Click2PDF

By Dale Farris, Secretary Golden Triangle PC Club November 2003 General Overview The current method for creating PDF files is using Adobe Acrobat 6.0, which costs $299 for the standard edition and $449 for the professional edition. With Click2PDF you will save over $200, AND still be able to do the same thing. Click2PDF creates PDF files for your family and friends with photos, recipes, stories, etc. Or, you can convert software documentation, product catalogs, newsletters, and more into PDF files that can be opened and viewed across a broad range of software and operating systems. Plus, your document will look exactly as you intend. PDF files created with Click2PDF can also be viewed with Adobe's FREE Acrobat Reader. How Simple Is It To Use? First you set up a "Click2PDF" printer on your system. Then open a file, such as a Web page, document, spreadsheet, graphic, or whatever, and select the print option as you normally would. Then, you just choose the "Click2PDF" printer. Lastly, the program opens, and asks you to name the file, and where you want to save your PDF file. Click "OK" and VOILLA!! Click2PDF will create a full-color, non-editable PDF file with 200 or 300 DPI resolution optimized for print! You don't have to worry about fonts, formatting, or colors, because it preserves the file regardless of the program you printed from. With Click2PDF, you can also e-mail your documents directly from any application that can print. Click2PDF is a fast, easy, and low-cost tool for converting electronic documents into e-mail. It supports any Windows 9x, NT 4, ME, 2000, or XP application that can print. Create a document in your favorite word processor, spreadsheet or other application. Then convert it into a non-editable PDF e-mail attachment that is sent instantly through your default e-mail client. Use your accounting software to send all invoices by e-mail without the hassle and cost of a traditional fax machine. Your documents will be converted into a standard PDF file and attached to an e-mail message, which allows visibility by any computer. To assure to the receiver the authenticity of the document, a watermark/signature can be added before it is sent via e-mail. All your recipients will see is the document, without having the same software installed on their system. All your documents will be delivered immediately as you create them. Uses for Click2PDF Here are just few uses for Click2PDF: · E-mail receipts to customers with a watermark for authenticity · Put your manuals online without losing formatting · Put your manuals on CD and ship them less expensively · Archive web sites to a very compatible file format · Put blueprints and specs online · Update your pricing sheets onlin0e by printing to the same web accessible file · Send proposals electronically to prospective clients Useful Features Click2PDF is very easy to use. Just print your document to the Click2PDF Printer, and Click2PDF will create an industry standard PDF file which you can use, archive, e-mail, and more. Using the program is really this simple. Also, there are other options in Click2PDF which let you do fancy things like automatically name the PDF file, re-number pages, combine and re-order documents, create and e-mail the PDF in one step, add a watermark, preview the results, and more. Creating a PDF is as easy as printing your document. The steps include: 1. Choose File->Print... from your application 2. Choose the Click2PDF Printer 3. Click Print 4. Click2PDF will launch and you can click on Send or Save The Mail button will generate the PDF file and then launch your e-mail program (Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora) with the PDF already attached, so you can just enter the e-mail address and send. The Program Settings will apply to all created PDFs until you change them. AutoSave - If you select this option, then as soon as you print, the PDF will be created, or you will be prompted for a filename (depending on the AutoName setting). AutoOverwrite - If this option is checked, then you will not be prompted when a filename is the same as an existing file. The program will automatically overwrite the existing PDF file. This is very useful when used with AutoName. You can create a PDF from a document with the same name every time. AutoName - Names the PDF based on the job title of the first document printed. Unknown characters become underscores ("_"). If you choose AutoName, you should set the directory to store the .PDF files. Title, Subject, Author, Keywords - These are put into the PDF file. If you choose File->Document Properties in the Acrobat Reader, you will see these values. They are completely optional. Thumbnail Images - Check this option if you want your PDF file to have Thumbnail Images when viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.x. Open the PDF File After it is Created - This will automatically launch your PDF file in the Adobe Reader (if installed) after the PDF file has been generated. Click the other tab, or hit CTRL-TAB to go to Headers, Footers, and Watermarks. You can use this to set your own custom Headers, Footers, and Watermarks. To change the header, select "Header" from the drop-down. To change the footer, select "Footer" from the drop-down. To change the Watermark, select "Watermark" from the drop-down. You can enter your own custom text, and set the font. You can also use special variables that will change, including: · Job - This is the Title of the print job · Date - The current date. This is great for receipts, price lists, etc. where the date is important · Time - The current time. This is great for contracts, and documents where the revision time may be important · Page - The current page. This page is the page printed in the PDF, and may differ from the original document. Use this when you are combining documents and you want to re-number the pages in the PDF. Justification - Choose where the Header or Footer appears (Left Side, Centered, or Right Side) If your PDF file is intended to be a printed document with a cover or title page, you may not want to start the Headers and Footers on the first page. Use the start/stop to control when to print the Headers, Footers and Watermarks. If you just want to turn them off for this printed document, you can uncheck "Display Headers, Footers & Watermarks" without losing your settings. The Watermark is printed in the middle of the page. You can use your own custom graphic, but you may need to lighten it up with a graphic editor to keep it from dominating the page. Note: Watermarks may not show up on web pages and some other documents because the white background may be placed on top and obscure the watermark making it invisible. You can insert a blank page into the project, by hitting Add a Page. The page will be added at the end of the print project. You can move it up and down to control where in the print project it will be printed. You can insert a blank page between print jobs, but not inside a print job. You can hit [INS] to Add a Page. You can delete pages in the project which does not remove them from the print project, but recalculates the print range, and gives you a new preview without the page. You can hit the [DEL] key to delete a page in the single-page Preview. The Preview area lets you see a rough version of what your document will look like as a PDF. You can view a single page, or nine pages. To switch views, you can click on the preview, or choose View->9 Page View from the menu. Use right and left arrow to scroll through the pages. The Print Range lets you select the pages from the Print Project that you would like to put in the PDF. Examples: 2, 5-7 will print 4 pages (2, 5, 6, 7) 1, 3, 5-12 will print 10 pages (1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) 5 will print 1 page (5) Click Apply to see the changes reflected in the Preview. Click2PDF can create PDF files with varying quality levels. The higher the quality, the larger the size. If you just want to get the point across, then Black and White Low Quality (72 DPI) will work. PDF Types: PDF B/W Draft - Black and white only. Any gray or color will look very grainy PDF B/W Pro - Grayscale. Colors or grey will look grey PDF (High Color) Pro - Full Color. Colors will be retained in the PDF PDF Quality · Highest - 300 DPI (300 dots per inch) - Laser printer quality High - 200 DPI (200 dots per inch) - Fine fax quality Med - 100 DPI (100 dots per inch) - Regular fax quality Low - 72 DPI (72 dots per inch) - Screen quality Price $18.95 Yes. You read this right. Only $18.95. For all the many features programmed into Click2PDF, this price is more than just a bargain, it is remarkable. Compare this price with Adobe's $299 or $449 prices. System Configuration Pentium 100 or faster processor Windows 95, 98, NT4, ME, 2000,XP 64MB RAM At least 10MB free hard drive space Installation and Setup The installation setup program is called Click2PDFSetup.exe. You must run the setup program to install Click2PDF to your hard disk (Product installation is found in section "Loading the CD"). At the end of the installation process Click2PDF presents you with the option to view the README.TXT. The program will also launch the PDF Printer installer. When you first start Click2PDF, the InstantX registration dialog box will appear. To fully enable your copy of Click2PDF please fill out the form and enter your VIP Key, and then send it electronically to Blue Squirrel. If you don't register Click2PDF, the InstantX dialog box will pop up each time you run the program, and it will run as an evaluation program. Once you have purchased the program and entered your VIP key, you'll see your License Key code in the About Click2PDF box. To uninstall Click2PDF, go to your Control Panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Then choose Click2PDF, and click on the Change/Remove button. About Blue Squirrel Blue Squirrel has been developing and selling software since 1995. The original product was SQURL (Search and Query URL's), which has now been succeeded by WebSeeker. In early 1996, Grab-a-Site and the Internet Automation System was released. In March of 1996, Blue Squirrel was acquired by The ForeFront Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFGI), and in 1997 became ForeFront's Internet Content Management Division responsible for development of ForeFront's entire line of Internet and Content Management products, including WebSeeker, WebWhacker, and ClickBook. In June 2000, Blue Squirrel broke free and spun off into an independent company. Blue Squirrel now develops and sells more than 15 innovative software titles over the Internet and through a variety of distributors and resellers around the world. How They Came Up With The Name Blue Squirrel The company's first product was called SQURL (Search and Query URL's), so they obviously used a squirrel as a mascot. They wanted the squirrel to stand out from the crowd, so they made him blue. Now, their mascot is the one and only Blue Squirrel. It sure makes for a memorable company name. Contact Sheri Paddock sherip@bluesquirrel.com Blue Squirrel 686 E 8400 South Sandy, Utah 84070 800-403-0925 801-352-1551 sales@bluesquirrel.com www.bluesquirrel.com/storefront Technical Support: 1-801-523-1065 support@bluesquirrel.com www.bluesquirrel.com/support