Exporting to a PDF file

Exporting to a PDF file

If necessary, you can produce output from Concordance in the form of a PDF (Portable Document Format) file for use with Adobe Acrobat. The best way to do this is to obtain software that lets you create PDF files by 'printing' from any document.

If you do not have such software, there is a free alternative. It is powerful but not easy to use or install. Hence it is probably worth obtaining only if you intend to use it repeatedly. I cannot offer advice or support for this beyond what appears below.

First you need a copy of GhostScript and its associated utilities. GhostScript is a very sophisticated free program which enables you to view, convert, and print PostScript files. (PostScript is a Page Description Language used by high-quality printers.) GhostScript is available from http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

Step 1

Download and install GhostScript and its accompanying programs including GSView, the PostScript viewer for Windows. Find out how to start and use these tools. This is probably not for the faint-hearted!

Step 2

Add a new dummy printer to your system. GhostScript works with PostScript files, so if we tell Windows we want to use a PostScript-capable printer, Windows will produce PostScript output for us. Go to Windows Control Panel, Printers, and choose Add Printer. Choose any printer with the PS suffix - for example, the Apple LaserWriter 12/640 PS. Connect the printer to the port called FILE: - as we don't actually have this printer, we're not going to print to it, but capture the PostScript output to a file on disk instead.

Step 3

Make your concordance. Choose Printer Setup on the File Menu to select the new PostScript printer. Then choose Print to open the Print Preview dialog. Preview your printing as usual. When you press the Print button, you'll be asked to enter the name of a file on disk. Choose any name - include the path where you want the file to be stored, and add the extension .PRN to the name. For example, C:\My Documents\Myfile.prn.

Step 4

You have now finished with Concordance. Start GSView and use it to open the PRN file you just made. GSView will use GhostScript to display it on screen. Now choose Print from GSView's File menu. Ghostscript uses its own printing devices, not the printers you have installed in Windows, so scroll through its list of devices and select the one called pdfwrite. This is the driver which can create an Adobe PDF file. Select the pages you want to convert to PDF, press OK, and then choose a filename for your PDF file.

Step 5

When GhostScript has finished converting the PostScript file to a PDF file, you are ready to use it with Acrobat Reader or any PDF viewer.