Simple Print to PDF

It’s surprising that as of Windows 8, Microsoft hasn’t added a native print to PDF function. In searching for a free solution, I looked at CutePDF Writer, doPDF Free PDF Converter, and PrimoPDF. I thought this would be a straightforward comparison, there ended up being no clear winner.

I printed (using program defaults) one page from the Wikipedia PDF page and compared the output. On Windows 7 Home Premium, I used Google Chrome‘s (version 25.0.1364.172 m), Firefox (version 8.0.1), and Internet Explorer (version 9.0.8112.16421) 64-bit Edition. I also compared the output of these PDF printers to Chrome’s and MacOS’s built in PDF printers.

CutePDF

Link: http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/writer.asp
Version: 3.0

CutePDF-Save

Pros

  • High Quality Images: I could not discern a degradation of the image compressed by CutePDF.
  • Clean Interface: CutePDF does nor present the user with options. When you click “Print”, it asks you where you’d like to save the file.

Cons

  • Slow initialization: 2 seconds or more from clicking “Print” to when the save dialog appears
  • The save dialog doesn’t grab focus. After clicking “Print” and waiting a few seconds, I had to click on the browser window to get the save dialog to appear.
  • Large Files: the PDFs generated by CutePDF were between 79KB and 84KB
  • Old Save Dialg: CutePDF uses Windows save dialog that does not display the Navigation Pane.
  • Installer tried to install two foistware that I had to opt-out of. Make sure you opt out of these, but install ps2pdf which is required.

doPDF Free PDF Converter

Link: http://www.dopdf.com/
Version: 7.3.388

doPDF-Settings

Pros

  • The installation was straightfoward with no surprises.
  • Small files: the PDFs generated by doPDF were between 17KB and 27KB

Cons

  • Errors: Clicking cancel when printing from IE resulted in IE thinking there was an error printing. Also, saving to my E: drive, doPDF gave me permission errors, and I haven’t been able to figure out why.
  • Low quality images: There is noticeable blurring of the PDF icon even without zooming in.

PrimoPDF

Link: http://www.primopdf.com/
Version: 5.1.0.2

PrimoPDF-Settings

Pros

  • The installation was straightfoward with no surprises.
  • Lots of options, but tested with the default of saving files for viewing on a Screen.

Cons

  • Low quality images: There is noticeable blurring of the PDF icon even without zooming in.
  • Large files: the files generated by PrimoPDF were between 69KB and 82KB.

PDFCreator

Link: http://www.pdfforge.org/download
Version 1.6.2

Be careful while downloading, because the download page has ads that include “Download” links along with links to download other PDFForge programs.

Also while installing, make sure you uncheck the extra software. I don’t think you need to install “PDF Architect” or “COM samples”.
PDFCreator-Install

After installing (assuming you live in the US and want to print to letter sized paper), perform the following steps (in Windows 7) to change the default paper size:

  1. Open the Start menu
  2. Click “Devices and Pinters”
  3. Right click on “PDFCreator” and select “Printing preferences”
  4. Click the “Advanced…” button
  5. Use the “Paper Size:” drop down menu to select a new default paper size
  6. Click “OK”, “OK”, and close

Thanks thundt for the tip on PDFCreator’s default paper size.

Settings Dialog:
PDFCreator-Settings

Pros

  • Quick, accurate PDF creation.
  • Straightforward, no settings.
  • Quality: The icon on the page shows minor blurring when zooming in but does not show visible artifacts.
  • Uses the standard Windows save dialog
  • Allows the user to set a few properties in the PDF without complicating the creation process.

Cons

  • Attempts to install extra unnecessary software.
  • Large files, the sample was comparable to MacOS and CutePDF.

Reference Implementations

Chrome’s built in PDF function saved a sharp image, but generated a 110KB file.

MacOS PDF printer (used from Safari) saved a sharp image and generated a 82KB file.

Conclusion

For a simple straightforward print to PDF solution that you don’t have to worry about, I think PDFCreator is the best. It is quick, is very straightforward once configured, and produces quality PDFs. CutePDF is second, because of its quirks (the save dialog). Nowadays, space is cheap, so I’d rather make sure I’m saving what I’m seeing instead of saving some space.

The other options aren’t bad, and can probably produce comparable results, but I think printing to PDF should be a process that doesn’t require thought.

Files

2 thoughts on “Simple Print to PDF”

  1. thundt

    Thanks for the nice bake-off.

    Re PDFCreator,

    One caution: PDFCreator is written by a German, and defaults to (DIN) A4 paper size (slightly narrower and longer than US-standard Letter, meaning things at the bottom might get slightly cut off when printing on 8-1/2×11 Letter sized paper). So, if you want it to make Letter size PDF pages, as an extra step after installation, you have to drill down to the default paper size setting and change it to that. I think the navigation is (from the PDFCreator print queue window) Printer > Properties > General > Preferences > Advanced > Paper Size.

    The COM samples are little vbs scripts that can be run before/after file creation, to do things like pop up a window telling you your file was created. I edited one of these to self-dismiss after 2 seconds. I set the program to Auto-Save to a default filename (a timestamp) and this lets me know it succeeded.

    1. Kenji Yoshino Post author

      Thanks for the feedback thundt. I added instructions to change PDFCreator’s default paper size to letter. It’s good to know exactly what the COM samples are for. I’ll probably play around with them some, but I think they’re well beyond wanting something to install and forget.

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