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Do you still print on Paper?

Discussion in 'More Resources' started by Tim, May 27, 2015.

  1. DavidP

    DavidP LostCousins Member

    I had a similar problem a few weeks back and it had me stumped for a while, until I realised that my default printer had somewhow changed to either 'Microsoft XPS Document Writer' or 'Reckon PDF Printer' (I can't recall which now). Going into Control Panel and selecting a 'real ' printer soon fixed the problem, but I am mystified how I changed default printers in the first place. Perhaps a senior moment.....
     
  2. Norman

    Norman LostCousins Member

    If you ever delete a printer and add a new one or re-install a printer the default gets changed. If, when installing, you forget to tick the box "Make default printer" it can trip you up. As I have two printers on the network, whenever I print anything I usually make sure I go to printer options to be sure I've selected the correct printer for the job.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. Alexander Bisset

    Alexander Bisset Administrator Staff Member

    Actually no Word would be a REALLY bad choice to bludgen a poor PDF and try to force it open in Word. I doubt it would successfully survive the conversion. Adobe Acrobat Reader is of course the best program to open a PDF.

    I strongly suspect that something else has registered it self as dealing with PDFs many programs do. It might even be Word is the culprit and is torturing the poor PDF files. What to do is to check the file associations - how you do this varies depending on what version of Windows you are running - Google to find out how to change file associations on your PC.

    Ideally what you want to make sure is that you have the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader and that it is that program and nothing else that is handling PDF files.

    DavidP also has a really good suggestion it could be that the print is going to a PDF printer and not to your regular printer.
     
  4. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    The very best program to open a PDF is Adobe Acrobat if you're lucky enough to have it. It has a Save As Word option which worked amazingly well when I needed it.
     
  5. Norman

    Norman LostCousins Member

    Actually Word in Office 365 opens PDFs perfectly. That's why I asked what version Bob was using. Acrobat Reader cannot edit PDF files.
     
  6. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    Point taken on that and I doubt I would have used Word anyway. As the for remainder I think I resolved the matter as I later posted ; it was just that I had not spotted the 'print to file' default. Once changed to my own (Epson) printer everything worked well.
     
  7. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    Yes having now tried Word novaPDF and a brief PDF import I agree it does. I used to have Acrobat Writer (sometimes called Acrobat Standard combining both read and write) when working but no longer have same. Likely Word will cope with editing should I have any need for same.

    Yes that Adobe Acrobat takes me back also but have long forgotten what the difference was between Acrobat Standard (Read and Write) as against Acrobat -or were they the same? I note you say you could save in Word format and wonder if that is now possible in nova PDF; import as PDF and save as Word?
     
  8. Norman

    Norman LostCousins Member

    Word doesn't need novaPDF. Word 2013 opens PDFs natively. link It can both open and save PDFs. I have tried it on invoices and can't see the difference after saving. MS do say the conversion works best on PDFs that are predominantly text based.
     
  9. Bob Spiers

    Bob Spiers LostCousins Superstar

    Excellent link Norman and just shows since having Office 365 and using Word with little or no requirement to edit or convert to PDF (I just wanted to print out in PDF as per my posting) I had not fully grasped how either Word or its novaPDF option worked and it was basic Word I used to import a PDF document. I now see nova allows to convert a Word document to PDF. Whereas Word itself will open and save PDF's. Hopefully I have now grasped both concepts and will be able to recall as and when I ever have need for same.
     
  10. Alexander Bisset

    Alexander Bisset Administrator Staff Member

    My experience has been with manuals with charts, tables, graphs etc and has been less than satisfactory. If they have implemented it in Word 2013, they will have updated it in Office 365 and no doubt I will notice they have cracked charts, tables and graphs when they launch Office 2016 in Sept/Oct.
     
  11. AdrienneQ

    AdrienneQ Moderator Staff Member

    Just opened a pdf with lots of photos in word 2013 and it worked like a dream.
    Its amazing what you learn on this forum. Ta
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  12. Gillian

    Gillian LostCousins Star

    Thank you so much for that link, Norman. It really works!! I've often wanted to edit PDFs but never realised it was so simple.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  13. Britjan

    Britjan LostCousins Star

    I thought of the heading of this thread tonight as I grappled with looking at a Google map on the tiny screen of my phone and trying to judge the proximity of two places I might like to visit on a mini-break I am contemplating in August. When I suddenly lost my phone signal (and not having my laptop with me) I naturally headed for the box of maps I can never bring myself to throw out. I do cull it every few years so there was only the latest version of the province of Ontario map to pull out and unfold. There is something immensely satisfying about the print version of a map and a wave of nostalgia swept over me as I recalled tracing a route on an Ordnance Survey map of South West England with my finger when I was about six years old. I needed help with some of the names of the towns and villages we would pass through but it didn't take me long to learn the significance of the colour coding for A and B roads and the thin brown lines which were contours.
    I wouldn't print out a trip map these days but the relevant parts of city maps are something I do print out when I travel.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  14. Gillian

    Gillian LostCousins Star

    I still get immense pleasure from tracing the route with my finger on an old-fashioned paper map when being driven (N.B. not driving) in unknown places.
     
  15. DavidP

    DavidP LostCousins Member

    I agree. I have just bought several Revised Second Series OS maps (c1903) of the area where my ancestors hail from. They are great for plotting where the various families came from and judging how the land looked after the advent of the railways, but before the motorways.
     
  16. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    I don't want to put Ordnance Survey out of business, but many maps are available online at the National Library of Scotland website (yes, even for England & Wales).
     
    • Thanks! Thanks! x 1
  17. DavidP

    DavidP LostCousins Member

    I know, but as Gillian said there is nothing like tracing the route on a piece of paper!. I also stick those narrow Post-it notes on the maps to highlight some of the smaller villages where my ancestors lived. I even got one map stuck on the wall which shows the ancestral heartland. I actually bought the Cassini maps through Stanfords as I found the OS web site very confusing to use.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  18. Tim

    Tim Megastar and Moderator Staff Member

    David, do you use FTAnalyzer? You can overlay different old maps and see where you ancestors lived in olden days. It's very good.
     
  19. Gillian

    Gillian LostCousins Star

    I think David's point is the satisfaction he gets out of locating places on paper and not on a screen. It's a bit like the difference between reading a newspaper on printed paper or as a digital version, or reading a book with paper pages you can actually turn by hand or on kindle. The latter will no doubt bring me howls of protest.
     
  20. emjay

    emjay LostCousins Member

    Gillian, I read ebooks, but....I 'get lost' ! Where am I? I suppose it's that I can't just flip back to check/confirm a character or event etc. easily.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1

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