28th August 2001
The PDF (Portable Document Format) has been around for years. No doubt you have a few of them scattered about your hard drive. The problem: creating a PDF could cost you hundreds of dollars. The answer: find a cheaper way of doing it. Remember that 'Add Printer' wizard you have sitting inside your Printers folder? Yeah, well... run it. We need to create a virtual output device that's capable of handling PostScript documents. You may need to install the printer manually, making sure to set "FILE" as the port. When prompted for the printer manufacturer and model, you can choose anything with the "PS" appendage. For the sake of argument, let's say we use the "HP Color LaserJet 5/5M PS" device. Again, this is just a VIRTUAL printer; don't run out and buy it. Once the drivers have been installed, go ahead and open up a Word document. Press CTRL+P to bring up the Print dialog, and select your newly created VIRTUAL printer. Be sure to put a checkmark in the "Print to file" box. Go ahead and save it to your Desktop. Now, flail on over to PS2PDF.COM and convert that sucker for free.