PrimoPDF
Rating: 5
pick
Version tested: 3.0
Since I reviewed Bullzip PDF Printer I’ve done more research on virtual pdf printers and found PrimoPDF. While Bullzip worked very well, I noticed that some of my PDFs were very big in terms of file size, which left me wondering whether there was a free pdf printer and that allowed for different file quality settings. Primo provides just that.
Primo, like Bullzip, allows you to convert any kind of printable document to PDF format. However, once you print your document you get to choose from 4 quality settings (see screenshot).
I was originally working with a document that was 21.5 megs in size after being “printed” into pdf on both Bullzip and CutePDF. Printing the same document on Primo’s different quality settings resulted in the following:
- “Screen” quality setting: file size was only 1.24 megs, approx 10% of the original size. Was readable on screen but the printed document, though legible, was quite poor.
- “Ebook” quality setting: file size was 3.81 megs, just short of 20% of the original. Was readable both on screen and on paper.
- “Print” quality setting: file size was 14.2 megs, which is approximately 70% of the original. Was readable both on screen and on paper. The printed quality on paper was visibly better than the “ebook” setting.
- “Prepress” quality setting: file size was not reduced (21.5megs). This is the best quality, although to be honest I couldn’t notice a visible difference between this one and the “print” quality setting.
All in all a great PDF printer; definitely my pick, and I’ve looked at a number of these, including Bulzip, CutePDF, as well as the (adware) PDF995.
A free alternative to: pdfFactory Pro, etc.
Go to download page for latest version. The program home page.
FYI: Bullzip added Output Quality Control back in Aug 2006 (v1.0.0.19) with the same quality settings mentioned in PrimoPDF.
Bull zip has the same options on the save dialog box
[...] Primo PDF: a virtual printer that can create PDF files out of any printable document. If you’re interested [...]
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filr convertion
[...] virtual printer programs reviewed on Freewaregenius that convert printable documents into PDFs (PrimoPDF, Bullzip PDF Printer, and PDF Creator, the latter having the ability to convert to image formats as [...]
[...] comprehensive (resolution, colors, fonts, security, etc.). I must admit, though, that I really like PrimoPDF’s simple quality options and will probably have both programs installed [...]
No pre-processing (cannot insert links). No free pdf convertor can do it.
I must say i was rather unimpressed with primo basically because it had a problem with non-english characters (!) like á à ã ô, etc, invaluable for me and it substituted them (!!) with underscores.
Searching for “open source pdf printer” i found this
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
and it worked like a charm!
Pedro
I still prefer <a href=”http://www.pdffactory.com.aupdfFactory for it’s minimal resource requirements a optimized PDFs.
So,let me show you a better one:Nemo PDF Converter 4.0 converts PDF to Word/RTF and Word/Excel to PDF for uses of different situations with speed and 100 accuracy. It keeps intact of the original files and supports batch conversion. You can either batch convert files from the converter or from the button integrated in your documents with ease. Moreover, its user-friendly interfaces will make you a veteran from a new user in minutes.
http://www.nemopdf.com/