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What is "Print to file" used for? How does one use it?

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  • 24 have this problem
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  • Last reply by PORTOLA120

PORTOLA120
PORTOLA120
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From a web page I navigate FILE-->PRINT then check 'print to file' box. Firefox saves the file to its folder in C:\Program Files.. When later, I want to retrieve the data and print it out it refuses to be opened by any known software, including Firefox!. Even Dell seems to have no documentation on what this feature is for, or how to use it. I thought this was a convenient tool for saving print jobs for later processing. Boy was I wrong! Who knows what's going down here?

From a web page I navigate FILE-->PRINT then check 'print to file' box. Firefox saves the file to its folder in C:\Program Files.. When later, I want to retrieve the data and print it out it refuses to be opened by any known software, including Firefox!. Even Dell seems to have no documentation on what this feature is for, or how to use it. I thought this was a convenient tool for saving print jobs for later processing. Boy was I wrong! Who knows what's going down here?

Modified by PORTOLA120

All Replies (4)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
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In ancient times, I used two methods to send captured print jobs to the printer. One was to use a command window and the COPY command. The other was to open the printer queue (I forget how we did this) and use a menu selection to add a document to the queue. Neither is particularly convenient.

Now, I think a PDF printer driver is your best best. Printing to PDF makes the output viewable on screen as well as printable.

PORTOLA120
PORTOLA120 Question owner
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Yo, JSCHER2000:

Yeah, I tried the ancient workaround and DOS failed to locate the object file for whatever reasons. So I located a PDF printer driver, from website bullzip.com which will, after download and installation, produce a PDF file friendly to Adobe9 and can be manipulated, edited, and printed as you will. The install creates a virtual printer on the system that will show up as one of the 'printer names ' on the print popup menu ( note: DO NOT check "print to file" option! ). Download and installation is fast, easy & straightforward , with the added perk that it is FREE! Google "Free PDF Printer" for several other products that come highly recommended, if you don't care to be bothered with expensive Adobe software...

An added perk is that Bullzip also solves a previous post of mine where I couldn't access the 'properties' menu of my Dell 720 printer ( see posting of 05/03 - "Protection Fault trying to access Printer Preference Option Menu" )

Way to go JSCHER, an excellent suggestion!!

kape
kape
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Checking the "Print to file" was earlier one way, however maybe not the best one, to generate postscript code, if you had defined a postscript printer. This printer could be completely virtual and not necessarily exist in the real world. Many of the Hewlett-Packard printers were usable. This was in a time when just a few programs could generate pdf code, but you had the Ghostscript program and its ps2pdf tool to do the conversion. As postscript is a text format, you could also edit the file, if so wanted, before the converson.

PORTOLA120
PORTOLA120 Question owner
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Thanx Kape, for the opportunity to expand my knowledge of arcane processing lore. Now all I have to do is research "postscript printing" ( : - )