How to print documents to pictures (gif, bmp etc.) on windows

windows drivers printing export image-processing

62,873

Solution 1

You can use PDFCreator. It's free and open source. Here's a bit more info on it:

Create PDFs from any program that is able to print Security: Encrypt PDFs and protect them from being opened, printed etc

New: Digitally sign your PDFs to ensure that you are the author and the file has not been modified

New: Create PDF/A files for long term archives

Send generated files via eMail

Create more than just PDFs: PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS

AutoSave files to folders and filenames based on Tags like Username, Computername, Date, Time etc.

Merge multiple files into one PDF Easy Install: Just say what you want and everything is installed

Terminal Server: PDFCreator also runs on Terminal Servers without problems

And the best: PDFCreator is free, even for commercial use! It is Open Source and released under the Terms of the GNU General Public License.

Solution 2

What is the easiest way to capture the printout of a document in a picture (i.e. GIF, BMP etc.)? Making a screenshot does not help

oh yes, it does .... if you have the right software :)

Faststone Capture does exactly what you want:

Capture windows, objects, menus, full screen, rectangular/freehand regions and scrolling windows/web pages

Faststone Capture version 5.3 is free, and so is its portable variant.

62,873

Hans-Peter Störr

I like to develop elegant and concise solutions for complex problems. Mostly I program in Java, but I do appreciate Scala very much, since it allows for many programming styles that help with that. I prefer wisely commented code, much unit testing and functional programming with immutable objects. And I do like maths very much.

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Hans-Peter Störr over 1 year

What is the easiest way to capture the printout of a document in a picture (i.e. GIF, BMP etc.)? Making a screenshot does not help, since the printout is different and larger than the screen. Is there a special printer driver for windows that captures the printout into pictures?
- TrojanName over 14 years
  
  Why do you want to do this in the first place? If you're trying to make a document that looks exactly like it does on your screen, would a PDF be a better solution?
- Hans-Peter Störr over 14 years
  
  This is useful if you want to create a document from several printouts by embedding the images. Joining several PDFs with some additional text is not as easy as embedding images.
- Admin over 10 years
  
  try using pdfill. it will install a virtual prd and jpg image printer, and its free.
Gnoupi over 14 years

Though that doesn't make it a picture, only a pdf. good solution if the author only wants to print later, or archive, but it won't work if he wants to modify it after, though. Depends on his need, I guess it should be detailed.
alex over 14 years

It makes pictures as well, I just added more info right now :).
Josip over 14 years

Great program. You can edit preferences to make PNG default format, or you can select it per document in Save As dialog.
alex over 14 years

I've been using it at home for quite a while, and I actually did use the feature to save as png. It's an excellent app.
TrojanName over 14 years

+1 for actually answering what was asked, whether it's what he should be doing or not ;)
Greg K over 14 years

'what he should be doing or not' is none of my concern, i won't tell him how he has to run his computer. :) but my personal choice for this particular task would be a PDF printer too :)
James Newton over 8 years

One small issue. If you download the free version, it shows you ads, and that can make some anti-malware programs very unhappy. It's very much worth paying the $5 (as of 201508) license fee to get the ad free version. Other than that, /fantastic/ program!
AC Koop over 4 years

It's easier to do Win-Shift-S than this. And this does not answer the original problem or the cited question.
Taylor Styles over 4 years

@noelicus, actually Win-Shift-S fails my point #2. With Foxit, you can take a multiple page screenshot (beyond what can fit on your screen). Additionally, every "document" editor I've ever used supports print-to-pdf. Since the format was not specified, I did not specify that a step to convert from docx to pdf might be required.
jackhab almost 4 years

This application was flagged by ESET antivirus during installation. When I tried to print vector drawing in PDF to PNG file it produced a file with resolution worse the a simple screenshot.
arka mandal over 3 years

@jackhab umm... of coure screenshot will have better resolution? if you want conversions, there is separate software for that. this is thread is about capturing print output. that is never going to have optimal resolution