PDF help!

[TracerBullet42]

Ok, now you're probably all gonna laugh at me, but I'm a little computer inept, and I think y'all can help me.

I would like to scan the pages of my PHB so that I can have it on my computer in pdf format. I have some other pdf products, and like how they work.

So my question is....how can I scan the multiple pages and put them together into one pdf file? I've dug around in the scanner program and can't find any info about it...

Can anybody out here give me some pointers?

 

[Hjorimir]

I think you would need to purchase Acrobat Writer.

 

[Wycen]

You need to scan the pages in first. They will start as jpgs most likely. You'll then need to convert those jpgs to pdf format, with either Adobe Acrobat or something similar. Then you'll have to insert or attach all those files into 1 pdf.

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, you should be able to google for a free version. Just make sure it can convert jpgs or whatever to pdf format.

 

[Frostmarrow]

My scanner asks me if i'd like to append a scanned document into the same pdf that I scanned to the last time. So, it all depends on your software.

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat you can try this free software for making pdfs. It makes it possible to create pdfs as easy as printing a document.

http://www.pdf995.com

 

[Gez]

You may also find that a PDF of the SRD (there are various available for free, notably of that SRD competition site) would be handier.

You won't have to bother with OCR, the file is much smaller, scrolls faster, is indexed, and you may perform searches inside. What's more to ask? Well, I mean, besides "cookies and nookies"...

 

[TracerBullet42]

Thanks, everyone! Go see Kill Bill today and be rewarded for your "niceness".

 

[kengar]

You can also insert the jpg images of the pages into a document in an app like Word or Pagemaker. Often you have the option to "Print to PDF file" (at least, you do on a Mac )The file will be fairly big because it will images instead of text, but it will work fine in Acrobat Reader.

 

[Marimmar]

Cut off the spine of you PHB, then insert the loose pages into an auto-scanner, tell it to use a 150 dpi resolution and have lots of single jpgs afterwards which can be made into a single pdf quite simple if you use Acrobat or directly if your scanner's s good one.

How to make a multi-page pdf in Acrobat:

Acrobat 5:
Open the first page (jpg) in Acrobat.
Press Strg+Shift+i and select the rest of the jpgs to be inserted behind page one. You'll have a big pdf afterwards which probably has a scrambled page numbering. You can drag and drop the thumbs (on the left side of the workspace is a thumbs tab) to sort them.

Acrobat 6:
Click on the make pdf button (on top) select the files you wish to include into your pdf and you're finished. Very easy and a big improvement over the earlier versions.

BTW I bet it is illegal to scan the pages.

~Marimmar

EDIT: As illegal the scanning and sharing of WotC material may be, someone did it already so.

 

[Li Shenron]

You may also find that a PDF of the SRD (there are various available for free, notably of that SRD competition site) would be handier.

You won't have to bother with OCR, the file is much smaller, scrolls faster, is indexed, and you may perform searches inside. What's more to ask? Well, I mean, besides "cookies and nookies"...

Find the thread with SRD competition winners, all the works were good, not just the winner.

If you want my personal opinion, since you need something to use on the laptop, use Sovelior's http SRD. It really rocks, and with the hypertext and menu on the side you can jump to referenced page in one link. I only think it is not yet complete (the version I have it doesn't have ALL), but it's totally useful!