CUPS-PDF for OS X: Make a PDF "Printer"

Will this allow me to have clickable links in my PDFs? Last time I checked, Adobe Acrobat couldn't do that an the built in PDF creator couldn't do that.

Just open the Word file in TextEdit if Word documents annoy you. I almost never open Word anymore.

I can understand getting upset over getting given .docX documents from students but .doc is a standard. Everything these days supports .doc (eg. TextEdit)

It seriously annoys me that printing to PDF in OS X is not easily Applescriptable. It's even impervious to GUI scripting! It would seem obvious that having a facility for batch-converting documents to PDF would be a useful feature for OS X to offer.

Making a desktop printer out of the virtual printer here seems like a great idea - but it has some issues.

When I dragged a .doc file over it, it didn't convert that file but instead a file that I already had open in Word. SO it seems like it switched to Word and just 'printed' the currently open document to PDF instead of waiting for the file I wanted to load. Just something to be aware of.

one useful free pdf printer for windowze is cutepdf.com

"For you to say you get 'annoyed' when you get papers in Word format is just silly. Your statement annoys me."

Requiring that the instructor purchase MS Word to read his student's papers is like requiring all participants in a meeting to bring their typewriters so they can read the memo I'm handing out.

Reading my memo should be free and none of the participants cares at all what tool I used to create it.

Microsoft has made millions from people who are comfortable using Word to read documents. They will spend half that much money suppressing PDF.

Well...

I have the same problem with student papers and have required them to all be submitted as PDF files. Unfortunately, the problem isn't students that use Macs. They can handle the PDF button in the Print dialog box. The problem is WINDOZE users. They don't have a way to save as PDF in basic Windows setups. So, I've found a few free options for them. Three are PDF print drivers and one is a website that will convert many file formats to PDF for FREE if the file is under 1MB.

You can see my list here: http://sensei.ad.umuc.edu/cfiedler/otherinfo/savingpdffilesinwindows.html

For Mr. "Harsh", your comments suggest a lack of understanding. MS Word is not a standard format when students don't have Office or even know what their word processor app is. This is true for most of my students. Furthermore, the .docX format can't be opened by the Mac version of MS Word. So, the best way is for them to submit as PDF.

You get annoyed because students hand in papers in Word format? I'm 100% pro Apple, but you do realize that MS Word is the standard out there for word processing, right? For you to say you get 'annoyed' when you get papers in Word format is just silly. Your statement annoys me.

Couldn't Automator and Pages do the same thing?