One of MacOS X's biggest selling points is that you can print from any program and generate a PDF file. There's no reason we shouldn't be allowed to do this in Windows!
First, get Adobe's generic PostScript printer driver for Windows at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/pdrvwin.htm.
Install it on the FILE: port.
Second, download and install GhostScript 7.00 from http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/AFPL/get700.htm.
If you installed it into C:\gs, add C:\gs\gs7.00\bin and C:\gs\gs7.00\lib to your PATH:
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Windows95, Windows98, WindowsME |
WindowsNT, 2000, or XP |
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edit your C:\autoexec.bat and look for a line that looks like: SET PATH=blah;blah;blah. Change it to SET PATH=C:\gs\gs7.00\bin;C:\gs\gs7.00\lib;blah;blah;blah. If the line doesn't exist, simply add SET PATH=C:\gs\gs7.00\bin;C:\gs\gs7.00\lib to the top of the file |
Look in the Advanced tab of your system control panel, and click on Environmental Variables. In the System Variables box, there should be a PATH variable. Select it, click Edit, and add the C:\gs\gs7.00\bin and C:\gs\gs7.00\lib directories to the front. |
Now that everything is installed and (hopefully!) working correctly, try to print a test document from a program of your choice. If you choose the Generic PostScript Printer, a little dialog box will appear on your screen asking you to type the output filename. Type "C:\output.ps". To convert that file to PDF, open a command prompt (click Start, Run, and in 95/98/ME, type "command" in NT/2000/XP type "cmd".) and enter the following commands:
C: cd \ ps2pdf output.ps
You should now have a PDF file in the root directory of your C drive. Now rename the file to something more descriptive, and do whatever you like with it!