Computer Gurus -- .PDF Software?

[Demiurge]

Do any of you know of a software that will work well for a small business (30 machines or less) which will pretty much take any document (CAD files, word files, excel files, etc.) and convert it to a .pdf format so that I can email them easily to my customers, vendors, and upload them to my website?

I'm looking for a reputable software program. I don't want any freeware or anything like that. It should be something a lot of people in the business world use.

As it's been lately we have been sending them off for someone else to do. I could ask them, but I don't really want them to know we're considering phasing them out.

I've heard of Blue Beam, and it seems to me that it's the best option. Can anyone comment on that?

[nebborjk]

We use blue beam at the office. It does a nice job. The "push button" feature in ACAD is unbelievably simple to use.

[dragon1952]

You might do some research on Omnipage and PaperPort. We used to have some HP scanners that came with these programs and it seems to me that's what they were used for.

[Demiurge]

nebborjk --

Excellent, can it convert word, and excel files?

I really need it for my engineering staff, but I would like to use it as well for updating my websites.

[unc2701]

The adobe printer driver usually works pretty well- it looks like a printer on your computer, but it just converts whatever you send to it to a PDF. Very tweakable, so you can adjust DPI, etc.

[MattN03]

We just use Adobe Acrobat Standard. Not sure of the price, but it'll convert anything to .PDF.

[Demiurge]

We just use Adobe Acrobat Standard. Not sure of the price, but it'll convert anything to .PDF.

Cool, Blue Beam has a lower price point per seat, but I'll check this out too.

[unc2701]

I believe part of the adobe package is a program that you can install on the server that sets up an input & output directory on that server- everything you drop in there is converted and dropped in the output folder. I'll try to find the name of that utility & which package it's in. That's probably a lot more effective than paying per seat.

[petrym]

There's a low cost app called Pdf Factory.

[Demiurge]

I believe part of the adobe package is a program that you can install on the server that sets up an input & output directory on that server- everything you drop in there is converted and dropped in the output folder. I'll try to find the name of that utility & which package it's in. That's probably a lot more effective than paying per seat.

Yeah, let me know about that one. Might be a better option.

[Kris Siegel]

CuteFTP is what I used to use. It lets you print to a PDF. I forget what the price is (it might be free or very cheap).

[nebborjk]

Blue Beam installs itself as a printer on your system. It will "print to pdf" nearly any document. I've used it on word and excel in the past with great results.

[BlueMDPicker]

BCL makes an excellent line of PDF related products. Relatively inexpensive and easy to use.

[wallstreet]

Yea, Adobe PDF Writer. It looks just like a printer on your PC. Print to it and it creates the PDF. I use it to send large graphic documents to folks. The nice thing is you can search text in the graphic.

[Demiurge]

I bought Adobe Acrobat Pro 7.0 last night, and I love it.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.