doPDF 11.9.423

Overview

When you want to convert your documents (or any type of file) into PDF then you have to pick a software according to your needs. doPDF is a PDF converter that can meet the requirements of most users as it has many configurations available and is simple to use. It installs as a virtual printer and supports converting any type of file that can be printed, including Word documents, Excel sheets and PowerPoint presentations.

Installation

After running the installer you’ll be prompted to choose installation language. Then the installation wizard will open and guide you through all the steps. At some point you’ll be asked if you want to set doPDF as the default printer, and then select which languages you want to install for it. The program is clean from malware and other types of additional software.

Supported operating systems are Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and Server 2003/2008/2013.

Interface

You have two ways of using the program: either find its executable from the Start menu and launch it, or open the file you want to convert using its associated application and from there select the Print option with doPDF as the associated printer. In the first case a window will open and ask you to browse for the file you want to convert. When you select that file, clicking “Create” will open the Print dialog of the program associated with it and you proceed by making any changes you want before starting the conversion operation. The same happens if you open the file first and use the Print function directly.

Pros

All you have to do to convert a document into PDF is print it, and select doPDF as the printer. When you installed doPDF you actually installed a virtual printer; but instead of printing files in paper it converts them into PDF files. The print dialog contains all the available settings that you can configure to customize the look of the output PDF file. These include selecting paper size from predefined sizes (A4, A5, A6, Letter, etc.) or defining a custom size, picking resolution size (from 72 to 2400 dpi), scaling support and embedding the fonts used in the original document in order to make sure the output PDF will look exactly like the original.

Cons

When using the doPDF executable to convert files, it would sometimes falsely say that the file chosen didn’t have an associated program and therefore it couldn’t be converted. However if you opened the file using its associated application and tried to print the file using doPDF printer, it would be converted without problems.

Alternatives

Many software exist for converting files to PDF: CutePDF Writer (free), PrimoPDF (free), Bullzip PDF Printer (free), PDF24 PDF Creator (free), and GreenPrint (paid). Like doPDF, all of those install as virtual printers and work in a similar way.

Conclusion

Trusted program that can convert any type of file that can be printed. The executable is kind of useless most times since it doesn’t save you much time and has trouble opening some files, however this doesn’t affect the general functionality of the software.