Kalispell Copy Center can accept nearly any type of file for printing. However, to expedite the process of digital file to print we prefer files come as print-ready PDF documents. PDF (portable document format) files are standardized, are easy and free to create and will help you share documents with nearly everyone in the print industry. They preserve fonts, embedded images, vector graphics and more, giving you exactly what you see on screen. PDFs work for word documents, publisher documents, Autocad drawings and nearly everything that is printable. This guide is intended to help customers of Kalispell Copy Center learn the basics of creating PDFs.

Mac OS X and Linux users already have PDF creation built into the operating system. For users of these systems, simply print to your PDF Printer, or variants thereof.

1.0: Download the PDF Writer

To create PDF files from your Windows PC, you will first need an extra piece of software. (please skip this step if you already have a PDF creator such as Adobe Acrobat or PDFCreator) Kalispell Copy Center recommends the free CutePDF Writer. CutePDF Writer comes in two files which must be downloaded and installed: Download 1, Download 2. Once you have downloaded and installed both these files, continue to Step 2.

2.0: Creating PDF Files

Now that we have CutePDF installed, creating PDF files is as easy as printing to a printer. In your application, choose the print command and you will be presented with a window similar to this one:

Choose CutePDF Writer from the drop-down menu:

Click OK or Print to confirm the Print Dialog:
You will be presented with a Save As dialog by CutePDF. Choose the location for your PDF and click OK. A file will be created in the location chosen.

You're Done!

2.1 Creating PDFs from Autocad

Creating PDF files using CutePDF is as simple as printing a normal file to your plotter. Scale is often a problem when draftsmen/architects/engineers get their files printed. Creating PDFs will help eliminate this issue by putting the control over the scale and page size in your hands.

Your Autocad Print Dialog may differ from this image but key elements should still be present.

1. Choose CutePDF Writer from the Plotter Name Field
2. Choose the appropriate paper size (in this case Architectural D)
3. Select the proper scale for your document.

If you are not using layouts you may also have to choose your plot area specifically by choosing Window from What to plot.