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PDF Creation Using Free Tools
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PDF Creation Using Free Tools
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 | The first step is to install Ghostscript. You can
copy our examples exactly, or you can change the
directory that you install the software in. We have used
C:\Programs\gs as the installation directory. Click on
"Install" to proceed once you have selected the
directory.
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| The next step after installing Ghostscript is to
install RedMon. Once again, the directory that you
choose is optional. In our installation we have used
C:\Programs\redmon as the installation directory. Click
on "Yes" to proceed.
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| When installation is completed, you will see this
message. Click on "OK" to close the dialog box.
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| Now we can go ahead and start setting up a printer.
From the Start button, click on Printers, then choose
"Add a Printer" from the toolbar. In the Add
Printer window, click on "Add a local printer".
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| Now choose the "Create a new port" option, and from
the drop-down list choose "Redirected Port". (If
you don't see this choice, then there has been a problem
installing RedMon.)
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| In the "Add Redirected Port" window, accept the
default value and click on OK.
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| Now you will be asked to choose a printer driver.
You can choose almost any printer which supports
PostScript. We have found that the HP Color LaserJet
5/5M driver produces the best results. When you have
selected the driver, click on Next.
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| Now you will be asked to provide a printer name. You
should choose a name that you can remember so that you
can recognise it later when you want to print from an
application. In our example, we have used, "Ghostscript
PDF Writer".
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| You should choose the "Do not share this printer"
option when you are asked about Printer Sharing.
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| Now you have finished the steps to add your printer,
but at this stage do not click on the "Print a test
page" button, because there are still some steps to
perform before your printer will work. So just click on
the Finish button.
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| The next step is to configure the RedMon port.
Right-click on the printer's name in the Printers
window, and choose Properties. Now, click on the "Ports"
tab, select the RPT1: port and click on the "Configure
Port" button.
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| In the RPT1: Properties window you need to enter the
information as shown below. Remember that if you have
installed RedMon or MakePDF into a different directory,
then you will need to adjust these instructions
accordingly.
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| In the "Redirect this port to the program" field,
type in the path to the redrun.exe program. (You can of
course also click on the Browse button and navigate to
the same program.)
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| The most important step is to enter the arguments
for the MakePDF program into the "Arguments for this
program are" field.
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| The format for this field is as follows.
| The first part is obviously the fully qualified path
for makepdf.exe.
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| Next is %%1 which will be translated into the name
of the input file by the operating system. (The input
file is actually the PostScript formatted output
produced by the printer driver.)
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| The second parameter is /V1.4, which tells MakePDF
what version of PDF you want it to produce. You can also
choose /V1.2 for compatibility with Acrobat 3 or /V1.3
for Acrobat Reader version 4 or higher. The /V1.4 option
produces output that is compatible with Acrobat Reader
version 5 or higher.
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| This is followed by /O which specifies the output
filename. You can choose to place the file on your
Desktop, where you can easily find it. The output file
will always be given the same name, so you will need to
rename it if you want to. In Windows Vista, the path to
your Desktop is usually C:\Users\<your user
name>\Desktop, so just substitute the correct
information when you enter it. The filename is enclosed
in quotation marks. |
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| So we end up with the following text which is
typed into that field:
C:\Programs\gs\MAKEPDF.EXE %%1 /V1.4 /O
"C:\Users\user_name\Desktop\NewPDF.pdf"
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| When you have set all of the options as shown below,
click on the OK button to close the open dialog boxes. |
| Next, right-click again on the printer name, and
choose "Printing Preferences". Click on the "Advanced"
button. |
| In the Advanced Options dialog box, scroll down
until you can see the "PostScript Output Option". From
the drop-down list choose "Optimize for Portability" and
then click on OK to close all of the open dialog boxes. |
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| Now you have completed all of the steps. You can
make sure that everything is OK by right-clicking on the
printer name, and choosing "Properties" and then "Print
Test Page".
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| As mentioned previously, the output file will always
have the same name. So you will still need to rename the
file to something more appropriate, and copy or move it
to another directory if you don't want to keep it on
your desktop.
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| However if you print a file, and the output file
already exists, then MakePDF will prompt you whether you
want to overwrite the old file. Due to the security
features present in Vista, MakePDF cannot actually
display the dialog box on your desktop. So Vista will
prompt you with the following message:
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| When you click on the "Show me the message" link
your screen will blank out temporarily. You will be
shown the MakePDF dialog box, where you can click on OK.
Then you can click on the Vista dialog box to return to
your normal desktop.
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