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portable pdf printer, possible or not?

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August 10, 2013 - 4:16am
#1
Wm ...
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portable pdf printer, possible or not?

Hope I'm in the right place.

I see that there was some discussion of the portability of a pdf printer back in 2007/8.

I'm using XP. Is it still the case that a printer as perceived by Win is so intrinsic that it cannot be made portable?

I am aware of Libre Office and other apps that can print to pdf, this is a question about having a pdf printer whenever the ability to print is available.

I think the answer is "no, it can't be done because of the way Win does printing" but I thought I'd ask just in case.

doPDF is my free to use application of choice if it matters, but there is no point in asking them to make it portable if it can't be done.

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August 10, 2013 - 5:47am
bill_gagliardi
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As I understand it..

you are correct. Printing in windows requires a printer driver. Loading and unloading drivers are at least very difficult if not impossible to do portably. I could be wrong, but I don't believe I am. Peace...

Bill G.
Frozen St. Paul, MN
land of the frozen mosquito

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August 10, 2013 - 5:58am
J Neutron
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Create a PDF

Such office programs will create a PDF without "printing" to PDF. If you don't "print", you don't need the printer drivers.

neutron1132 (at) usa (dot) com

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August 10, 2013 - 6:58am
(Reply to #3)
Wm ...
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your dull opinion was not

your dull opinion was not required, go back to where you came from. The essential is read before you write!

Wm

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August 10, 2013 - 8:56am
(Reply to #4)
Zach Thibeau
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your snarky reply was not

your snarky reply was not required, he was suggesting a legitimate option as most pdf printer options require a driver which would not be possible due to the fact to install a driver requires administrative privileges, using LibreOffice Portable gives you an option to export to pdf.

your friendly neighbourhood moderator Zach Thibeau

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August 11, 2013 - 1:51am
(Reply to #5)
Wm ...
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you are correct, my snarky

you are correct, my snarky reply was not required, I do however think it reasonable for someone to read before writing.

Wm

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August 11, 2013 - 12:56pm
(Reply to #6)
J Neutron
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Snarky AGAIN

Yes, you are a real gem to have around here. Obviously, mere mortals shouldn't dare approach you without first asking permission.

If you could read (as you accuse me of having a deficiency) you would realize that I explained to you the difference between programs that could create PDF (which doesn't need admin) and print-to-PDF (which does). Of course, understanding that may be beyond your snarky-ness.

I withheld my reply to your first snark and was willing to ignore it, but you don't deserve a second free pass. And I certainly won't waste any more of my time you.

No need to reply. I know it would be snarky anyway, so I won't bother reading it.

neutron1132 (at) usa (dot) com

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August 10, 2013 - 11:18am
John T. Haller
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Admin Rights, Messy

PDF printers require admin rights, rendering them non-portable by default. We only permit apps to require admin rights portably when the app itself requires admin rights through normal use. So, things like system utilities (disk defragmenters, etc) are allowed. But, a word processor that stored its settings in the HKLM registry and required admin rights to portablize would not be. So, a PDF printer would not be considered portable as it would require admin rights every time it ran.

Realistically, there's not much reason for one anyway. They're back from when you needed one to be able to export a Word or Excel doc to a PDF. Now, we have LibreOffice that can export one directly to PDF anyway.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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August 11, 2013 - 1:58am
(Reply to #8)
Wm ...
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Thank you for your reply,

Thank you for your reply, John, I hope the right person got the biscuits during the recent maintenance.

I'm not wholly convinced that there is no need for a generic printer. MS have made it messy.

I'm sure other people will be able to come up with other examples but for me to print a bank statement I need a printer driver.

Yes, the problem is Win not us but if my posting gets people thinking around the issue then I have done my bit.

More biscuits is the obvious answer Smile

Wm

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August 12, 2013 - 4:04am
(Reply to #9)
ottosykora
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7-pdfmaker

For Windows, as there is no such thing as portable printer driver and probably never will be, I am using sometimes 7-pdf maker.
http://www.7-pdf.de/en/products/7-pdf-maker

However this is not a pdf printer, this is a pdf converter which is a big difference.

7-pdf maker is payware however, but the original comes also in a portable version and you can convert many kinds of files to pdf more less successfully.
If you bank statement is in word or similar it will be converted to pdf. If it is some pure graphic like jpg from a canner, then it will be simply pdf with a jpg in it.
All depends on how your bank statements arrive. If they arrive in web browser, then use for example pdf-it extension to print it from the firefox.

Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland

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August 15, 2013 - 10:37pm
(Reply to #10)
SES21
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What about

the "Print to PDF" function in Chrome? You didn't say where the bank statement was coming from but I'm guessing it's your bank's web site so Chrome might just do the trick for you...

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