As any Internet user will have noticed, the use of Adobe’s Port­able Document Format (PDF) has proliferated. And it’s little surprise why: PDFs offer a safe and reliable way to share documents on multiple platforms.

Although Adobe offers its own PDF creation tools, a host of third-party apps have come to market — and at less than half the price of the simplest Adobe Acrobat product, Jaws PDF Creator is a worthy contender.

The program sits almost invisibly on your machine, setting up a virtual printer in Windows that enables users to ‘print’ to a PDF file from any application.

It’s an easy process. For example, you have a QuarkXPress document open: select Print from the File menu, select Jaws PDF Creator from the printer drop-down list and click OK. The program fires up a dialogue box with options for resolution (Print, Press and Web) and 128-bit security (you can allocate password protection for the PDF to be opened or edited). Click Save, and it’s done.

The program produces PDF 1.3 or 1.4 files, com­patible with the free and widely-deployed Acrobat Reader.

With version 3.0 comes macros for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Icons are added to the toolbars of both programs, offering direct PDF creation and increased functionality, such as the creation of PDF bookmarks from headings in Word documents.

In brief: Jaws PDF Creator 3.0
Jaws PDF Creator makes creating a PDF from just about any application an easy feat — and at the right price, too. Price: $US23.70 for PC World readers (in conjunction with PC World August 2003 cover CD)
URL: www.jawspdf.com