[RESOLVED] Needed: PDF or HTML printer driver!

I am looking for a windows printer driver that will output HTML or PDF format to disk.

I know Adobe has a PDF driver that they include with some of their software, but I am looking for an alternative.

I'm not sure if there is an alternative. I was under the possible naive impression that .pdf was the strict extension for that program just like MS Word .doc will open up unformatted, goofy, or not at all in another word processor.

HTML is a page or screen 'markup' language. That means that the HTML Code is an 'interprative' language. The code is written in regular text, but the HTML Engine looks for specific characters within the text to tell the HTML what to do with rest of the text after the special characters. IE and Netscape have the HTML Interprative Engine encorporated with in it. So, when you look at a Web Page, you are actually looking at the HTML Coding in action. If you want to see what the coding looks like with out HTML, in IE, just click on VIEW|Source and it will show you what the current web page looks like witout it being interpretted. It looks like someone typed everything in a text editor.

PDF files are different. They are what the output of the files that you print would look like if you printed out on a highend Postscript Printer. Since the output is compiled, the files are binary, you need a utility, Acrobat Reader for instance, to see the output. When you pull up a PDF file, via Acrobat, you see the final product of the editing. Later versions of Acrobat allow you to add text, but what you are really doing is adding an overlay to the existing output. You really don't change the content.

There is a utility that will allow you to create PDF Files in Office 97. It allows you to convert your existing *.doc files to *.pdf files. The problem with it, though, is once you convert it, you can't use Office 97 to view the *.pdf files, you will need Acrobat to do that. This utility can be downloaded at www.download.com or any other download site. It is free. Also, Acrobat Reader 4.0 is free as well. You will need to go to www.adobe.com to download it.

I hope that this helps.

Daniel
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Remember the words of Tipper Gore! Who said to Al Gore, on Thanksgiving morning, "Do we have to COUNT our blessings again?"

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Originally posted by Axel Granholm:
I am looking for a windows printer driver that will output HTML or PDF format to disk.

I know Adobe has a PDF driver that they include with some of their software, but I am looking for an alternative.

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Yes Adobe does have a PDF driver included with their software and you can actually print to it as a printer that you need to change before printing. Editing of the file to change its appearance can be done with a plug in and photoshop.

You almost always can save as an HTML file but I have never heard of it as a printer driver.
I prefer the PDF format and have started tranforming all my records in this digital format.