Drumlin PDF Writer/Print driver

(Click here for Drumlin Reader/Publisher details)

IMPORTANT NOTES: The Drumlin PDF Writer is a fast and effective means of creating PDFs from any program. Once installed it appears as just another Printer on your computer. Please note that this software is provided on an 'as is' basis, with no warranties, although user experience with the driver has been excellent. It is a freeware offering which uses the publically available version of the GPL Ghoscript Postscript-to-Pdf converter: click here for more details about the Ghostscript project and here for details of the GNU General Public License (GPL). The Drumlin PDF Writer does not support NT 4.0 or Windows 95 and does not support network printer sharing. See also the FAQs below

To download and install the Drumlin PDF Writer: Download the DrumlinWriter.zip zip file (approx. 7.5Mbytes). Extract the contents to a temporary directory (e.g. c:\temp). A sub-directory with all the files for installation will be created. Then run the SETUP.EXE program in this subdirectory, e.g. double-click the setup.exe file in Windows Explorer and then follow the instructions in the dialog boxes that appear.  If your OS is Windows 2000/XP, please use an administrator account to install the application. The Drumlin PDF Writer supports Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP. 32-bit and 64-bit OS support is provided To uninstall PDF Writer: Activate the Control Panel, double click Add/Remove Programs, and select the Drumlin PDF Writer list box entry for removal - alternatively use the UNINSTALL option accessed from the Start menu, Drumlin PDF Writer entry

To create PDF files: To use your Drumlin PDF Writer, open the file that you would like to print to PDF using the relevant Windows program (e.g. Word, Excel etc.). Select the program's Print option (usually found under File > Print), and select "Drumlin PDF Writer" from the list of available printers. You will be prompted to select the destination directory and filename for your output file. The PDF file will be created with the name and directory details you provide. On completion the file should be displayed with your default PDF Reader (e.g. Acrobat Reader or Drumlin Reader/Publisher). If the file is not automatically displayed you can run the preferences.exe program which you will find in your Drumlin PDF Writer installation directory to select this facility, and optionally to provide a default SAVE directory for the generated PDFs. Generated files are PDF V1.4 (Adobe Acrobat V5) compatible, so can be viewed by most PDF readers that date from the year 2000 onwards.

Please note that some applications, such as NotePad, will automatically print to your default printer when you select the Print option. If you want to print to the Drumlin PDF Writer, you may need to change your printer selection within that application before printing the file. This can typically be done from Page Setup.

FAQs:

Q: I am unable to install the software on Windows 2000/XP. A: Use an administrator account to install the application. In some cases, especially when a domain controller is present on the network, you should log on as "Administrator" to local. Log on as an account with administrator privileges to domain may not work.

Q: Installing the Printer Driver failed. A: Follow these steps: 1) Go to Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes to add a local printer;  2) Choose "CPWPU050: (Drumlin PDF Writer)" on Select a Printer Port dialog box, click Next;  3) Choose a Postscript printer (e.g. Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600), click Next;  4) Enter Drumlin PDF Writer as the Printer name, click Next -> Finish.

Q: Can I reduce the size of output PDF file? A: You can alter the parameters used in a text file placed in your install directory: ...\Drumlin PDF Writer\PDFWrite.rsp. You can open the RSP file with a text editor such as Notepad. The key parameters are in the line: 

-dPDFSETTINGS=configuration 

where configuration can be /screen, /printer, /prepress, /default. Using /Printer can cut size by half. The default setting is /printer

Q: Text characters are wrong or missing in generated PDF file. A : On Win2000/XP boxes, select Drumlin PDF Writer properties in the application print dialog box and click "Advanced". Select "Download as Softfont" (default is "Substitute with Device Fonts") on TrueType Fonts setting for font embedding. On Win98/ME boxes, open the property of Drumlin PDF Writer and change the Fonts setting to "Always use TrueType fonts".
 
Q: How do I change the default paper size ? A : Select the Drumlin PDF Printer from any Windows program and change the Preferences settings to meet your requirements, or use the Control Panel, Printer and Faxes section, to select and alter the relevant default printer settings.

Q: How do I create a custom paper size on Windows 2000/XP? A:Go to Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes. Choose Server Properties command on File menu. Add your paper size on Forms tab.