Convert documents to PDF

A friend asked me today if there was a tool that would convert files/documents to PDF. I've been asked this question before, so I though I'd answer it for everyone.

There are a few free utilities out there - I'm talking about the free ones only because they are for personal use where you don't need a licence.

One of my favourite ones was Foxit PDF Creator, but about a year ago they started doing some weird stuff like watermarking or using "TrialPlay" licensing. So I've since tried two programs and they've worked out great.

Before you yell at me because it doesn't work out of a box I'll let you know that both fo these have a specific requirement. They both require Ghostscrpit - which can be downloaded here.

What both pieces of software do, is create a virtual printer on your system. Anytime you need to create a PDF file, just goto your favourite document/spreadsheet/presentation or whatever tool for that matter. Goto File >> Print, and select the PDF printer that was installed. It will prompt you for a location where it will save the file, or it might save the file in an already specified directory.

Hope this help, post back with any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.