Create PDF files for FREE

German translation of this page
Here i will explain to how to create single or multipage PDF files for free. 
All programs and drivers are free to use and can be downloaded from the Internet.
It works like this:
You print from any windows program to a fake postscript printer that has a port mapped
to Redmon. Redmon outputs a Postscript file that is handled by Mulps21pdf who puts the
postscript file through Ghostscript. Ghostscript creates the actual PDF file. 
The basic steps to take are:

1.  Install Ghostscript.
2.  Install Redmon Redirection Port Monitor.
3.  "Install" Mulps21pdf.
4.  Setup the printer.

1 - Ghostscript
Download and install one or more available Ghostscript versions here
The default path for Ghostscript 6.01 is C:\Aladdin\gs6.01\bin\gswin32.exe
The default path for Ghostscript 7.05 is C:\gs\gs7.05\bin\gswin32.exe
You may need to know this path later on when you have to setup Mulps21PDF

2 - Redmon
Download Redmon here and install it
Note the path where you install Redmon because when you setup the 
postscript printer later on you will have to give in the path to Redrun.exe
The default path for Redmon is c:\redmon\redrun.exe

3 - Mulps21PDF
Download Mulps21PDF here and place it in your Windows folder
Note: C:\ will be used by Mulps21PDF for temporary files so you must
have the rights on your computer to write files to C:\  

3b - VB Runtime files
In order to be able to run a program written in Visual Basic you must have the 
Visual Basic Runtime files installed. First try to run the program because there 
is a great chance that you allready have the VB-runtime files on your PC.

Mulps21PDF.exe is a program i wrote in Visual Basic.
The name is derived from MULtiple PostScript to one PDF
It is the interface between Redmon and Ghostscript and it can combine multiple
printjobs from multiple programs to one PDF, so you could have a print from 
Notepad, Excel, PSP and Acad in one PDF-file ! 
Example PDF: Pro-Engineer + IE + Coreldraw (189 KB)

Mulps21PDF V1.05

Above screen will pop-up when redmon has done its job.

Upper small button
Set the path to YOUR Ghostscript executable (displayed in the upper label).
Middle small button
Set the path to where your Acrobat Reader executable (not displayed).
Lower small button
Set the path to where your PDF-files will be saved (displayed in the lower label)..
Black filename window
The name of the created PDF-file (.pdf extension will be added by the program)
It is only used in combination with the Create PDF button
Append button
No PDF will be created yet but the current printjobs will be appended to the 
output.ps file in your root folder. 
If no output.ps file exists in your root folder one will be created.
AutoAppend button
When activated it will push the Append button automatically for you after 
a 5 second delay. This can be handy when you have many printjobs that need 
to be appended to 1 PDF. The indicator lights above it will show you how much
time is left for you to stop the autoappend mechanism. 
Create PDF button
A PDF file will be created in your output path folder with the name that is 
currently in the filename window. All printjobs done before with Append or 
AutoAppend will be in this PDF file.
Cancel button
Program will close and current printjob is cancelled. 
No output.ps file or PDF file will be written.

Step 4 - Setting up the printer
To get the best results you really have to follow the next procedure
You could do with other postscriptdrivers but i think these are the best
drivers around.

* Download the Adobe Universal Postscript Windows driver installer (5.4MB)
  and save it somewhere ( like on your Desktop )
* Download the Adobe Distiller Postscript printer description zip file (34KB)
  Extract the file Adist5.ppd from the zip and save it somewhere 
* Open the downloaded Installer and follow the agreement stuff.
* Choose "Local Printer".
* Point to LPT1:
* In the "Select Printer Model" part choose "Browse" and point to
   the Adist5.PPD file you earlier extracted from the zip file
* Accept "Not shared".
* Give the printer a suitable name like "Mulps21PDF".
* Set "Print test page" to "No".
* Finish the installation.
* Make sure Redmon is installed.
* Rightclick the printer and choose "properties"
* Go to the "Ports" tab and choose "Add port" --> "Redirected port"
   Accept de default RPT1:  (or RPT2:)
   Note: When you cannot choose "Redirected port" then Redmon
   is not installed (properly)
* Next choose "Configure port" and fill in like below


Fill in the path to where YOU installed Redrun and Mulps21pdf

* Choose "Hidden" in the Run: listbox.
* Click "OK" and your done.

NOTE: 
When using this printer gives an error like "Fonts downloaded to this printer ..." you should 
go into the printer properties and UNcheck the bidirectional setting.

Known bugs

I have had several people mailing me about the main screen being garbled up
like the picture below. It will still work but looking like this it is shit.

Setting the Font-size of windows should overcome this problem.