PDFCreator

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PDFCreator
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PDFCreator
Image:PDFforge.png
PDFCreator screenshot
Developer: PDFforge
Stable release

0.9.6  (19 September 2008)

OS: Microsoft Windows
Available in: warning.pngThe given value was not understood.
Genre: PDF generator
License: GPL
Website: [[Website::PDFCreator]]

PDFCreator is an application for converting documents into Portable Document Format (PDF) format on Microsoft Windows operating systems. Once installed, it allows the user to select PDFCreator as their printer, permitting almost any application to print to PDF.[2]

Contents

[edit] Features

The application is GPL-licensed free software,[2] written in Microsoft Visual Basic, thus incurring dependence on a 32-bit Windows operating system and depends on the existence of certain proprietary Windows components, such as HTML Help and Windows Printer Drivers, further incurring Win32-only use. The actual PDF generation is handled by Ghostscript.

Besides being installed as a printer driver, PDFCreator can be associated with .ps files to manually convert PostScript to PDF format.

PDFCreator can convert to the following file formats: PDF (including PDF/A (1b) and PDF/X (X-3:2002, X-3:2003 and X-4), PNG, JPEG, BMP, PCX, TIFF, PS, EPS, TXT, PSD, PCL, RAW.[3]

Since version 0.8.1 RC9 (2005) PDFCreator supports access to its functionality via an ActiveX/COM interface;[4] this allows programs written in other languages, like C#, Visual Basic, .NET, VBA, Perl, Python, Ruby, WinBatch, Windows Scripting Host (JScript, VBScript), to utilise and control PDFCreator programatically.

The installation package includes an optional closed source browser toolbar that allows one-click creation PDFs from the current webpage. The toolbar incorporates a search tool and advertising. The advertising can be tracked through the query system.[5] The advertising revenue is used for hosting and development of PDFCreator.

PDFCreator allows the user to disable printing, copying of text or images and modifying the original document. The user can also choose between two types of passwords, user and owner, to restrict PDF files in several ways. The former is required to open the PDF file, while the latter is necessary in order to change permissions and password. Encryption can be either 40bits, compatible with Adobe Acrobat 3.0 or 4.0, or 128 bits for Acrobat 5.0 or higher.

Starting with version 0.9.6, there is full support for Windows Vista.[6]

[edit] Awards

The now defunct OpenCD project chose PDFCreator as the best-of-breed free software package for creating PDF files in Windows.[7][8]

In August 2008 InfoWorld magazine recognized PDFCreator with an Open Source Software Award from the field of more than 50 available open source or free PDF creation applications.[9]

[edit] Impostors on the internet

PDFCreator's popularity, achieved through word of mouth advertising, has motivated other commercial software vendors to try to fool people who are looking for the free software PDFCreator to purchase their own commercial software version instead, by using a similarly spelled name to "PDFCreator".

Such attempts include Capsoft's USD$57.95 PDF Creator[10] and WCCL's USD$24.95 PDF-Creator.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ↑ PDFCreator: Translations
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 PDF Forge (2006). PDFCreator. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
  3. ↑ Version history for PDFCreator
  4. ↑ PDFCreator 0.8.1 RC9 available
  5. ↑ PDF Forge (June 2007). PDFCreator Toolbar. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
  6. ↑ pdfforge.org (September 2008). PDFCreator 0.9.6 released. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
  7. ↑ OpenCD 07.04. Linux Distributions. Retrieved on 2008-10-11.
  8. ↑ The Open CD. Sunburnt Software. Retrieved on 2008-10-11.
  9. ↑ Dineley, Doug (4 August 2008). Best of open source productivity apps. InfoWorld. Retrieved on 2008-11-03. in: Best of Open Source Software Awards 2008
  10. ↑ Capsoft, Inc (undated). PDF Creator. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
  11. ↑ WCCL (2008). The World's Easiest, Most Powerful PDF Creator. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.

[edit] See also

  • RedMon + Ghostscript is an alternative way of producing PS/PDF files through a virtual printer.
  • CUPS — printing system for UNIX-like operating systems which includes similar functionality
  • List of PDF software

[edit] External links

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