Hi,

I am assembling some copy for an advert, to be placed in my local
paper, which is to take the form of an image and text, enclosed within
a rectangular area measuring 5cm in height by 6.6 cm in width.

It is to consist of an 11.9 Kilobyte .jpg image, measuring 243 pixels
in width, and 184 pixels in height, to the left hand side, and text to
the right:

____________________________________
|                                  |
| |""""""""|   ACME STUFF COMPANY  |
| |        |                       |
| |        |   * Things done       |
| |        |   * Other stuff too   |
| |        |                       |
| |        |   * Call now 123456   |
| """"""""""                       |
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

I'm planning on creating the layout using HTML <table>s, with <font>
tags to control the text and an <ul> to create the bullets. I don't
need any help with this so far; I can coax Internet Explorer into
displaying just what I want on my desktop machine.

What I do need help with, is getting it into the format requested by
the paper.

Their specification is as follows:

".pdf or .eps file on 1.44 Megabyte floppy disk; all fonts must be
embedded."

I used to know how to create a .pdf file using freely downloadable
software by using a series of steps along the following lines:

1. Install a postscript printer driver (actual printer not required).
2. Use postscript printer driver to print the HTML document to a (.ps
??) file.
3. Download Ghostview? or was it Ghostscript? Postview?
4. Use the software from step 3 to create a .pdf file from the (.ps
??) file.

I'd set out searching for the method myself, but I'm dog-tired after a
late night up on the 'net, & the deadline for the copy looms..

If someone can help me out on this & provide a step-by-step, I'd very
much appreciate it. Thanks.

---

Clarification of Question by gan-ga on 11 Nov 2002 03:07 PST

Oops, I'll be using Windows XP..

Hi there gan.

I think I have your solution - a little tricky to find, but it works
perfectly. Hopefully, this walkthrough will make things clear.

----
1) You're absolutely right about the printer. I'd recommend installing
the Apple LaserWriter v23, an excellent postscript driver supplied
with Windows XP.
To do this, click Start -> Settings -> Printers and Faxes. Then click
"Add Printer". You shold see the Printer Wizard. Click "Next". Make
sure that "Automatically detect printers" is not checked, and that
"Local Printer" is selected. Click Next. Select "FILE:" from the drop
down list. Click Next. Now locate the Apple LaserWriter v23, and
install it.

Note that this is a black and white printer. If you're placing a
colour advert, then pick the Apple Color LaserWriter 12/600 instead.

----
2) Now download the latest GhostScript tools from the links below. The
first file is approximately 6 mb, and the second is approximately 1.3
mb, so if you're on a dial-up internet connection, this might be an
excellent time to break for a snack.

ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/AFPL/gs704/gs704w32.exe
ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/ghostgum/gsv43w32.exe

----
3) Install the big file first, and the smaller one second. If these
installers aren't crystal clear to you, please request clarification
and I'll help you out further here.

----
4) You're nearly there! Click Start -> Programs -> GhostGum -> GSView
4.3. Open your file using the File -> Open menu.

----
5) Now select Convert from the File menu. Make sure that the selected
Device is "pdfwrite", and the resolution is satisfactory to you (I'd
recommend the highest setting, 600).

-----
6) Now click the Properties button, and scroll down to
"EmbedAllFonts". Select "true" in the right hand pane. Click OK.
Select "OK" from the Convert dialogue again, choose an output
filename, and your PDF will be created.

---------

And that should be it! It's actually a fairly simple procedure, but as
you found out, it can be difficult to locate the exact details.
Hopefully, this has you all set, and you can submit your ad to the
paper now.

If you want a simpler method, and don't mind paying for it, then you
could have a look at DocuCom's PDF Printer Driver. I've installed the
trial version myself, and it seems fairly good - except that it leaves
a rather large watermark on the page, until you purchase the full
version. To find out more:

http://www.zeon.com.tw/zeoncom/pdfdrive/pdfdriver.htm

I hope this answers your question. If anything is unclear, or needs
further explanation, then please don't hesitate to use the "Request
Clarification" feature before rating this answer.

Thanks, and good luck!

--seizer-ga

Search strategy:
print to PDF
print to PDF Windows
PDF printer driver
PDF conversion utilities
PDF GhostScript "font embedding"
GhostScript "embed fonts"

---

Clarification of Answer by seizer-ga on 11 Nov 2002 05:24 PST

Hello again. I just spotted a banner-ad (yes, I do still read them)
which offered another PDF Printer Driver. It makes unwatermarked PDF
files, but shows adverts in your browser while it's making them. If it
interests you, it's a 3.5mb download from:

http://site1.pdf995.com/download.html

However, when I tried it, I could not determine whether it supports
font embedding or not.

--seizer-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by seizer-ga on 11 Nov 2002 11:29 PST

Thank you for the kind rating and generous tip! It's good to hear
you're up and running now - good luck!

Thanks for your help seizer; after a good sleep it enabled me to 'hit
the ground running'. Everything worked great & you figured out the
font embedding thing which I'm most grateful for :-)

I guess this comment is a bit late - but if you want a free PDF
creation tool for Windows; check out the free software "Save to PDF".
No registration and no ads. Works great for me!
http://www.savetopdf.com/