Re: [WinMac] PDFWriter vs. Distiller

Leonard Rosenthol(leonardr[at]Adobe.COM)
Thu, 8 Oct 1998 10:50:10 -0400

At 10:40 AM -0400 10/8/98, Thomas Roth wrote:
>My question then is when do I know which route to use to get to PDF?
>
        Ah, an easy question ;).

        PDFWriter is a Quickdraw/GDI-based printer driver, meaning that
your graphics are limited to the features and capabilities of the OS. So
if your output doesn't need all the bells/whistles of Postscript, then use
PDFWriter.

        However, if you want the BEST output possible in your PDF files,
your best best is to print to Postscript and then have run that through
Distiller (either manually or automatically with Laserwriter 8.x - if
you're on a Mac).

>Most
>of the time I'm converting PageMaker files and so I've been using the
>Export to PDF function and then Distilling to get the PDF.
>
        Which is fine, because that way you'll get the best looking output
from PM since it can take advantage of the PS output. One other advantage
of using PM's "Export to PDF" feature, rather than direct printing, is that
PM will add in "extras" to the PDF file such as live Hyperlinks and other
annotations.

>Some of our
>designers want to be able to make PDFs of their work so they can email
>their clients an electronic proof and it seems the PDFWriter might be
>easier and quicker for them.
>
        I would say that for most proofs, you'd probably be fine with
PDFWriter. (but don't forget you still need to buy one copy per
workstation)

Leonard

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Leonard Rosenthol <mailto:leonardr@adobe.com>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Thu Oct 08 1998 - 07:55:08 PDT