- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/NT
- Date added: March 01, 2004
- Total Downloads: 10,592,971
- Downloads last week: 113,690
- See full specifications
A newer version of PrimoPDF is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 1272 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
PrimoPDF 3 converts just about any file type to a PDF, using the source program the file was created with and its print command. The interface could be nicer; it's uncluttered but also uninteresting. Previous versions required the user to go through the Save As menu. The reason why the publisher changed it to Print isn't obvious. Regardless, the conversion process is quick and efficient. Other changes include a security feature, which allows the user to wrap the PDF in 40-bit or 128-bit encryption, and password protection. The user also can restrict editing of the new PDF, leaving comments and making other changes.
The program's size is surprisingly large for such an unobtrusive app, and it's absolutely necessary to launch the read-me file at the end of installation, since the application loads no icons and leaves no other visible traces on your machine, except in the Start menu's All Programs.
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Publisher's description
From activePDF :PrimoPDF is a free tool for high-quality PDF creation. PrimoPDF's user-friendly interface enables printing to PDF from virtually any Windows application. Additionally, PrimoPDF offers users the ability to optimize their PDF output for printing to standard laser printers or for onscreen viewing. The resultant PDF output conforms to the PDF specification and subsequently can be viewed with any PDF viewer software. The product is completely free--not just a trial--eliminating cost barriers for those users requiring basic creation of high-quality PDF files. There are no annoying pop-up ads, no watermarking, and no catches.
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User reviews of PrimoPDF 1.0
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 1272 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 38 user reviewsSee all 38 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: PrimoPDF 1.0
"Seems clean, solid, stable...."
Pros: Installed and ran flawlessly. Seems to capture detail very well.
Cons: Wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but ended up being very disappointed with the colors in the finished output. My test page was a brightly-colored bitmap image with a text overlay; the details came through very well, no loss in that regard, but the colors were dull. None of the settings seemed to have much effect on this. (Printing out of Corel Draw.) Maybe that's just the way it's supposed to be, but I always thought the .eps file format was supposed to preserve colors across applications (?).
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: PrimoPDF 1.0
"Simple, Quick, Easy, and Accurate"
Pros: My favorite price, FREE!
I have used several PDF File Converters and this one definately has the best resolution quality and file size of any I've used. It's easy to use.
Cons: It's not perfect but for a free, print engine based PDF Converter,it's the best I've come across so far. Now, if it only converted PDF's to Word.... Wishful thinking! :-)
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: PrimoPDF 1.0
Pros: FREE, easy to use, good results....
Cons: problems: images in PDF would be of poor quality, no compression at all, huge outputfiles.... if it only had a good compresion system it would be by far one of the best converters, its a shame!!!!!!
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: PrimoPDF 1.0
"Great product! Great Price (FREE!)"
Pros: I am not a PDF file expert but this software does what I want it to do. I can print from any application and have that output converted to a PDF file, which I can either print or e-mail (my preference). Eliminates the need to print and fax documents and the output is certainly MUCH better than faxing. Also saves you on long distance charges since there is no need to fax. Highly Recommended!!
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Version: PrimoPDF 1.0
Pros: Free. Has worked every time for me. Note that I've mostly used it to create pdf's out of 30 or so pages of scanned papers, but the result is exactly as expected.
Cons: I haven't tried color stuff, or complex documents so can't comment. No cons so far ...
- See all 38 user reviews Write review
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