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Topic: NWC to PDF conversion (Read 5101 times) previous topic - next topic

NWC to PDF conversion

There's been some discussion on various aspects of printing, both here and on the newsgroup, so I thought I'd detail a method for exporting NWC score files to the popular PDF (Adobe) format.

Thanks to Marsu, who got me going on this, albeit for another purpose entirely (see Msg. #801)

The idea is to use NWC to create a PostScript file (with the help of the suitable Windows driver), then use GhostView to convert the resulting *.ps file into *.pdf. I'll try to post an example file on the newsgroup, as evidence that the method works.

Here are the gory details (you might want to print out this message). Looks scary, but once you've got it set up, it's a piece of cake.

If you haven't got a PostScript printer driver installed in Windows, do so first. In the Control Panel applet select Printers, and if you don't have the PostScript driver installed click on Add Printer. Follow the dialog as required to copy the drivers from the original Win diskette or CD. Optionally, you can at this time specify "Print to File" and give a generic filename (since these will only be intermediate products.

Win 3.11 users: if you haven't installed Win32s yet, get it now. (It's available for free from Microsoft.) This will let you run the 32-bit version of GhostView (at least twice as fast as the 16-bit version, and not as buggy.)

Then get GhostScript and GhostView. Go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/aladdin/get510.html and download the following files:

gs510ini.zip
gs510w32.zip
gs510fn1.zip

Go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/new25.html and download:

gsv25w32.zip

Download all into the same temp directory. Unzip gsv25w32.zip (only) into the same directory, and run the setup.exe program that now appears. This will automatically set up both GhostScript (a command-line PS file manipulator) and GhostView (a GUI Windows shell for GhostScript).

Familiarize yourself a bit with GSview, then go into NWC and find a file you want to convert to PDF. Select your PostScript printer driver, select "print to file" if you haven't done so already (use the .ps extension), and let 'er rip.

Exit NWC, bring up GhostView, open the *.ps file you just saved. Then go to File.. Print.. and select the "pdfwrite" print device, select resolution (300 dpi recommended), and again "print to file" (this time with .pdf extension). Print the file, exit Ghostview, and bring up Adobe Acrobat viewer to verify that the magic worked.

Viola.

Re: NWC to PDF conversion

Reply #1 –
PS - You might consider making Ghostscript your default viewer for PDF. It seems quite a bit quicker than Adobe viewer 3.0, on my ancient machine at least.... :-)

Re: NWC to PDF conversion

Reply #2 –
Since Ghostscript and GSview are continually updated, the above information is a bit out of date. For folks following this thread and wanting to get the latest info in this great program, I have a small web-page which I update as new versions are developed. It's at:

http://www.netidea.com/~fredn/gsinfo.htm

Re: NWC to PDF conversion

Reply #3 –
Won't pdf writer with adobe acrobat 4 work?
Or, does this method work better?
Just wondering.
You do too much helping around the net Fred. :-)

Re: NWC to PDF conversion

Reply #4 –
Well, PDF writer with Adobe 4 would probably work better in some applications - example, if you want imbedded links, encapsulated midis, things like that. /But/ you have to buy Acrobat... at around $250 US the last time I looked.

Ghostscript/GSview, OTOH, is completely free. No strings attached, you can even get the source code if you want it. Adobe must hate it.

Another publishing note: it's commonly believed that PDF is a better format than PostScript for publishing because it's smaller. True as far as it goes, but if you compress the files (using WinZip, gzip, whatever), a compressed PostScript file is /significantly/ smaller than the corresponding compressed PDF file.

FWIW...

Re: NWC to PDF conversion

Reply #5 –
Both Ghostscript/Ghostview and Adobe Acrobat 4 (the full product, not just the free reader) are useful for making PDF files from Noteworthy Composer. I have both of them.

Those of you who are "educational" users can buy Adobe Acrobat 4 at a deep discount. It is still not cheap. It can be found at places such as college bookstores (if you are student/faculty there).

The advantage to using Acrobat is that the text (lyrics and comments) in the resulting PDF file is editable. The editing is primitive, but if you discover something such as a lyric error (or want to change some words) it can be done without having to go back to Noteworthy. But this is not the best technique for major changes.

The BIG advantage to Ghostscript/Ghostview in the latest and greatest version of Ghostview (2.93 BETA) is that a Poscript file can be converted to an IMAGE is formats such as BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIF. Wow!!! So, Your Noteworthy document can be printed to Postscript (see above replies), brought into Ghostview/Ghostscript Beta 2.93, and re-issued as a picture that can be displayed wherever pictures go.

Versions of Ghostview prior to 2.93 beta do not have this feature. It is hot off the press. Find it with an Internet search (I don't have the URL handy).