Questions?

• What is Distiller, actually?
• Ten Year Anniversary!
• Why do we do it?
• Is it legal?
• How do I use it?
• Uploading Files to the Distillery
  • With your browser
  • Other Utilities
• Code Contributions?

What is it?

More about Acrobat PDFs ...

Why do we offer the service? Is it legal? These are questions we're frequently asked.

Ten Year Anniversary!

Why?

When I began using the Internet in 1988 I was impressed by the great volume of high calibre software that people were willing to give away (and in fact support via e-mail). I wanted to continue the tradition, and even encourage it. I tried to think of something that I could contribute, but couldn't really think of anything.

Something that periodically plagued me was source code. I would find great source code for various things that I wanted to do, but I didn't have the required compiler. I wished that someone would set up an Internet site where I could drop the source for compiling then pick it up later. In the mean time I aquired a copy of Distiller direct from Adobe and discovered that the .PDF format was a great way to distribute documents. Distiller, however, was fairly expensive and generally beyond the reach of individuals. It struck me that I could use the copy that Adobe gave me to set up a Net Service similar to the shared compiler I had wished for. A few lines of PERL code to glue it together, and voila!

Started in 1995, the Internet Distiller has gone through a number of changes and revisions, but with a few minor outages, it has run almost continuously since then.

Is it legal?

The Distiller that was running on this server was a full legal license. However, Adobe took exception to what I was doing all the same and their lawyers insisted that I decist from running the Distiller service. Luckily Sepehr Kiani pointed me in the direction of Ghostscript and I was eager to reinstate the service with the new product. As usual, however, I was too busy to even look at it until several months later. When I did, I discovered how little there was to do to make the change to Ghostscript. I added the requisite two lines to my PERL script and it is now running! Your files are uploaded into the INBOX. When files appear in there, I move them into another directory and "ps2pdf" them. Once complete, I move them into the OUT directory for pickup. The files are processed in a sequential fashion usually on a first come first serve basis. FCFS breaks down a little when a backlog builds up so you may experience a slightly longer delay than you expect.

One small difference between Adobe Distiller and Ghostscript that you may notice is that the system now works faster and more reliably with Ghostscript than it did with Distiller. Woo Hoo!

How do I use it?

To use the Distillery, you need at least a Postscript file that you want to convert and a way to get that file to and from the Distillery site. If you already have a Postscript file, you're half way there!

Creating your postscript file in Windows

• If you don't already have one, install a Postscript printer driver;

  The Apple LaserWriter II NT is just about the best driver for generating PS that I've found. Install it from the Printers folder by double clicking on "Add Printer". Assign it to some LPT port that you don't actually have installed on your computer - we will not need to print to an actual physical printer.

• Bring up the document that you want to convert to a PDF then select "Print" from your file menu. The dialog box will have a check box labelled "Print to file"; select it. You will be prompted for a file name; give it one. Also make sure you note the path to which it is being written so you don't lose the file. Before uploading, make sure that the extension is .PS - usually the printing process tries to add a .PRN extension.

Uploading the file to the Distillery

The best method for uploading files to the Distillery is using your web browser.

Using your browser, go to the web browser upload page. There, click the "Browse..." button and locate your postscript file. This will grab the contents of your file. You will need to supply a destination name for the file (the default is myFile.ps, but I recommend changing that!). This name will be used to identify your both your upload file and the resulting PDF.

Other Utilities

Dan Connolly has created a Python script that permits the conversion of a supplied URI. If you have postscript source that's URI addressable, check it out!

Code Contributions?

Absolutely! I need new features! Anyone interested in helping out with Java / Javascript / etc. to add ease of use features like making upload and download easier is not only welcome, but will be greatly appreciated by all. Please contact Andy Babinszki