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Free PDF Development Sneak Peek
This webpage is included in the Free PDF Download
but it changes all the
time!
So, if you're reaing this offline, come back to the website to see the current
version
This will be a wild and wooly page which is updated often on the web site.
There is a lot happening in development and in the Message Board posts. This
page is just an attempt to collect some of that information about what's
comin' round the corner in development and late breaking news.
It may not be as pretty, gramatticaly correct, or even make much sense (like
the rest of the site does) but that will make it easier to keep it updated.
If you are reading this offline it is probably already out of date! Don't
forget to go back to the real website, and look for a newer version with
more features.
POLL
Please take a moment and respond to the Poll,
in the Message Board, even if briefly! Let others know if you got it
to work, and if you had trouble, with what?
In order to PARTICPATE in the poll and share
with the Zipguy (and everyone else) your valuable feedback on Free PDF and
your experiences, Please:
-
go back to message Board (link to the left or near the bottom)
-
scroll down
-
find the 'QUICK POLL Wed May 31, 2000 2:22 pm'
post
-
click on it
-
"Reply Message' to that post, NOT the other replies
(unless you are responding to someonelse's post specifically)
the below is copied from that post:
QUICK POLL
Please just post a quick reply to the 'QUICK POLL Wed
May 31, 2000 2:22 pm' post:)
-
At Least
-
If you got it working Yes/No
-
How you like/hate Free PDF
-
Optional
-
How long you it took you to install
-
What was the hardest part of Installing (especially related to understanding
the how to)
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What you liked/hated the most
-
Anything you think may help others
-
Any problems you had (and solved or still have)
-
Changes you'd like to see to the instructions and/or explanation
Descriptions you can use for Free
PDF
Allows you to Make PDF's For Free by printing from Windows Applications
Lets you to Make PDF's for Free by just by printing from Windows Applications
and view your new PDFs. Setup takes some effort, but well worth it. Required
Programs are RedMon and Ghostscript. Links to them on the home site. The
ZipGuy says Enjoy!
Make your Resume into a professional looking PDF Portable Document Format
Viewable/Printable w/ Acrobat Reader on any platform. Lets you make PDF's
for Free by printing from Windows Applications and view your new PDFs. So
slick you'd think it's done with mirrors. Setup requires a little effort,
but well worth it. RedMon & Ghostscript are required. Links to them on
the home site.
Make your Resume into a professional looking PDF Portable Document Format
Viewable/Printable with Acrobat Reader on any platform. If you don't do it
your competition MAY. Catch the latest craze It's Hot . How'd you like to
be able to create your own PDFs files for free? All you have to do is simply
print to your 'Free PDF' printer from any Windows Application and you then
get a standard 'Save PDF as...' Dialog Box. Next you can optionally view
your PDF in a PDFViewer Acrobat Reader or another of your choice. So slick,
you'd swear its it's done with mirrors 8->. Finally a way to create PDF
files for Free from your own output on Win9x/ME Setup is a little bit of
a bother but well worth it, since you only have to do it once. Even people
on Macs and Unix can read your output. You can print Web Pages from your
Browser Great for archivng and documentation. No more worrying about what
kind of printers other people have. You can put your PDFs on your website
or E-Mail them. Full documentation and Python/TCL Source Code included Requires
Aladdin Ghostscript 6.01 and GhostGum's RedMon version 1.5 which are also
freeware for end user non-commercial use. Links to them on the Site. The
ZipGuy says Enjoy.
The Dirt....
THE BAD News:
The 1.0 Production release was postponed
because of enhancements.
THE GOOD News: The ZipGuy has just got
a few new features working in the development
version
Here's the new Configuration screen:
The first two are for
"When Name for PDF recieved from
RedMon"
"Push 'Save_as' Button Automatically" |
| The new version "receives" the name of the file
being printed from RedMon. and uses this to
"guess" what you want to call the new PDF. So if you're editing
"ReSume.doc", theoretically Redmon will pass Free PDF "ReSume" and the next
version will default to creating "ReSume.pdf" in the new default
"Windows\Desktop" folder so you get an Icon for it. How well this feature
works will depend on what the application sends RedMon, and what it in turn
sends FreePDF. The GIGO rule is quite active in this case. The
Zipguy would guess that Word probably passes the name of the file to RedMon
and should work. More testing needs to be done, though. Especially as the
code to do this was nasty and hard to get working. It depends upon what RedMon
passes. The ZipGuy has to test various applications to see how many pass
this parameter successfully. He may need help as he DOES NOT HAVE MS OFFICE! |
"Replace Existing File" |
| The new version if it "receives" the name of the
file being printed from RedMon. and uses this
to "guess" what you want to call the new PDF. Gives you the option
to overlay any existing PDF witht that name. If it doesn't receive the name
from RedMon, this option and the one above are not active, EVEN IF THEY ARE
TURNED ON. |
|
"Always Skip PDF Viewer" |
| The newer development release has the ability to "Always Skip PDF Viewer"
which (believe it or not) people asked for. |
"ALWAYS USE SAME NAME and FOLDER (Last
one)
for PDF (Overwrites)" |
| This is a specialty option for people who need a predictable name for
the PDF produced by Free PDF. An example, of why people want this, is that
they may then use an FTP program to uplaod the newly created PDF to web site. |
"New checks that the input file
exists" |
| The newer development release has the ability to
"Test Free PDF and Ghostscript Part" by clicking
on a "Test Free PDF" shortcut in the Free PDF folder (c:\freepdf) which
runs a supplied Postscript File through Free PDF. |
"Rerun the last PS file" |
| The newer development release has the ability to "Rerun the last PS file"
through by clicking on a "rerun.bat" file which is dynamically created each
time a PDF is converted! This newer version copies the temporary PS file
being converted to the Free PDF directory under the imaginative name of
"lastfile.ps" (assuming of course that you are not rerunning it ((hehe))
as that would delete the input file). |
"You get ICON for your
PDF!" |
| The newer development release defaults to create the output pdf in the
Desktop folder. This means that a PDF ICON shows
up on your desktop and you can click on it to open it. Or, you can
Drag and drop it places like your e-mail (hehe).
This change was snuck back into the V0.95 (on 7/1/00 at 2:00 am GMT-5)
vesrsion without changing the CODE! The sample .ini file had it's default
"pdfoutdir" changed to "c:\windows\desktop"
For users of the current release you can do this by just "Save as..." to
the Desktop Folder. |
"Test Free PDF and Ghostscript/PDFViewer
Part" |
| The newer development release has the ability to
"Test Free PDF and Ghostscript Part" by clicking
on a "Test Free PDF" shortcut in the Free PDF folder (c:\freepdf) which
runs a supplied Postscript File through Free PDF. |
"Update Checker" |
| The Zipguy has decided that the next
release with these features, or at least the "Recieve File Name"
feature, will NOT be released without a new "Check
for Newer Version" being included. At some point the Free PDF
will be good enough that people will be tempted to keep using outdated versions,
and not even be aware of newer ones with bug fixes (hopefully few) and
significant new features (hopefully many). This feature works in the development
version, but is rudimentaty in some aspects.
You get a notification that either "You are using the most recent version,
or "New version is Availabe".
When it gets the description it tells you where the files are on the web
In the later case, a Window pops up with a short description the features
of the latest couple of versions, and "Download" and "Exit" buttons.
It does need a little more tweaking because as of 7/4/00 it just does the
download and gives no feedback at all. The ZipGuy is adding a dialog
box for that thread which will Give you the classic "n,nnn bytes downloaded
so far of n,nnn,nnn bytes" type message as well as the obligatory gas guage
graphic, AND A CANCEL Button (as there is no way to cancel the download in
development version once you start it).
GOOD NEWS! The Update Checker's Working! Here's what it looks
like:
|
Drawing Board
some doodling here (hehe) |
Here's a link to the new Splash screen ( also in news section on Home
Page)
You Have to See this - Here's
a Sneak Peek at the upcoming outrageous Splash
Screen for Free PDF which is only 34k. The link is to a zip file which
is 12k! That's as small as a banner ad. Take a look. Everyone loves it. It
was made by the 'Mizer' who is a wizard and a ZipGuy Cohort.
They call him the Mizer because he writes excellent VB stuff and it is so
small! He may be collaborating with the ZipGuy and perhaps writing
the "update checker" module.
And here's a new ZipGuy logo!
And a new Free PDF Logo
Courtesy Zipguy's Cohort 'Webxd' and
LockerGnomie extrodinaire
 |
|
|
Testing alternate Message Board here
In any case the new code needs exercise, so at least another beta will be
forthcoming soon (hopefully within days rather than weeks).
Wish the ZipGuy Luck!
below is a snip from the message board which discusses a potential new feature
or two
You realize that all the Clients PCs will have to have Free PDF installed
and configured?
Assuming they did, from which applications will they print to create PDFs?
Each application would have to be tested to verify that it works and passes
an "acceptable" name to (RedMon, RedRun and subsequently to) Free PDF.
In the new development version, with the new "Receive Name" feature, as it
stands now, they will be able to configure it so that all they do is
hit 'ok' in the
"Save as.."
and hit 'yes' in the
".. already exists. Do you want to replace it?"
dialog boxes.
IF Free PDF does not receive a name from the calling application, it will
prompt them . What would you want it to do instead?
Also keep in mind that they could use a network drive as a "Save as..." Target
and that would effect the transfer on a LAN to the server.
Check back SOON (days rather than weeks), 8-P
PDF (Portable Document Format) is
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