rjmiller15
asked on
Converting PageMaker File into PDF
One of my web clients would like an online newsletter to be available. They are sending me the file format in pagemaker (.p65) file....how can I convert this to PDF if I do not have Pagemaker?
I would prefer a freeware program to do this.
I tried walking them through sending it to a postscript file and then distilling it - but they are lost and I'd rather not deal with the hassle.
Help appreciated in advance.
I would prefer a freeware program to do this.
I tried walking them through sending it to a postscript file and then distilling it - but they are lost and I'd rather not deal with the hassle.
Help appreciated in advance.
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Karl Heinz Kremer
BTW: If your customer has Acrobat installed, they can print directly to the Adobe PDF printer from within PageMaker, there is no need to print to PostScript first and manually distill the file (printing to the Adobe PDF printer will perform exactly the same steps, but automatically).
ASKER
I tried to walk my client through this, and they could not. I would prefer to keep it as streamlined and simple as possible by just doing this for them.
And as I mentioned before, I do not have Pagemaker, so I cannot open the file at all.
And as I mentioned before, I do not have Pagemaker, so I cannot open the file at all.
You need PageMaker to convert the file, there is no way around this (that is, as long as you don't have another application that can read PageMaker files - e.g. Adobe InDesign, or Quark Xpress with an extension).
khkremer's right, you need a DTP application to open that file.
Best option: generate the PDF on-site at the customer's location using their software. That way, all fonts and graphics will be available. If you have the PM file but are missing graphics or fonts, you're not going to be able to produce a good PDF. Of course this doesn't help if you're in a different town.
Take the Pagemaker file to the nearest Kinko's (or similar outfit), and rent a little time on one of their Macs. They have Pagemaker and Acrobat available, among others, and you can knock out a PDF in no time. If that's not an option, you're going to have to find someone with Pagemaker who will do it for you. Any local printer/service bureau should be able to help (for a fee, of course)
Alternate option: Try to walk the customer through generating a postscript file and sending it to you. Then you can use Distiller or Ghostscript to generate a PDF. But if they can't figure out how to use a PDF printer, printing postscript to a file will probably not be successful either.
Best option: generate the PDF on-site at the customer's location using their software. That way, all fonts and graphics will be available. If you have the PM file but are missing graphics or fonts, you're not going to be able to produce a good PDF. Of course this doesn't help if you're in a different town.
Take the Pagemaker file to the nearest Kinko's (or similar outfit), and rent a little time on one of their Macs. They have Pagemaker and Acrobat available, among others, and you can knock out a PDF in no time. If that's not an option, you're going to have to find someone with Pagemaker who will do it for you. Any local printer/service bureau should be able to help (for a fee, of course)
Alternate option: Try to walk the customer through generating a postscript file and sending it to you. Then you can use Distiller or Ghostscript to generate a PDF. But if they can't figure out how to use a PDF printer, printing postscript to a file will probably not be successful either.
Creating a PostScript file is probably more complicated than just telling them what buttons to press in order to create a PDF file right away (that is if they have Acrobat installed). They either have a printer named Adobe PDF, or Distiller or something similar, just have them print to this printer. This will create a PDF file automatically.