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Author Topic: Free Pdf server?  (Read 11109 times)

kartal

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Free Pdf server?
« on: June 14, 2009, 11:23 AM »
Hi

I need a simple free pdf server to print stuff from my xp64. I was using pdfcreator in the past but because of the author`s sneaky embedding of toolsbars, I have stopped using it. Are there any other alternatives out there? Basically what I need is pdf printer that can print to another real printer after saving it as pdf. No online related solutions please.



thanks

40hz

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2009, 11:31 AM »
This is what I currently use. :)

http://www.bullzip.c...roducts/pdf/info.php




cmpm

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2009, 11:59 AM »

kartal

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2009, 12:09 PM »
This is what I currently use. :)

http://www.bullzip.c...roducts/pdf/info.php


I use that one too but the thing is that it does not let you print to an actual printer after the pdf file is saved.
"Basically what I need is pdf printer that can print to another real printer after saving it as pdf. "


I am not trying to just print a pdf file. I need this pdf printer to print files(canon laser printer) after pdf creation.

40hz

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2009, 12:56 PM »
Gotcha. Bullzip doesn't do it automatically. But since I let it auto open the PDF it created just to be sure it looks ok - all I need to do is hit <Alt-P> <Enter> to print, immediately followed by an <Alt-F4> to close Bullzip, so it's not too a big a deal for me.

I also seldom need to print the entire PDFs I've created at one time, so in a way, not going directly to the printer is a plus for me. ;D But I can see where autoprint would be a nice feature to have.

I've just sent a suggestion over to the authors asking them to add "Print to Default Printer" to their list of available post processing options. :Thmbsup:


kartal

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2009, 01:02 PM »
Gotcha. Bullzip doesn't do it automatically. But since I let it auto open the PDF it created just to be sure it looks ok - all I need to do is hit <Alt-P> <Enter> to print, immediately followed by an <Alt-F4> to close Bullzip, so it's not too a big a deal for me.

I also seldom need to print the entire PDFs I've created at one time, so in a way, not going directly to the printer is a plus for me. ;D But I can see where autoprint would be a nice feature to have.

I've just sent a suggestion over to the authors asking them to add "Print to Default Printer" to their list of available post processing options. :Thmbsup:


As I said my main intention is not to print pdf files. The reason I need this is that Canon does not provide printer drivers(xp64) for my printer so only way is to print them is using a pdf printer on my other machine. I have done this before(Pdf creator can do it) but I was so disgusted by the behaviour of the Pdfcreator`s author(sneaky toolbar installation) that i stopped using it pretty much.

« Last Edit: June 14, 2009, 06:55 PM by kartal »

PhilB66

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2009, 06:28 PM »
How about PrintConductor?
Also, check out http://www.noliturbare.com/index.php for a few print tools.

kartal

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2009, 07:15 PM »
How about PrintConductor?
Also, check out http://www.noliturbare.com/index.php for a few print tools.


I am not sure what printconductor can do because it seems like it is useless without universal convertor which seems to be sold for 69$. I am laso not sure how this could be usefuil for me. I need an automated solution and this does not look automated to me? I am going to print files on another computer? As long as I need to interact with other computer I can just print them to a shared folder and print them manually :)


I have not seen anything that is useful for me on http://www.noliturbare.com


thanks for suggestions though :)

4wd

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2009, 08:49 PM »
I need a simple free pdf server to print stuff from my xp64. I was using pdfcreator in the past but because of the author`s sneaky embedding of toolsbars, I have stopped using it. Are there any other alternatives out there? Basically what I need is pdf printer that can print to another real printer after saving it as pdf. No online related solutions please.

So is printing to two printers simultaneously OK or does it have to go to the PDF printer and then to a real printer, (not that there's any difference if there's no interaction) ?

From TechNet via VBForums:
To set up a printer to print to multiple devices

1. Open Printers and Faxes.

2. Right-click the printer you are using, and then click Properties.

3. On the Ports tab, select the Enable printer pooling check box.

4. Click each port where the printers you want to pool are connected.

Notes
• To open Printers and Faxes, click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
• With printer pooling, the printers must be the same type of printer using the same printer driver.
• The previous procedure assumes the printers you want to pool are already in the Printers and Faxes folder.

kartal

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2009, 09:18 PM »
4wd, I am  not sure what multiple pooling does, I will give a try.

Let me articulate what my main problem better and what my solution to that problem was before.

I cannot use any of my canon printers(directly connected or over the network) on xp64 because Canon does not provide drivers for xp64 for that particular model. So I either install a linux server that can provide http printing which does not require printer drivers from the client(I did it with ubuntu) or use a non hardware printer(ie pdf) that can than print to a hardware printer so that my xp64 machine would print to pdf server on my coputer that has printer attached. Then the pdf server would print the pdf and submit this printed pdf to to the selected or default printer. I did use this solution with pdfcreator but I do not want to use it anymore due to the reason I mentioned above.

One other solution is to print to a specific shared folder and use another folder watching application to submit these newly printed pdf files to an actual printer. I did try this before and it is cumbersome. I tried it with logmonitor and powerpro. There was another application just for this purpose but i think it was expensive for me at that time.

If I cannot find a software I will probably write a python app but it wont be as elaborate as those finished softwares
« Last Edit: June 14, 2009, 09:23 PM by kartal »

4wd

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2009, 09:29 PM »
I'm still not sure whether the printer you want to print to is connected to a Win or Linux machine but if you can see the printer as, eg. 'Canon BJ200 on Kartal6' then you should be able to pool the printers.

Otherwise, you could set your PDF printer to always save to the same directory and then use a simple(?) AutoIt(Hk) script to watch for any new PDFs and send them onto the machine with the printer by either having the print machine watch a directory, print then delete anything that appears or by injecting into it's print queue directly.

cmpm

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2009, 09:33 PM »
something like this?

http://www.aloaha.co...autoprint-folder.php

only a lot cheaper! :)

kartal

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #12 on: June 14, 2009, 11:36 PM »
I'm still not sure whether the printer you want to print to is connected to a Win or Linux machine but if you can see the printer as, eg. 'Canon BJ200 on Kartal6' then you should be able to pool the printers.

I did check out the pooling solution, that looks like multiple printing. My problem is not multiple printing, my problem is that I do not have "drivers" for the xp64 computer 
which is my main tool because Canon does not make drivers for xp64 for that particular printer. I am trying to compensate for lack of drivers by printing docs to PDF----->to the real printer. As I said this is already possible and I have been using it for 4 years already. I am trying to find another solution.

If you share printers across the network you need printer drivers, in general one might not see that is happening because as long as the client computers are same os the driver is not an issue. And that has been my main problem because one of my machines is xp64 and that xp64 computer cannot access the shared printer on a windows computer because of the lack of the driver. One might think that when you are using a network printer you would not need such thing but you do.


Otherwise, you could set your PDF printer to always save to the same directory and then use a simple(?) AutoIt(Hk) script to watch for any new PDFs and send them onto the machine with the printer by either having the print machine watch a directory, print then delete anything that appears or by injecting into it's print queue directly.

And that is something I have already mentioned. I just am not that experienced with Ahk and do not know much about Autoit. I know python but WIn32 automation is not something I have done at all but I will check it out, so I will probably do it in Python.


« Last Edit: June 14, 2009, 11:45 PM by kartal »

4wd

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #13 on: June 18, 2009, 01:16 AM »
Otherwise, you could set your PDF printer to always save to the same directory and then use a simple(?) AutoIt(Hk) script to watch for any new PDFs and send them onto the machine with the printer by either having the print machine watch a directory, print then delete anything that appears or by injecting into it's print queue directly.

And that is something I have already mentioned. I just am not that experienced with Ahk and do not know much about Autoit. I know python but WIn32 automation is not something I have done at all but I will check it out, so I will probably do it in Python.

You still haven't said what type of machine the Canon printer is connected to but providing it's a Windows box, here's a solution:

In the following PDFPrinter refers to the PC generating the PDFs and RealPrinter refers to the PC with the Canon printer.

Download FileNotify and install it on both machines following the directions on the page - very simple.

On the PDFPrinter run the fnAdmin.exe command, it will ask to open the FileNotify parameter file, (default FileNotify.txt in the FileNotify directory), select Open.  On the next window select Add.
Select as below filling in the appropriate paths as necessary:

PDFPrinter PC.jpgFree Pdf server?

On the RealPrinter run the fnAdmin.exe command, it will ask to open the FileNotify parameter file, (default FileNotify.txt in the FileNotify directory), select Open.  On the next window select Add.
Select as below filling in the appropriate paths as necessary:

REALPrinter PC.jpgFree Pdf server?

The PrintDelete.cmd resides in the FileNotify directory and is as follows:
rem AcroRd32.exe /t path printername drivername portname
rem Initiates Acrobat Reader, prints a file while suppressing
rem the Acrobat print dialog box, then terminates Reader.

AcroRd32.exe /t "%1" "Canon Super Printer" "Canon Super Printer Driver" "USB001"
del "%1"

NOTE: You need Acrobat Reader installed on the PC that's to do the real printing - the reason is simple, it's almost impossible to find any program that will print a PDF from the command line, (GhostScript may but I'm not going to bother installing it find out.)

Parameters for AcroRd32.exe, (or AcroBat), are as follows:
The four parameters of the /t option evaluate to:
path, printername, drivername, and portname (all strings).
path - the path and file to print.
printername - The name of your printer.
drivername - Your printer driver 's name.  Whatever appears in the Driver Used box when you view your printer 's properties.
portname - The printer 's port.  portname cannot contain any "/" characters; if it does, output is routed to the default port for that printer.

If using Acrobat,substitute Acrobat.exe in place of AcroRd32.exe in the command lines.

Last step, fire up services.msc and start the File Notification service.

The theory goes:
a) PDF is generated into the folder watched by that PC.
b) FileNotify performs the action which is to copy it to a shared directory on the other PC for printing.
c) The new PDF triggers FileNotify on the printing PC which calls PrintDelete.cmd
d) PrintDelete.cmd prints the PDF using AcroBat, (or Reader), and then deletes the file.
e) Job Done.

The theory is sound but I haven't tested it.

You, of course, have to make sure the folder is accessible for the PDF to be copied to as there's no error checking if it doesn't.

kartal

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #14 on: June 18, 2009, 08:32 PM »
4wd, you guys are rocking nowadays. Thanks for the detail steps. This will do it I think.

4wd

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Re: Free Pdf server?
« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2009, 09:02 PM »
You might have to set the privileges for various programs to allow them to run, I don't know since I only run in an admin account on XP32.

Also, the command line parameters for AcroBat (Reader/Full) aren't technically supported but have been reported to be stable, (I don't use it, it's too bloated and slow for my tastes) - if they don't work you can always use Auto(It/Hk) to run your PDF viewer of choice and simulate keys/buttons/etc.

Also note, FileNotify2 is now freeware as of 24-03-09 - it may have better integration into XP since it relies on .NET and it does have more options, (like integrated cron and scripting).

Bit sad but if you want to use the example MoveFTP to Copy a file:
From Google Groups:
For the copy sample use the MoveFTP template and replace
System.IO.File.Move by System.IO.File.Copy.

There is no license restriction, registered users don't receive a
registration key by the way.
I wanted to do a cheap product with no license restriction.
I wrote several shareware (url2bmp, url2jpeg, FileNotify2... 20000
download/year total) with no restriction and for 3 years I only
received $15 for all of these.
I don't think I will write other shareware.

Cheer,
Remi
« Last Edit: June 18, 2009, 09:17 PM by 4wd »