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Free .pdf maker?

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Ike, Jan 10, 2006.

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  1. Ike

    Ike F1 Rookie

    Nov 4, 2003
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    #1 Ike, Jan 10, 2006
    I have a stack of paper I need to scan and make into a .pdf file. I'm looking for a free download that will let me do this. I would buy one but I will probably never use it again.

    Anyone know of one?

    Thanks
     
  2. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #2 ryalex, Jan 10, 2006
    .pdf is a proprietary Adobe format, I'm not sure there are free converters, as I think there would be licensing fees involved.

    Adobe's Acrobat homepage lets you make 5 free .pdfs with a registration. Photoshop and Illustrator can make .pdf's too (also Adobe software).
     
  3. Ike

    Ike F1 Rookie

    Nov 4, 2003
    3,543
    #3 Ike, Jan 10, 2006
    I'll check out adobes page.

    Download.com has a bunch of software I just found that say they let you do it but I tried three and I couldn't get two to download and one would not install.

    If adobe will let me make 5 that will be enough if I don't screw it up and their site should work properly.

    Thanks.
     
  4. DGS

    DGS Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #4 DGS, Jan 10, 2006
    ghostscript has a pdf output option ... at least, on the unix version.

    But then, the input is postscript ... which is another language that microsloth doesn't speak.

    When I copied a paper manual to pdf, I used "scanimage" from a scsi scanner to ppm files, "ppmtops" to convert ppm to postscript, and ghostscript to assemble postscript pages into a pdf book. But this was under linux. (It was also euro size pages)

    On the work windoze machine, I have the "full" acrobat version.
     
  5. BigAl

    BigAl F1 Veteran

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    #5 BigAl, Jan 10, 2006
    pretty sure you have to have Acrobat to save/convert to pdfs.
     
  6. Ducky355

    Ducky355 Formula Junior

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    #6 Ducky355, Jan 10, 2006
    At work we use Broadgun's PDF machine. I am using a freeware that will only allow me to print to .pdf.

    but others have the upgraded to write and change .pdf

    visit www.pdfmachine.com
     
  7. Ike

    Ike F1 Rookie

    Nov 4, 2003
    3,543
    #7 Ike, Jan 10, 2006
    Adobes page let me register but not log in, it says they are having problems and investigating.

    I downloaded a program called ScanOut. It will let you scan and then save as a .pdf I have not started to use it yet so I don't know how good it is.


    Thanks for the other suggestions, I'll try them if I need to. I may just take a trip to kinkos soon and see if they can do it.
     
  8. Ike

    Ike F1 Rookie

    Nov 4, 2003
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    #8 Ike, Jan 10, 2006
    this program is working great. If I didn't have to scan each page individually it would be great.
     
  9. jeffdavison

    jeffdavison F1 Rookie

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    #9 jeffdavison, Jan 10, 2006
  10. Webby

    Webby F1 Veteran

    Sep 12, 2004
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    #10 Webby, Jan 10, 2006
    Looks like you already found one but

    a) gohtm.com has a free online converter
    and
    b) Openoffice.org is a free and better alternative to Microsoft Office. You could probably scan as a jpg, copy and paste into a file, and convert it to pdf with the program itself.
     
  11. Ike

    Ike F1 Rookie

    Nov 4, 2003
    3,543
    #11 Ike, Jan 10, 2006
    Thanks for the other suggestions. I'll check out that office alternative and see what else it will do. I'll probably never need to make .pdf files again for a while but I do use office so Ill look into it.

    This scan out program is really easy, you scan all your pages and then you can save them all as one .pdf or .tiff or as individual files.
     
  12. ashsimmonds

    ashsimmonds F1 World Champ

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    #12 ashsimmonds, Jan 10, 2006
    i've used two freebies... pdf995 (opens an ad in a browser window when you use it) and another one which is something to do with GIS (geographical information systems) and printing, geoprinter or something...? i'll see if i can find it...

    yep: http://www.geoprinter.com werks well from last i recall.
     
  13. b-mak

    b-mak F1 Veteran

    Jan 23, 2004
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    #13 b-mak, Jan 10, 2006
    It's built into Mac OS X. Another reason to switch...
     
  14. Schatten

    Schatten F1 World Champ
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    #14 Schatten, Jan 10, 2006

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