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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → PDF Editors?
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PDF Editors?
2005-11-04, 7:31 PM #1
I'm starting to see serious advantages to using PDFs (a filetype I used to *hate*). Unfortunately, I can't seem to find cheap (or possibly free) alternatives. I'm not exactly thrilled about forking out tons of money for something like FrameMaker and/or Adobe Acrobat.

I'd really like something that can convert files from DOC files, since I use Microsoft Word, mainly because it does a few things I haven't been able to replicate with other programs... things I do a lot, by the way.

Any suggestions?
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-04, 7:36 PM #2
I dunno about opening already-made PDFs, but I think Openoffice can make PDFs...

I hate PDFs, myself. Stupid, slow, buggy, and huge.

Plain text 4 life.
2005-11-04, 7:38 PM #3
[QUOTE=Cool Matty]Plain text 4 life.[/QUOTE]

Fo' sure, yo.
2005-11-04, 7:40 PM #4
Also, I just double-checked, OpenOffice 2, which is free, can make PDF files from DOC's. And it's free. And also more awesome than Word. Cause it's free.

Did I mention that it's free?
2005-11-04, 7:40 PM #5
Slow... maybe.... if you're using a computer from 10 years ago.

Originally posted by "Shintock:
Did I mention that it's free?
No.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-04, 7:42 PM #6
WWW.OPENOFFICE.ORG

IT'S FREE YAYZORZ
2005-11-04, 7:44 PM #7
I'M GETTING IT!

And apparently, 602PC Suite does PDFs and is a free alternative to Microsoft Office, one I've used before and never knew of it's PDFage... :o
(Of course, I wouldn't have cared before learning the benefits of PDFs.)

Oh well... you can never have too much software.

/me downloads the entire internet
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-04, 8:47 PM #8
BAH, OpenOffice gives me options when I export as PDF, but it doesn't support the formatting I need. 602 supports the formatting I need, but doesn't give me PDF export options. :mad:

Plus I still need something for direct PDF manipulation to add hyperlinks and bookmarks and so forth.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-04, 8:49 PM #9
Originally posted by Shintock:
WWW.OPENOFFICE.ORG

IT'S FREE YAYZORZ

Nice post.
2005-11-04, 8:53 PM #10
PDF sucks. Name a single benifit.
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2005-11-04, 9:04 PM #11
Originally posted by DogSRoOL:
Slow... maybe.... if you're using a computer from 10 years ago.

No.


Slow, no matter what. Cause its sucky. AMD FX-55, and the damn mobo manuals still lag when you view a freakin diagram.
2005-11-04, 9:11 PM #12
Originally posted by JediKirby:
PDF sucks. Name a single benifit.


How about two:

Guaranteed rendering…
Native printing to Post-Script printers…
"Well, if I am not drunk, I am mad, but I trust I can behave like a gentleman in either
condition."... G. K. Chesterton

“questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself”
2005-11-04, 9:15 PM #13
Not sure about editors, but I downloaded a free app some time ago that would pseudo-print almost any Windows document into a .PDF. Forgot the name though.
幻術
2005-11-04, 9:16 PM #14
[QUOTE=West Wind]How about two:

Guaranteed rendering…
Native printing to Post-Script printers…[/QUOTE]

Actually, its not guaranteed, although there is a much better chance.
2005-11-04, 9:17 PM #15
There is a way to make them with microsoft office too...
Nothing to see here, move along.
2005-11-04, 9:22 PM #16
[QUOTE=Cool Matty]Actually, its not guaranteed, although there is a much better chance.[/QUOTE]

That was one of the intentions of PDF, but your right, not everyone conforms to it.

On a more useful note. I like CutePDF Writer . It's like Adobie Distiller, it acts like a printer and outputs a PDF file, only it's free.
"Well, if I am not drunk, I am mad, but I trust I can behave like a gentleman in either
condition."... G. K. Chesterton

“questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself”
2005-11-04, 11:02 PM #17
I hate PDFs. OpenOffice all the way
$do || ! $do ; try
try: command not found
Ye Olde Galactic Empire Mission Editor (X-wing, TIE, XvT/BoP, XWA)
2005-11-04, 11:33 PM #18
I'm learning LaTeX to do mathematical documents/proofs. I think that has some form of LaTeX -> PDF conversion.

Speaking of LaTeX, it would be REALLY nice to have some form of LaTeX/MathML interpreter here. We have our fair share of math/physics people. But just wishful thinking.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2005-11-04, 11:36 PM #19
I like PDF because I can post my Powerpoint slides on-line in a format that everyone can (legally) view.
the idiot is the person who follows the idiot and your not following me your insulting me your following the path of a idiot so that makes you the idiot - LC Tusken
2005-11-05, 2:08 AM #20
Originally posted by Brian:
Nice post.


:o
2005-11-05, 7:10 AM #21
I think Ghostscript can produce PDFs.
Sorry for the lousy German
2005-11-05, 7:26 AM #22
Check this one out (free): http://www.pdf995.com/
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2005-11-05, 8:53 AM #23
[QUOTE=West Wind]How about two:

Guaranteed rendering…
Native printing to Post-Script printers…[/QUOTE]

Bookmarking...
Hyperlinking...
Preserved Formatting...
Font imbedding...

Shall I go on?
Quote:
Slow, no matter what.
The only thing slow about PDFs is Adobe's software. Seriously, I'm running a 500MHz machine here without much problem with PDFs. The slowest part is waiting for Acrobat to load.

Heh, I remember hating PDFs too, before knowing jack about them, so I guess I understand.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-05, 9:00 AM #24
Originally posted by DogSRoOL:
The only thing slow about PDFs is Adobe's software. Seriously, I'm running a 500MHz machine here without much problem with PDFs. The slowest part is waiting for Acrobat to load.


True. I don't know what alternatives are there for Windows, but every single alternative that is there for Linux is way faster than Acrobat.
Sorry for the lousy German
2005-11-05, 10:48 AM #25
Google: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=free+pdf+writer&btnG=Google+Search
2005-11-05, 11:04 AM #26
Originally posted by Impi:
True. I don't know what alternatives are there for Windows, but every single alternative that is there for Linux is way faster than Acrobat.


Linux, you say... I've been thinking of installing Linux
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-05, 11:31 AM #27
I'd run Linux but I can't half-*** myself to dual boot, since I need all my Star Wars games (and others)
$do || ! $do ; try
try: command not found
Ye Olde Galactic Empire Mission Editor (X-wing, TIE, XvT/BoP, XWA)
2005-11-05, 12:02 PM #28
[QUOTE=Cool Matty]I hate PDFs, myself. Stupid, slow, buggy, and huge.[/QUOTE]
I forgot to mention... they're not huge. I had a Word document, 120 KB, converted it to PDF. It's 25 KB and looks exactly the same. Actually, slightly better.
That's a 79.2% decrease in filesize.......
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-05, 2:01 PM #29
Originally posted by DogSRoOL:
I forgot to mention... they're not huge. I had a Word document, 120 KB, converted it to PDF. It's 25 KB and looks exactly the same. Actually, slightly better.
That's a 79.2% decrease in filesize.......


I had a textbook converted to PDF. 12MB.

Text Format? 120kb.

Oh, and as for bookmarking, hyperlinking, font imbedding, etc, guess what else does this, and has as much, if not more display guarantees? HTML. Sure you may need to zip it up to make one file out of it, but it'll be helluva faster, more organized, not requiring a specific commercial program to make/open, and faster.

And as for the speed argument: Download any manual from most mobo manufacturers (such as MSI, which I used yesterday).

You'll get about halfway through when suddenly you'll notice it becomes incredibly slow while scrolling. And this isn't isolated, I've had issues with such things on plenty of PCs.
2005-11-05, 2:27 PM #30
Yes, we all know how rock-solid HTML formatting is.

Quote:
I had a textbook converted to PDF. 12MB.

Text Format? 120kb.
Did the PDF include graphics?
And PDFs have these things called "settings." :p For example, if generate a PDF with image-based settings when it's actually text, obviously it's going to be huge.

Quote:
And as for the speed argument: Download any manual from most mobo manufacturers (such as MSI, which I used yesterday).

You'll get about halfway through when suddenly you'll notice it becomes incredibly slow while scrolling. And this isn't isolated, I've had issues with such things on plenty of PCs.
Layered images? Vector graphics? Be specific. I've noticed they do this at work when they have vector graphics (specifically CGM) in them that were generated using some sort of CAD software. (And our CGMs can get *really* detailed at times). It would appear to actually maintain the vector art.

Same with layered images.

Depends on the image type. Image resolution. PDF settings. Etc.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
My music
2005-11-05, 6:49 PM #31
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
I'm learning LaTeX to do mathematical documents/proofs. I think that has some form of LaTeX -> PDF conversion.

Speaking of LaTeX, it would be REALLY nice to have some form of LaTeX/MathML interpreter here. We have our fair share of math/physics people. But just wishful thinking.


As in you type in the formula with LaTeX and the forum converts it to PS, then to an image format, and displays in your post?
[This message has been edited. Deal with it.]
2005-11-05, 11:09 PM #32
Originally posted by Koobie:
Not sure about editors, but I downloaded a free app some time ago that would pseudo-print almost any Windows document into a .PDF. Forgot the name though.


http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
Yet Another Massassi Map | Sadly I Have a Blog Too
2005-11-06, 9:51 AM #33
I've never used a PDF file that couldn't have been more proficiently taken care of with an HTML document, or just a simple word document. PDF is NOT anything special. On top of all that, it's slow. You honestly cannot deny this, as I've had a PDF file with nothing but text run so unbearably slow on some of the fastest machines I've ever used. They just suck.

JediKirby
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2005-11-06, 10:05 AM #34
http://courses.csusm.edu/math370ak/exam2sample.pdf <-- tell me this is slow loading. It was instantaneous for me.
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2005-11-06, 10:36 AM #35
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
http://courses.csusm.edu/math370ak/exam2sample.pdf <-- tell me this is slow loading. It was instantaneous for me.


Yep
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2005-11-06, 10:39 AM #36
Originally posted by Tenshu:
Yep

me too
</sarcasm>
<Anovis> mmmm I wanna lick your wet, Mentis.
__________
2005-11-06, 10:49 AM #37
[QUOTE=Compos Mentis]me too[/QUOTE]

Yeah but I was first ;)
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2005-11-06, 11:17 AM #38
That's a single sheet. Show me something for a PC manual that loads even remotly fast, and is consistantly accurate throughout the entire document.

I highly doubt PDF serves many purposes that a slew of other more proficient programs couldn't solve.
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2005-11-06, 1:19 PM #39
Show me any format that displays the same regardles off the program you use to display (or print) it. I've yet to see anything that does that besides PDF or PS.
Sorry for the lousy German
2005-11-06, 1:38 PM #40
Why is that so important? Make an image of the thing as you want to print it, I don't know. PDF has so few implications that all of it's negatives make it unworth that single factor of print formatting.
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