Currently, I use CUPS_PDF. It works but I'd love to have something smarter. Are there other options out there?

Is there any sort of printing chain-of-scripts that will render PDF files as output and give me access to smarter PDF files as a result?

Merci d'avance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

With open office you can create a PDF with an index/table of contents. And it generates forms and bookmarks in the sidebar for quick navigation.

example pdf generated

File > Export to PDF

Lots of time I'm in a browser and want to capture the page(s) for long term reference.
Yes, I keep a bookmark, but following an on-screen process is so much harder than a paper
process where I can make marginal notes and such. Too often, when I print-to-PDF, I get
a really crappy page that has little or nothing to do with the contents of the page at hand.
(My troubles might require a browser extension rather than a better print-to-pdf, but
that is why I'm asking.)

In addition to print-to-pdf from browser, there are other apps where pdf output is simply convenient. Can anyone tell me how to accomplish the following:

• take output from random application and direct it to __A__
• process __A__ into __B__
• filter __B__ to obtain a PDF format document file

where 'A' and 'B' might be one thing 'X' or multiple things 'X1' ... 'Xnnn'.

Once all of this is working, wrap it up somehow so that I can access the chain of processing
as if it were a printer. I believe that this might be part of CUPS or other something.

I believe there is a way to "print to file" where the output is postscript or encapsulated postscript. Further, I believe it is then easy to convert PS or EPS to PDF -- with or without intermediate steps (to add data for PDF tags or something).

Merci d'avance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

Perhaps this will give some ideas. http://slackwiki.org/PDF_Printing

If your printing to PDF using CUPS-PDF is crappy, then your printing to a real printer is very likely to be crappy also.

I get good output from OpenOffice and Inkscape and similar -- using CUPS to the printer.
My troubles are with the contents of "printed PDF" files. (I know that OpenOffice Writer will save to PDF. Bear with me.)

I have a document and print it. Fine
I export or save-as to PDF. Mostly works.
I use cups-pdf. Often trouble or missing parts.

As an example, I buy something online and get both a confirmation web page and a confirmation email.

I can print the email to paper. Fine.
I can print the email to PDF. Usually okay.
I can print the web page to paper. Fine.
I can print the web page to PDF. Usually broken -- missing parts, odd formatting, etc.

I suspect that there are certain formatting details that throw cups-pdf a curve
and once seen all bets are off for whatever follows.

Merci d'avance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

Ghostscript is a good pdf writer. Can convert ps to pdf.

I suppose that I could print-to-file -- mumble.PS -- and then direct that file to a printer. I believe that CUPS already will do the required conversions so that PS data arrives on paper using most modern printers.

Can you direct me to the details -- cups or ghostscript or elsewhere -- where print-to-XYZ causes a chain of filters and conversion and processing that eventually arrives at the desired output -- to-file or to-printer? I have vague memory of this years ago -- it feels like a cups script -- but cannot seem to find anything like that now.

Thanks,
~~~ 0;-Dan

From within most applications, I can select Print-To-File and specify a filename
"something.ps" The resulting output is PostScript.

I can then use ghostview (gv {filename}) to open the postscript and save to "something.pdf" ... or send the PS formatted materials to the printer.

I can finally use okular (or similar) to open the PDF and do whatever I want with it
... including sending the PDF formatted materials to the printer. The resulting PDF is better quality than what I get from CUPS-PDF.

I still don't know how to generate documents as tagged PDF or using other table-of-contents or indexing or searching features of the PDF document specification.

Thanks for the help thus far,
~~~ 0;-Dan

Can someone explain how processing things are different?

1. Print using cups-pdf -----> somefile.pdf

2. Print to file -----> somefile.pdf

3. Print to file -----> somefile.ps -----> filter PS to PDF -----> somefile.pdf

I would think that given the same original content, the resulting PDF would be
essentially identical. Nay verily!

There is some name for "PDF rendering". I suspect these three methods are similar.
When I try to diff the resulting PDF files, I don't learn much because I don't
understand what I see.

Here is some reading for you. Enjoy.

http://www.ma.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/man-cgi?ps2pdf+1
http://linux.die.net/man/1/pdf2ps
http://linux.die.net/man/1/a2ps
http://dell9.ma.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/man-cgi?gs+1
http://linux.die.net/man/1/ps2ps
http://linux.die.net/man/1/ps2ascii
http://linux.die.net/man/1/enscript

Ghostscript is the backend to making .ps .pdf files.
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/svn/Readme.htm

1 members found this post helpful.

For a BAYLOR Bear, all of those U-Texas cites grind my gears...
(grin)

Thanks for this lengthy reading list. With all of the winter weather, I'll stoke the fire and enjoy. Now to get PDF editions of all of that content onto my Android...

Cheers,
~~~ 0;-Dan