Category: Downloads

Update to Win2PDF Includes new Text to PDF Options for Legacy Reports

The latest Win2PDF update includes an additional command line feature to convert reports and other specially formatted documents to PDF using a fixed width font. This feature is needed for some reports to be rendered and viewed correctly, since many applications (especially older ones) were designed to send reports to a line printer or a simple fixed width text file. The results only look correct if each character is equally spaced.

Previously, the Win2PDF txt2pdf command line option would create a PDF file with variable width text. With the new command line option – formattedtxt2pdf – users can output the file with a fixed width text font instead of variable width text.

For example, here’s a portion of a report generated by a legacy application and saved to a PDF file using the original txt2pdf command.

Notice that the report doesn’t look right because the characters aren’t evenly spaced. However, here is the same report converted to a pdf file with the new formattedtxt2pdf command.

Now it looks correct, even though the text is exactly the same.

In addition to this command line feature, there’s a new Win2PDF Reformat As Text plug-in to simplify the creation of the files using this method.

First, download the plug-in setup file and double-click on it to configure the Win2PDF Reformat As Text plug-in. You will be prompted to enter the paper size, font size, and margin size to configure the plug-in values as shown below.

You may need to adjust these options to allow all text to fit on a page. Then, after the plug-in has been installed and configured, you can check the new box on the Win2PDF file save window labeled Reformat As Text. When saved, the fixed width formatted PDF file will be created.

Give it a try and if you have any questions, let us know.

Win2PDF on A Mac? Win2PDF Pro Now Works On Windows for Arm devices, Including Macs

For years (decades, actually), Win2PDF has been providing customers with software to create, convert, and modify PDF files on their Windows computers. Typically, these have been Intel-based PCs, servers, and even older Macs/Macbooks with Intel-based processors (running Windows virtualization software like Parallels or VMWare).

But now we’re starting to get requests for Windows on Arm-based devices, which are increasingly popular for light-weight notebooks, tablets and especially with the newer Apple Mac M1 and M2 computers.

Starting today, with our Win2PDF Pro 10.0.159 prerelease, we’re providing limited support for Windows on Arm in our Win2PDF Pro software.

What is Arm? If my computer is running Windows, why does it matter?

For most users, it doesn’t. It does matter, however, to software developers like us. Additional coding is required to make software compatible with Windows for Arm, and we’ve just started that process with this prerelease. Very simply put, historically Intel processors have been more powerful and versatile (requiring comparatively higher resources and power). Arm processors, on the other hand, are newer, more efficient, require less power, and are increasingly matching or exceeding performance compared to Intel chips.

That’s why Arm processors are popular right now. Their low power consumption makes them ideal for lightweight mobile products like Apple MacBooks and Microsoft Surface.

Will Win2PDF Pro fully support Windows on Arm?

The Win2PDF Pro software contains three primary components – a PDF printer (named “Win2PDF”), an Image printer (named “Win2Image”), and a Win2PDF Desktop App. The Win2PDF printer creates PDFs by printing from any application, the Win2Image printer creates image files by printing from any application, and the Win2PDF Desktop supports multiple format conversions to and from PDF, batch convert, advanced rename features, and email options.

Currently, the Win2PDF Pro for Windows on Arm prerelease only supports the Win2PDF Desktop App and command line functionality. The reasons for the limited support are lengthy and technical, but in a nutshell, the first two components – Win2PDF and Win2Image – are printers, and these printers are more difficult to adapt to work on different hardware. We’ll continue to evaluate and work on expanded support for Windows on Arm in the future, but for now, it’ll just work with the Win2PDF Desktop App and command line.

Ready to get started?

Head over to the Win2PDF website to download Win2PDF Pro for Windows on Arm now.

If you do not already have a Win2PDF Pro license, request a 30-day trial license and put “Win2PDF Pro for ARM” in the Subject field.

Streamline Your Batch PDF Conversions with Nested Folder Support in Latest Win2PDF Update

The latest Win2PDF 10 Build 158 update brings forth a series of new features that have been requested by our customers. Let’s take a closer look at the notable additions and improvements:

1. Subfolder Support in Batch Convert (Win2PDF Pro only)

One of the most frequently requested additions in this update is the inclusion of subfolder support in the Batch Convert feature (and Batch Convert command line option). Previously, you could only batch convert files in a single folder. With this enhancement, however, you can convert documents within multiple nested subfolders.

For example, suppose you wanted to convert many scanned image files to .PDF files in a folder called “Invoices”. And under the “Invoices” folder you had subfolders for years (e.g. “2021”, “2022”, “2023”, etc.). And under each year subfolder you had additional subfolders for months (e.g. “Jan”, “Feb”, “Mar”, etc.). Now you can convert all files with a single operation just by selecting the topmost parent folder and then checking the ‘Include Subfolders’ option.

When you enable the “Include Subfolders” option, the folder structure in the “Convert Files From” is mirrored in the “Save To Folder” location.

2. Optional Margin Parameters in HTML2PDF Command Line

With the integration of optional margin parameters in the HTML2PDF command line, users gain greater control over the layout and presentation of converted HTML files into PDF format. This feature allows for customized margin settings (for top, bottom, left and right margins), ensuring documents maintain their intended formatting in the converted PDF files.

3. New SIGNWITHSTAMP Command Line option for PDF Signing (Win2PDF Pro only)

This update also adds the SIGNWITHSTAMP command line feature, which enables users to sign PDF documents with a certificate AND include a signature bitmap. Users can specify the size and location of the signature bitmap using new command line parameters.

4. Optional Width and Height Parameters in Image-to-PDF Command Lines

The update brings optional width and height parameters to various command lines (“TIFF2PDF“, “JPG2PDF“, “PNG2PDF“, “BMP2PDF“, “GIF2PDF“, “IMAGE2PDF“). This enhancement allows for precise customization of the output PDF dimensions, offering flexibility in document size and layout.

5. Improved DOCX to PDF Conversion (Win2PDF Pro only)

Win2PDF 10 Build 158 significantly enhances the DOCX to PDF conversion process in both the DOCX2PDF command line and Batch Convert DOCX to PDF feature. These improvements ensure better accuracy and fidelity when converting Microsoft Word documents to PDF format.

Upgrade and Trial Information

Existing Win2PDF 7 and Win2PDF 10 users can enjoy this update as a free upgrade.

This latest update contains features that were all created based on customer requests and feedback. Do you have a feature you’d like to have added or modified? If so, let us know and we’ll look into it.

New Win2PDF Pro TSE Feature: Run Watch Folder As A Service

Continuing our feature posts about the 10.0.154 Win2PDF Update, let’s now take a look at running the Watch Folder as a Windows Service.

Previously, the watch folder needed to be initiated by a user, and an open window needed to be running on the machine for the Watch Folder to work. Now, it can be set up as a Windows Service in the background. This feature is ONLY available in the Win2PDF Pro Terminal Server Edition (TSE) version of the software.

[Recommended: If you haven’t used the Watch Folder and Convert feature in the past, it’s recommended that you start by running the feature interactively by starting the “Watch Folder and Convert” shortcut from the Windows Start menu. This allows you to see any errors as you configure the folder and convert type options.]

When everything is working correctly when running interactively and you’re ready to run the feature as a service, you should close the interactive Watch Folder window. Next, right click on the “Watch Folder and Convert” shortcut from the Windows Start menu, and choose “Run As Administrator…“.

The title of the window will display “Service Config: Watch Folder and Convert“, and this is where you can select your watch folder and conversion format. The last used settings are restored in this Window.

When you click on the Save Config button, Win2PDF installs and starts a Windows service using the settings in this window. The service will automatically start with Windows, and does not require that anyone is logged in to the server. You can verify the service is running by viewing the Services window from the Windows control panel.

The service runs under the local system account by default. If the “Convert files from” or “Save To Folders” are not accessible from the local system account, you can configure the service to run under a different user using the “Log on” tab of the “Services” applet in the Control Panel Administrative Tools.

If you want to try this feature please request a 30-day evaluation license. Make sure to include that you need this specific feature in your request so we can send you the Win2PDF Pro TSE evaluation version.

New Win2PDF Pro Features: Batch Convert To A Single PDF File

In our previous blog post announcing the 10.0.154 Win2PDF Update, we mentioned a couple of new features that are specific to Win2PDF Pro. Let’s take a closer look at the first.

Batch Convert to a Single Merged PDF File

Previously, the batch convert feature in Win2PDF Desktop converted a folder of files in one format to another folder with a different format. If you had 10 .JPG files, for example, you could create 10 PDF files with batch convert.

However, suppose you had a folder of image files that were scanned pages of a book or document and you wanted to convert them all into a single PDF file, and one that had searchable text?

That’s where the new feature comes in. To use it, you just need to open the Win2PDF Desktop app and choose Batch Convert…

Select the folder that has your original files (Convert Files From). These can be PDF files, image files, or documents in various formats. And select the output folder (Save To Folder), and then choose the Save Type to be “Merged File…” When any of the “Merged File…” options are selected, you will be able to input a Merged File Name for the resulting file.

In our example, we’ll convert a folder of seven .PNG image files (each representing a scanned survey result), and store the results in as a Searchable (OCR) PDF file named ‘Survey Results.pdf’. Note: Any type of PDF output format can be used, but the OCR feature will make sure the results are searchable.

Notice that there are several Merged File options, which allows you to control the order in which the files are merged together. They can be sorted by alphabetical order (based on the original filename), or based on the time the original files were created or modified. When you press the Convert button, you’ll see the following pop-up.

And that’s really all there is to it. In this case, the seven individual image files (pages) in one folder have been saved to a single PDF file, and one that is searchable.

The Win2PDF BATCHCONVERT command line has also been updated to support merging to a single PDF.

Batch Merge PDFs To A Single PDF

In addition to batch converting between formats, you can also batch merge folders of existing PDF files to a single merged PDF. You aren’t limited to only converting between files types, you can also merge multiple PDF files together.

It operates in the same way by opening the “Batch Convert…” window and then choosing a folder of PDF files as the input. Again, you can choose the order of merging based on the file names, or the dates of creation or modification of the files.

You can also combine multiple PDFs into a single merged PDF from the command line using the BATCHCONVERT command.

This has been a frequently requested feature. In prior releases, Win2PDF could only append one file at a time, and we’ve had many customers wanting to merge multiple PDFs together in a single operation. Now you can with one click!

If you want to try this feature please request a 30-day evaluation license for Win2PDF Pro.

Win2PDF Update Adds New Features for Batch Converting, Watch Folders, and Command Line Printing

The newest release of Win2PDF 10.0.154 is now available on the Win2PDF Download site.

New features in this update include the following.

For Win2PDF Pro only:

For Win2PDF Pro Terminal Server Edition (TSE) only:

For all versions of the Win2PDF command line:

  • Added a tray selection option to the command line PRINTPDF command.

For all versions of Win2PDF:

________

This Win2PDF 10 update is a free upgrade for Win2PDF 7 and Win2PDF 10 users. If you would like to evaluate one of the new Win2PDF Pro features (PDF watermark, PDF security, batch-convert, auto-rename, or watch folder), contact us for a free 30 day trial of Win2PDF Pro.

We’ll be providing a more detailed look at these new features in the subsequent blog posts.

Win2PDF 10.0.144 is now available

The latest release of Win2PDF (10.0.144) is now available on the Win2PDF Download site.

The biggest additions to this release are specific to the Win2PDF Pro version of the software, which now supports the ability to batch convert standard word processing documents (Microsoft Word, Open Document Text, and Rich Text Format) to PDF.

Here’s a summary of changes in this new version:

This Win2PDF 10 update is a free upgrade for all Win2PDF 7 and Win2PDF 10 users. If you have an existing Win2PDF standard edition license and wish to use any of the new Win2PDF Pro features, you can purchase a Win2PDF Pro Upgrade.

We’ll be posting more specific information on some of these features next week, with more details on changes to the interface and how these new features can be used. In the meantime, if you would like to evaluate one of the new Win2PDF Pro features (PDF watermark, PDF security, batch-convert, auto-rename, or watch folder), contact us for a free 30 day trial of Win2PDF Pro.

Win2PDF Now Supports PDF Direct Printing

What is PDF Direct printing?

PDF Direct is a feature available on many printers that allows PDF files to be sent straight to the printer without being processed through any software first. There may be slightly different names used by each printer company, but it’s typically referred to as PDF Direct Print or Direct PDF printing.

This feature is useful because it is a much faster way for printers to print PDF files since there is no intermediate conversion process needed by software.

Most business class printers from HP, OKI, Kyocera, Ricoh, Canon, and Xerox support PDF Direct printing, but most consumer inkjet printers do not support it. Look up your printer’s documentation for the specific model to see if it supports PDF Direct printing or not. If you aren’t sure, it’s safer to use the Win2PDF Print PDF command line. This is slower but will work for all printers.

One important caveat: If you attempt to use this feature on a paper printer that does not support PDF Direct printing, many pages of garbled text will be printed instead of the PDF.

This feature is available in the Win2PDF 10.0.142 version or higher, and it is a free update to all Win2PDF 10 users.

There are 2 ways to use the latest Win2PDF software to print PDF files directly.

  1. Use the command line option for Win2PDF PDF Print Direct [link goes to documentation for this feature].

This is probably most useful for larger organizations that are batching many PDF files to the printers, perhaps along with other Win2PDF command line options.

  1. Use the new Win2PDF Direct Print Plug-In [link goes to download page for plug-in].

This is probably most useful for users interactively generating PDF files.

When you install the plug-in setup, you will be prompted to select a PDF Direct Printer.

After this is selected and saved, a copy of each printed Win2PDF PDF file will be sent automatically to this PDF Direct Printer until disabled. To disable this feature, you can remove the Win2PDF Direct Print Plug-In using the Windows control panel.

This feature may not be useful to all PDF users, but for organizations that are processing large volumes of PDF files it can dramatically reduce the time needed for printing.

When we presented this for testing to a customer who wanted this feature, he replied:

There is no question why I highly recommend Win2PDF to all my clients and will continue to do so! Unbelievable service for an outstanding product!

Brian H., Hawaii

Name or Rename PDF Files Based on Content Below a Search Term

In previous blog posts [see 1, 2], we showed how Win2PDF can name (or rename) PDF files based on data contained within a file. This feature has been especially useful for users needing to manipulate invoices, as this twitter user has noted:

Brainsweat. Lots of it. We’ve been talking with a lot of users that are spending a lot of time trying to sort through massive numbers of PDF invoices and renaming them based on content, attaching them to emails, splitting them apart, etc.

We now have a free update (Win2PDF 10.0.141) that expands on the capability to make this happen. Namely, it adds the capability to capture the search field below a search term. Previously it only allowed you to select text that followed after a search term. As many of you may know, it’s not uncommon for the invoice number to reside on a different line, so now both types of searches are possible, as shown below:

To use this feature, you’ll first need to open a sample PDF document in the Win2PDF Desktop App to define the Auto-Name Search Field.

Then, based on the example file shown above, you’d enter in the Content Search Word of “Invoice #”, choose the search direction to be “Search Below”, and it will show you what the found search field is:

After you have defined this search field, you can do a few things.

One, you can use this term to rename a batch of PDF files if they already exist. You simply need to select the Auto-Rename menu option from the Win2PDF Desktop App, and then choose your Auto-Name variables including the “Search Field 1” text as shown below.

Two, instead of renaming existing PDF files, you can set your current printing method to use this Auto-Name method for new PDF files. You’ll just need to go to the Configure Win2PDF Auto-Name Settings page to set up how you’d like the PDF files to be named.

And three, you can use this feature via the command line interface for more advanced users. Previously we used the command line command “getcontentsearch” to find search text that immediately follows the search word. Now we’ve added the “getcontentsearchbelow” command, which finds the search text that is directly below the search word.

Hopefully, this is one additional feature to reduce the amount of brainsweat required for managing your invoices.

PDF Bookmarks, Import/Export Win2PDF Settings & More in Latest Win2PDF Update

If you have changed Win2PDF from the default settings and want to preserve them when you move to a new computer (or group of computers), there is a new feature in our most recent Win2PDF 10.0.140 release that will help. You can now export your Win2PDF settings to a file, and then import that file on a new machine once you have reinstalled Win2PDF.

Win2PDF Desktop Settings Export/Import

This is accomplished through the Win2PDF Desktop Application (shown above). It can also be used from the Win2PDF command line with the EXPORTSETTINGS and IMPORTSETTINGS commands.

The ability to export/import settings can be very useful if you use Win2PDF with multiple printers with different settings; this feature will export/import multiple Win2PDF printers if they are configured.

It is also useful if you have configured Win2PDF with the Auto-name feature, or have made numerous other changes to the standard Win2PDF settings. Once you’ve established your desired settings, you can use this feature to backup your configuration settings, or use it to copy to a group of other machines using Win2PDF (if you wanted all users to Auto-name files in the exact same way, for example).

Also included in this release is support for PDF bookmarks. Bookmarks are a quick and easy way to jump to a certain section of a PDF file with a single click from a bookmarked word or phrase. You can see an example of a PDF file with bookmarks in the following image (using Adobe Reader).

Bookmarks in PDF – Shown in Adobe Reader

You can now add or delete bookmarks using the following command line options:

  • The ADDBOOKMARK command line allows you to specify a title and page number to insert into a PDF file.
  • The ADDBOOKMARKAFTERSEARCH command line allows you to search through a PDF document for a keyword (like “Chapter” or “Invoice”, for example), and then add a bookmark to that section of the PDF file. This is probably the most useful bookmark command because it lets you add bookmarks without knowing what page the anchor text resides on. It makes it easy to create bookmarks on dynamically generated reports with anchor text that may vary when each report is generated.
  • The DELETEBOOKMARKS command line can be used to remove bookmarks from any PDF file.

Lastly, we added the ability to remove a trial license to the Win2PDF Desktop Application through the Help menu.

Win2PDF Desktop – Remove Win2PDF License

This makes it easy to enter a purchased license without having to uninstall and reinstall the software after the evaluation period.

If you would like to evaluate Win2PDF or Win2PDF Pro, contact us for a free 30 day trial.

This Win2PDF 10.0.140 update is a free upgrade for Win2PDF 7 and Win2PDF 10 users.