New PDF creating software.

[Fast Learner]

Please see my post on the previous page for a discussion of this problem and a couple of workarounds. InDesign 2.02 definitely generates some PDFs that contain some advanced Postscript Level 3 commands that many RIPs can't handle.

 

[Janx]

So what are my choices if I want to make PDFs?

I'm a techno weenie, so the cheapest way I've seen is to code my pages as HTML/PHP and run it throught PHP's PDF plug-in. I think that's beyond most people's skill set and it is not trivial trying to do layout work with that much indirection occurring.

So, what real software can I use to make some PDFs?

Thanks,
Janx

 

[Dimwhit]

Well, here are a couple obvious/basics:

1. Adobe Acrobat - expensive
2. Adobe InDesign (built-in) - even more expensive
3. Apple's OSX operating system can create PDFs. If you have the OS, it's free and easy, but not highly flexible.

I'm sure there are some shareware titles, but I don't know of any.

 

[Maraxle]

PDF995

 

[JBowtie]

An easy way to create PDFs is to use OpenOffice.org 1.1 (Windows/Mac/Linux) and hit the PDF button. Reads and writes Word format extremely well. Cost: $0
This is best if your layout needs are relatively simple. Unlike Word, it makes real and consistent use of styles which is a godsend once you hit more than a dozen pages.

A more involved way that makes publishers happier is to use Scribus 1.0 (Linux); it's a true desktop publishing package and has support for prepress stuff as well as very nice PDF production. As a 1.0 product it might be a little rough around the edges but it should be sufficient for 80% of the PDFs I see. Cost: $0