PDF makers, what program do you use?

[Doc_Klueless]

I'm interested in turning my conversions of older 1e modules into PDFs, but I know little to nothing about making PDFs. Soooooooo....

1) What's a good program to use for a beginner but computer literate kind of guy?

2) How much does it cost?

3) How difficult is it to use?

 

[Lazybones]

I've found PDF 995 to be pretty easy to use. It's free, too:

http://www.pdf995.com/

 

[Erratic K]

Mac OS X can print to PDF from any application.

Linux can also print to post script or PDF from any application with the right package installed.

-E

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I've set up all the users at my office with the ability to create .pdf files using a couple open source widgets. Works pretty well, and you can beat a price of $0.00. I can provide you with instructions if you are at all technically inclined.

 

[cybertalus]

I dunno what the pros use, but Open Office, a freeware software suite will output files to .pdf. It's available at http://www.openoffice.org.

 

[tarchon]

Acrobat and occasionally the much more free GhostScript.

 

[Elindor]

I dunno what the pros use, but Open Office, a freeware software suite will output files to .pdf. It's available at http://www.openoffice.org.

Openoffice.org does basic PDF stuff - basically a printable version. If you want contents and links within the document, you need something a bit more dedicated. There are open source solutions available - One of them is Scribus.
As a related note, the Development Roadmap for Scribus does dictate the ability to import OpenOffice.org documents, but that feature isn't in there yet AFAIK. It should be easier to use once that's there, though.

 

[Caius]

there is the option to let you save practically any file to a pdf like from word or anything, although depending on what sort of pdf's you want to make...it's not that good, at least in my experience

I don't usually make pdf's on pc's, I stick to mac's just cause that's what I learned in school. they have some good programs like acrobat distiller that lets you make great printable versions of pdf's (a big thing for us graphic designers when it comes to print shops without the up to date versions on programs used...)

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll check out some of the free stuff mentioned during my next day off work.

 

[HellHound]

At the other end of the spectrum, I use MSWord for text editing and writing, Adobe Photoshop 8.0 for graphic work, Quark XPress 5.0 for layout, and Adobe Acrobat 6.0 for PDF distilling.