C&F Geek Oracle: PDF

[Dale]

My daughter poses this question:

She needs to scan documents and turn them into PDF files. What's the best way to do this? What software is required?

Dale

[Bloomfield]

Get a Mac. Prepare doc. Save as .pdf or "print to file."

Hehehehe.

[Feadan]

AFAIK the only thing that will do it is Adobe Acrobat.

Cheers,
David

[aderyn_du]

Hi Dale! She'll need a full version of Adobe Acrobat. Adobe does have a free online service, but I believe you are only allowed three uses. This link should take you to the free trial: https://createpdf.adobe.com/index.pl/18 ... P=IE&v=AHP

If you have the software, you just open Acrobat -->File-->Create PDF-->From Scanner.

[NicoMoreno]

search google for pdf995. It creates an additional printer that prints to a .pdf file.

[scottielvr]

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_d ... 327,00.asp

Caveat: The free version opens your browser and throws you into an ad page whenever you create a .pdf. For $10 you can put a stop to this. Other than that minor annoyance, it installs quickly and works acceptably for occasional use.

[Flyingcursor]

I believe it's the Distiller portion of Acrobat that does the trick. I don't know if it's available separate from full Acrobat or not.

[aderyn_du]

It is the Distiller portion-- I didn't think you could buy it separately, but it looks like you can! http://www.adobe.com/products/acrdis/main.html

I'm not certain, but it looks like you might be able to get an older version (3.02) for free: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/ ... rm=Windows There may be some catch-- I didn't follow it all the way through.


Edited to add: The nice thing about having the full version, though, is that you can edit your documents more easily, within the .pdf file rather than having to fix it within another format and then re-pdf it. I love Adobe products, so I'm a bit biased.

Edited to add something else: Disregard the "free" link-- I didn't read properly, that is just for an update. You would need the Distiller program already. Sorry!

[LeeMarsh]

When we install Adobe Acrobat, it will automatically create 2 'printer' definitions: Acrobat PDF Writer and Adobe Distiller. Either will produce PDF files; however the Distiller is Unicode compliant and the plain writer is not. Some software, such as Crystal Report Writer, require Unicode compliant postscript or the output is distorted. Adobe is supposed to fix this problem in later versions; however, we haven't tested that yet.

So get a copy of Adobe Acrobat Writer and you will be able to generate PDF format files easily. If your kid's in school, it is worth the investment because it will render a format the is usually acceptable for electronic submissions which many teachers prefer.

[Flyingcursor]

Aderyn_du is that a picture of you?
Cause you look quite familiar tis true, tis true.
I've a cousin in Georgia
In Dallas in fact
Who's son has a girlfriend
that looks lots like that.
I've not known her to whistle
but she does play the flute,
She once gave my Dixon three piece a toot.

[aderyn_du]

Aderyn_du is that a picture of you?
Cause you look quite familiar tis true, tis true.
I've a cousin in Georgia
In Dallas in fact
Who's son has a girlfriend
that looks lots like that.
I've not known her to whistle
but she does play the flute,
She once gave my Dixon three piece a toot.

Dear Geek, yes, 'tis a picture of me...
But your cousin's son's girlfriend I cannot be.
Upon your Dixon three piece I did not toot,
I play the whistle, as well as my own Dixon flute.
Your cousin's son's girlfriend lives in Dallas, I bet ya,
And I hail from the town of Marietta.

(Gak. That was really bad. Sorry, it was the best I could do on the spur of the moment. )

P.S. If you really want to change your screen name, it can be accomplished by writing to Rich and asking him to change it.

[bradhurley]

My daughter poses this question:

She needs to scan documents and turn them into PDF files. What's the best way to do this? What software is required?

Dale

Actually most recent scanners (within the last 5 years at least) offer you the option of saving the scan directly in PDF format. So whatever software came with the scanner is almost certain to work for this purpose.

I would check that first before spending $300 on Acrobat.

And, as Bloomfield mentions, any Mac running OSX can create PDFs automatically from a printable file.

[LeeMarsh]

My daughter poses this question:

She needs to scan documents and turn them into PDF files. What's the best way to do this? What software is required?

Dale

Actually most recent scanners (within the last 5 years at least) offer you the option of saving the scan directly in PDF format. So whatever software came with the scanner is almost certain to work for this purpose.

I would check that first before spending $300 on Acrobat.

And, as Bloomfield mentions, any Mac running OSX can create PDFs automatically from a printable file.

I aggree, you should check your scanner software because many have PDF export faciliities built in.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 is $300: however, your need could be met with versions 5.0 ($45) or 6.0 ($75). I did a quick check through WWW.ComputerShopper.com and found http://www.akssoft.com/ which listed reasonable prices for 5.0 and 6.0. We've been using 5.0 in our office and it more than meets our needs. The 7.0 version appears to be more for comercial productions of PDF's. Even our WebContent folks that produce 100's of PDF's per week only use 6.0.

[Dale]

The pdf995 appears to do the trick with minimal hassle. She has a very large document to digitize, and I think she might do better to get a geek in the D.C. area to do it. Anyway, I'll pass this on to her and I thank you all for your support.

You know, I really would get a Mac but for that price tag thing. I do believe that Mac's are superior and it's another case of a superior technology getting swamped by economics. BetaMax vs. VHS. ReplayTV vs. TIVO, etc.



Dale

[bradhurley]

You know, I really would get a Mac but for that price tag thing. I do believe that Mac's are superior and it's another case of a superior technology getting swamped by economics. BetaMax vs. VHS. ReplayTV vs. TIVO, etc.

I'm not really a Mac evangelist (I advise most of my Windows-using friends to stick with Windows if they're happy with it...changing operating systems is a pain, and I don't think it's worth it unless you're frustrated with Windows), but this "Mac is more expensive" thing isn't true anymore. You can get a new iBook (laptop) for $1,000 or an iMac (with fantastic built-in 17-inch flat monitor included) for $1300. Compare these with Windows machines that are in the same category for speed, quality of image in the monitor, etc., and Macs start looking like a good deal. I was just looking at a Dell machine with roughly the same footprint, speed, hard disk capacity as an iMac, and it would have set me back almost $2000.

But if you're happy with Windows, stick with it. I use Windows for work and I'm very happy with it, very few complaints (I'm using XP Pro). I used Windows 2000 Pro for 3 years without a single system crash, just as good as Mac OSX. I use a Mac for all my non-work stuff and I love that too. They're both good systems, but they're different, and it takes time to adjust -- don't switch without good reason.

(edited to add the last paragraph)