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mattbrowne's avatar

What is the best free PDF writer software for Windows 7?

Asked by mattbrowne (31732points) June 26th, 2010

On my XP machines I’ve been using AFPL Ghostscript 8.51 for many years. It never gave me any problems. There were just 2 exe files to get it installed (gs851w32.exe and freepdfxp.exe) and even without rebooting a new printer name shows in the drop-down menu of the print pop-up window. Piece of cake.

One of our new PCs at home runs Windows 7. I tried to install the same software but it failed. There is one missing compatible DLL, so I guess I need something else.

Instead of googling for something new, I’d rather rely on recommendations from folks I trust. There’s too much bad stuff out there.

Any experience? How do you generate PDFs on Windows 7?

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7 Answers

TrickyZZZZ's avatar

Have you tried googling for the DLL? If you do find it just put it in C:\WINDOWS\System32 (or SysWOW64 if it is a 64-bit dll) and type regsvr32 C:\WIDNOWS\System32\Dllname.dll or you could put the DLL in the same folder as the EXE. What is the DLL name?

I do not know of any free PDF writer though since I do not use it.

mattbrowne's avatar

@TrickyZZZZ – I thought about that, but if there’s a new reliable download available for Windows 7 I would prefer this approach.

TrickyZZZZ's avatar

Just because you have to download a missing component dosen’t make the software unreliable. I’ve had to download mswinsck.ocx plenty of times before to run older vb software. It’s just an older program so download the library.

To each their own though. I’m sure someone will chime in.

LeotCol's avatar

You could try Primo PDF

Since I have office 07 I just have that export pdfs from that most of the time.

jaytkay's avatar

I’ve used CutePDF Writer for years.

@LeotCol MS Word and Excel will Save As PDF. If it’s not an option in your menu, there is a free download from Microsoft.

mattbrowne's avatar

I’ll give them a try. Thanks, guys!

jaytkay's avatar

Clarifying – MS Word and Excel, versions 2007 and above will Save As PDF

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