a pdf copy of your hardcopy stuff
The pdf on my computer is an exact copy of whatever I printed from it,
and, if it's for a class, I can show the pdf on-screen or use it to
print more copies when I need them. I do all the handout
notes for my family history classes this way.
3. PDF's are easier to find than hardcopies
If you name them appropriately, pdf's are easier to find than
hardcopies in a file cabinet somewhere. Besides, for many
things I don't need hardcopies. For example, when I order
something online, I do a screenshot pdf of the order and label it so I
can tell what the file is and with the date. For screenshots
to pdf I usually use the free FastStone Capture 5.3
which has many more features than other screen capture
programs. I especially like its ability to capture to pdf an
entire scrolling-screen window. It can save files in various
formats, but for documents I usually use pdf. The freeware
program EVERYTHING -- http://www.voidtools.com/ -- makes finding them
on my computer very easy.
4. Use pdf printer to convert tif's or jpg's to pdf's
By printing tif's or jpg's, or any other format of file, to a pdf you
can covert files to pdf's. There are pdf conversion programs,
but printing to pdf does the job quickly and easily.
5.Family Ordinance Requests (FOR's) for the temple
FamilySearch Family Tree already has a way to print FOR's to pdf, but
printing them to a pdf printer works too. With the FOR as a
pdf you can email it to someone else to print and take to their temple
or FamilySearch Library to get the ordinance cards made and you don't
have to snail-mail cards. Some temples can even print the
ordinance cards if you just have the barcode number of the FOR on your
smartphone and you don't even have the hardcopy FOR.
If you haven't tried a pdf printer, download one and give it a
try. You may find it a help when you are thinking of printing
something.