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ankurcd · Dec 5, 2007, 10:54 AM

Hi,

A quick question... is Acrbat reader download free for Mac users? Is the below link for the same ?

Adobe - Adobe Reader Download - All versions

Thanks!

Big Mac · Dec 5, 2007, 10:59 AM

Yeah, Adobe Reader's also on OS X for free, but OS X has PDF display technology built-in and comes with a light-weight PDF reader called Preview.

Kevin · Dec 5, 2007, 11:14 AM

Yeah I just use preview.. though I wouldn't make PDFs in preview for professional work..

mdc · Dec 5, 2007, 11:25 AM

And you can create PDF documents out of any application in OS X by going to File > Print > PDF.

Kevin · Dec 5, 2007, 01:08 PM

Right. But I think distiller does a better job over all. Esp with critical files.

ankurcd · Dec 5, 2007, 01:28 PM

thanks guys...

olePigeon · Dec 5, 2007, 01:29 PM

You need Adobe Reader when dealing with PDF forms with any sort of calculation script. I've found that preview is almost worthless.

Kevin · 03:15 PM

Depends on who is making it. If it doesn't work with Preview, that doesn't mean it's always preview's fault. Most all PDF errors that have happened to me in Preview I can usually trace back to the person doing something wrong when making said PDF.

I think office now has a save as PDF feature. And it makes horrible PDFs. (Wonder why.....)

Gankdawg · Dec 5, 2007, 03:13 PM

For reading .pdf, another vote for Preview. And in XP, I use FoxIt Reader. Acrobat is too bloated and takes to long to load. And now, with Leopard, we have Quick View......

peeb · Dec 5, 2007, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

I think office now has a save as PDF feature. And it makes horrible PDFs. (Wonder why.....)

Office 2004 just uses the OS save as PDF feature - no need to reinvent the wheel...

Kevin · Dec 5, 2007, 06:29 PM

Well most don't flatten fonts like they should. Or they don't send them along. 95% of PDF problems I have are cause of this.

Cadaver · Dec 5, 2007, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by peeb

Office 2004 just uses the OS save as PDF feature - no need to reinvent the wheel...

I think he was referring to Office 2007 (WIndows) generated PDFs. Microsoft offers a downloadable pack which allows Office (not other apps) to export files as PDFs, but I'm not sure how good the quality is.

ghporter · Dec 5, 2007, 09:07 PM

I have tried hard to depend on Preview for PDFs, but I still go back to Reader. Reader's search capabilities seem to be better, and of course you can complete fillable forms using Reader but not Preview. I haven't had a need to get Acrobat yet, so I can't compare products from >print>save as PDF, but I'd be interested to find out how they compare in their output.

analogika · Dec 6, 2007, 03:57 AM

What about the Leopard Preview?

It's MUCH improved and enhanced over the Tiger version.

ghporter · Dec 6, 2007, 07:11 AM

Not up to Leopard yet. School and the holidays have taken up my available time and money...

ankurcd · Dec 7, 2007, 01:31 AM

File > Print > PDF

In my Thinkpad I use PDF995 to create PDF files... you can take any document and press print... and then you can select PDF995 from the selection of printers... voila... you have your PDF created..

I must say I haven't found any issues with it and it is for Free.... BUT, I don't think they have a version for Mac yet...

analogika · Dec 7, 2007, 09:17 AM

Every single application on the Mac that can print can create a PDF.

The functionality is BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM. There's a PDF button in every single print dialog, system-wide.

There is no need for something like PDF995.

However, using the Print - PDF function there is no control over how the .pdf is compressed, how and which fonts are embedded, etc.

Which is where Acrobat Professional comes in. At €800 or so.

frdmfghtr · Dec 7, 2007, 10:46 AM

(Deleted--was talking out my piehole)

Art Vandelay · Dec 7, 2007, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by analogika

Every single application on the Mac that can print can create a PDF.

The functionality is BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM. There's a PDF button in every single print dialog, system-wide.

There is no need for something like PDF995.

However, using the Print - PDF function there is no control over how the .pdf is compressed, how and which fonts are embedded, etc.

Which is where Acrobat Professional comes in. At €800 or so.

ankurcd knows that, no need to yell at him. He was talking about his Thinkpad, i.e. a PC, when he mentioned PDF995.

analogika · Dec 7, 2007, 11:54 AM

Knowing he's about to buy his first Mac, it didn't seem to me like he would be aware of that from his post.

It's not something you expect, coming from Windows.

(I didn't mean to sound testy, at all, as you may see from the other thread I linked to.)

JKT · Dec 8, 2007, 02:42 PM

Fwiw, PDF Creator is another free option for the PC, just in case anyone else was looking for things the other way around.