PrintPDF

PrintPDF is a front-end to GhostScript, allowing PDF documents to be produced more easily under RISC OS. It adds a new “PDF Printer” as part of Printers on the iconbar – using this, any application which can print to paper can now also create a PDF document with ease.

[Iconbar Screenshot]

A new “PDF” printer on the iconbar

Printing a file to PrintPDF will result in a "Create PDF" dialogue box opening so that the PDF can be saved to disc.

[PrintPDF Screenshot]

The options being set for a PDF file

More features of PrintPDF, including its ability to add bookmarks to a PDF document, control document title and author information, and join several files into a single PDF, can be found below.

Download PrintPDF
PrintPDF is released under Version 1.2 of the European Union Public Licence. Its source code can be found on GitHub, and copies can also be obtained from PackMan or the PlingStore.

In order to use PrintPDF, you will require:

  • a minimum of RISC OS 3.10,
  • the 32-bit Shared C Library (version 5.43 or later), which is a standard part of RISC OS 5 and can be obtained for other systems as part of the System Resources download from RISC OS Open Ltd,
  • the Nested Window Manager, which is a standard part of RISC OS  4, 5 or Six, or can be soft-loaded on RISC OS 3, and
  • GhostScript, which can be obtained from either Martin Wuerthner or Chris Gransden.

Features of PrintPDF

Control is provided over all aspects of the conversion. The version of PDF can be selected, and any images in the document can be optimised for the intended purpose of the file. Details of the document’s title, author, subject and keywords can be specified: these can be seen in many PDF viewers.

[Document Info Screenshot]

Setting a document’s title

PDF documents can be password protected and encrypted, and PrintPDF offers full control over the available options.

Adding bookmarks

PrintPDF allows bookmarks to be included in PDF documents, using its built-in bookmarks editor. Sets of bookmarks can be created and saved alongside the documents they relate to, then loaded back into PrintPDF when the PDF is created.

[Bookmark Editor Screenshot]

Editing bookmarks for a PDF document

Joining files

The PDF Queue allows several separate printouts to be merged together into a single PDF document. The separate files are printed separately to PrintPDF and queued; once assembled, they can be arranged as required and turned into a single PDF.

[PDF Queue Screenshot]

Handling queued PDFs

Version History

0.10 (10 July 2005)

First beta release.

0.20 (16 July 2005)

Second beta release.

0.30 (4 September 2005)

Third beta release.

0.31 (4 September 2005)

Update to third beta release.

0.32 (10 September 2005)

Update to third beta release.

0.40 (19 May 2006)

Fourth beta release.

0.41 (23 May 2006)

Update to fourth beta release.

0.45 (13 August 2006)

Update to fourth beta release.

0.50 (9 November 2007)

Fifth beta release.

0.51 (17 November 2007)

Update to fifth beta release.

0.52 (6 April 2008)

Update to fifth beta release.

0.60 (11 October 2008)

Sixth beta release.

0.61 (10 November 2008)

Update to sixth beta release.

0.70 (6 March 2010)

Seventh beta release.

0.71 (20 April 2010)

Update to seventh beta release.

0.80 (30 June 2010)

Eighth beta release.

0.81 (1 July 2010)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.82 (5 July 2010)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.83 (6 July 2010)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.84 (9 July 2010)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.85 (11 July 2010)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.86 (2 November 2010)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.87 (17 April 2011)

Update to eighth beta release.

0.88 (4 August 2012)

Update to eighth beta release.

1.00 (14 October 2012)

First stable release.

1.10 (26 February 2016)

Second stable release.

1.11 (5 March 2017)

Update to second stable release.

1.12 (22 October 2017)

Update to second stable release.

1.13 (28 July 2020)

Update to second stable release.

1.20 (20 April 2023)

Third stable release.