Waaaayy OT: Free PDF Software?

[Steve N]

Hi all,

I'm not a computer geek (just a model geek.) Can anyone recommend a decent free (I'm also a cheap model geek) program to combine several .jpg files into a single .pdf? I need to e-mail scans of several multi-page documents, and .jpgs take up way too much bandwidth (not to mention being a pain for the recipient to individually open.) I've downloaded a couple different so-called "freebies," but they usually turn out to be "evaluation versions" that quit working after a couple days, or refuse to work at all unless you pay a registration or subscription fee.

Thanks!

Steve

[Liberator24]

I use CutePDF but I have not attached photos to it. As far as docs...it works GREAT!!!!!

-Jim

[jimz66]

Adobe Acrobat. The industry standard.

[PNW_Modeler]

Adobe Acrobat. The industry standard.

Last I checked, Acrobat was far from free.....The full version of Acrobat goes for over $400...

Acrobat Reader is a free program you can download to view PDFs...however, it will not allow you to create PDFs

[RookieLSP]

I think Windows 7 has a feature that allows you to save files as .pdf, doesn't it?

I know that has been on the Mac OS for years now. Anything you can print, you can save as a .pdf instead.

[johnsg]

pdf995 has a free version that may suit your needs. Go to www.pdf995.com to check it out.

[mario krijan]

primoPDF, try this program form making PDF documents.

[ThatJeffGuy]

PDFCreator is free and will combine PDF's. Just installs as another printer driver and you print to it instead of your printer.

[Fustercluck]

Foxit reader is the best free one I know of. I always uninstall Acrobat and install it instead. It comes up instantly instead of locking up your computer for a minute or two.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will help Steve out, its just a reader.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/download.php

Edited May 10, 2010 by Fustercluck

[KursadA]

Just install PDFCreator from the following URL. This is not an evaluation version, PDFCreator is totally free.

http://en.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator

PDFCreator will install a special printer driver on your system. You can then simply use this "virtual printer" from any Windows application, and direct the output in a PDF file. It basically provides Windows with the ability to print anything as PDF, a capability that MacOS has had for years.

PDFCreator will also allow you to combine multiple documents into a single PDF file, although this latter task is not very intuitive (you will need to read the documentation)

Edited May 10, 2010 by KursadA

[peebeep]

It's worth checking your word processor, some have an 'export as pdf' command. Otherwise I would add to the recommendation for Cute PDF Writer. I've been using it for some time, including exporting Autocad dwg's as pdf's and it works very reliably. For multiple images in a pdf it may be best to insert them into word processor pages, then plot the whole lot as a pdf document. You will need to be careful with image size, even when plotted as pdf's, jpg images can be quite large with the resulting pdf taking up too much memory to be able to e-mail it.

peebeep

[Steve N]

Thanks for all the help guys. I had already tried most of the suggested ones..unfortunately the ones that install as printer drivers won't work. Everytime I try to use them, I get a "error initializing driver" message. So today I bit the bullet and spent 50 bucks on a program at my local Staples. It works just fine and does everything I need it to do.

SN