CutePDF Writer - Freeware for PDF generation

CutePDF Writer is the freeware for PDF creation. CutePDF Writer installs itself as a virtual printer.

This enables virtually any Windows applications which has the print option to create PDF documents.

In order to use it, just select the CutePDF printer and click the print button!

It is free for personal, commercial, government or educational use! The best thing with CutePDF Writer is there is no watermarks in PDF generated! No popup Web ads! Now even supports 64-bit Windows.

You may download CutePDF Writer from here.

How to set default printer in Linux or Unix

If you are using terminal setup in Unix systems like Linux, you can configure your default printer by:

1. csh shell version (by editing ~/.cshrc or ~/.tcshrc configuration files)

setenv PRINTER your-printer-name

2. bash shell version (by editing ~/.bashrc configuration file)

export PRINTER=your-printer-name

If CUPS is available in your system, you may issue the following command to have this change:

lpoptions -d printer-name

The ‘d’ option sets the default printer.

In the case of Ubuntu Linux, you can just go System->Administration->Printing to set up a printer as the default printer. Just click the Make default button on the Settings tab.

How to generate PS file in Windows environment

In order to create a Postscript (PS) file from Windows applications: simply print from the application, selecting a postscript printer and using the printing option “print to file”.

A dialog box will open, allowing you to choose the folder in which you wish to create the PostScript file. Choose a name for the file (a .prn extension will be appended to the filename). When you select Save, the printer driver will save the Postscript file in the location you select instead of actually sending the postscript file to the printer. You may need to change the file extension to .ps after file is generated.

However, very likely, using the printer driver for your own printer will result in files that are targeted at that printer, and hence not completely portable. To

achieve portability, you will need to install and use another printer driver. Also you may not have any postscript printer with you at the moment. The solution to this is to install a virtual postscript printer, i.e. install printer drivers without actually having the corresponding printer.
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How to uncompress pp_ file (compress form of PPD file)

The pp_ which is coming with printer driver is the compressed form of PPD (Postscript Printer Description) file.

PPD files are created by vendors to describe the entire set of features and capabilities available for their Postscript printers.

To uncompress it you, execute the following command:

Example: file.pp_

C:\expand file.pp_ file.ppd