Trivia

I use Ubuntu on my office computer. I like the working environment, it has all the applications and functions I need and is a free alternative to proprietary software from the likes of Microsoft or Apple.

The easiest way of producing PDF files from any application that does not support this itself, is to install the cups-pdf "printer" that appears in any application as if it were a normal printer, but in reality prints to a file.

Installing cups-pdf is simple, either from the command line or from the software installer in the menu.

user@computer:~$ sudo aptitude install cups-pdf

However, I stumbled over an interesting quirk today. Normally cups-pdf will simply output a file to your home folder, in a subdirectory called PDF. These files can be opened by pretty much anything - from a Windows PC to a Canon office printer with the "Direct Print" function in the web UI.

Many programs let you choose a "Print to File" option in the print dialog box. Choosing this option with cups-pdf results in PDF files that can be opened in some applications such as evince and Google Docs, but not in others like the official Adobe Acrobat Reader on Windows Vista/7. The lesson here is don't use "Print to File" and just let cups-pdf write files into your home directory.