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| Thread ID: 80389 | 2007-06-21 01:40:00 | Free PDF Creation Software - opinions? | Tony (4941) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 561243 | 2007-06-21 04:03:00 | That looks pretty good. | winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 561244 | 2007-06-21 04:21:00 | Distiller is made by Adobe as are Acrobat Reader, InDesign and the rest so yes it is part of the group but the only app that it comes bundled with is InDesign which is the main ingredient in Adobe's publishing arsenal and the sole app that requires Distiller. You can save or export a file as a PDF in either Photoshop or Illustrator but that won't create a postscript file that you get in InDesign. You've got the time, search on Acrobat 8 and distiller. What you can do in Indesign has no bearing on whether other Adobe products also include a distilling function. They also have a stand alone server based Distiller. |
PaulD (232) | ||
| 561245 | 2007-06-21 04:23:00 | I have used PDFCreator (stand along program) for a couple of years now, & it does what i need www.pdfforge.org |
MartynC (5610) | ||
| 561246 | 2007-06-21 04:23:00 | What is the format and style of the publication your friend is putting together?It is a one-page monthly community newsletter. OO would do the job fine, but it does come with some baggage which makes it a bit top-heavy for the job. PagePlus is a sort of Pagemaker/Indesign lite, and would also work well, but doesn't have the PDF creation facility - hence my original post. She needs the PDF facilty so she can send the file off to the sponsor who will add their stuff on the back and get it printed. | Tony (4941) | ||
| 561247 | 2007-06-21 04:29:00 | You've got the time, search on Acrobat 8 and distiller. What you can do in Indesign has no bearing on whether other Adobe products also include a distilling function. They also have a stand alone server based Distiller. I know, Ive used it. I was going to mention that before but thought it might be over explaining things. Most design studios and print houses will have a print server setup specifically to handle poscript files so as to take the load of the individual machines when processing large files. This is where you get print cues set up with pre set PDF arrangements for different printing resolutions required for different jobs. That in itself is another profession. |
winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 561248 | 2007-06-21 04:33:00 | It is a one-page monthly community newsletter. OO would do the job fine, but it does come with some baggage which makes it a bit top-heavy for the job. PagePlus is a sort of Pagemaker/Indesign lite, and would also work well, but doesn't have the PDF creation facility - hence my original post. She needs the PDF facilty so she can send the file off to the sponsor who will add their stuff on the back and get it printed. In that case to avoid and cock ups happening to the original file they would need to have the full paid version of Acrobat which allows for them to attach comments regarding changes to the PDF which they can then email back to your friend who can then make the changes to the live document and either print it herself or sent it to the printers. I have worked with a previous client using that same set up when I used Freehand to do the layup. Sounds like your friends best bet is to get the right tools for the job. She can download a trial version of InDesign to see if she thinks it is worth getting. Bit of a warning though, the files generated can be quite large especially if any print quality images are used in the document. |
winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 561249 | 2007-06-21 04:40:00 | The other option would be for your friend to send the text to a printer/Mac Op who could lay the file up on a template each month which could work out cheaper than buying the full version of InDesign. Just depends on which way she wants to go. | winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 561250 | 2007-06-21 04:48:00 | This whole thing is a real low-budget small local community exercise, and their zero budget certainly won't go as far as paying for apps like InDesign or Acrobat. It is going to be a matter of doing what they can with the (free) tools available. If it was my own community I'd probably offer to do the layout myself, as I have both of those tools, but I'm sure they would prefer to keep it in their own hands (and I actually have other things to do.:)) | Tony (4941) | ||
| 561251 | 2007-06-21 06:05:00 | This whole thing is a real low-budget small local community exercise, and their zero budget certainly won't go as far as paying for apps like InDesign or Acrobat. It is going to be a matter of doing what they can with the (free) tools available. If it was my own community I'd probably offer to do the layout myself, as I have both of those tools, but I'm sure they would prefer to keep it in their own hands (and I actually have other things to do.:)) I think it is only the full version of Acrobat that allows you to insert comments regarding the content of the PDF. I guess they will just have to figure the rest our for themselves with the free tools available. A lot of apps will export or save as a PDF but as far as I know Distiller is the only app that will handle postscript files. |
winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 561252 | 2007-06-21 06:34:00 | doPDF (http://www.dopdf.com/) - freeware, no-nags Installs itself as a print driver so print to it and out pops a PDF (which is how the process usually goes). Doesn't require GhostScript which a lot of other (www.bullzip.com) similar (www.cutepdf.com) programs (www.pdfforge.org) do. |
sal (67) | ||
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