From Freespire

Some applications (such as Open Office) can print or export to PDF files directly, however others need to use CUPS-PDF. CUPS-PDF provides a PDF Writer backend to CUPS. It can be used to provide a virtual printer to a paperless network, perform testing on CUPS, or print (to PDF files) from Firefox and other applications as well.

These instructions worked on Linspire 6 and Freespire 2.

To install

1. CNR the CUPS-PDF package.

2. Go to Launch >>> Settings >>> Control Center >>> Peripherals >>> Printers.

3. If you are not running as root, Click Administrator Mode at the bottom of the screen.

4. Click on Add >>> Add Printer/Class...

5. This brings up the Add Printer Wizard. Click Next.

6. For Backend Selection, click on Other printer type and then click Next.

7. Scroll to the bottom of the list; you should see "Virtual Printer" underneath the "file" selection. Click on it and then click Next.

8. For Printer Manufacturer choose Generic and for Model selection choose Postscript Printer and click Next.

9. Skip the "Test" and Finish going through the wizard, clicking Next until you get to the "General Information" screen. Give it a name (such as CUPS_PDF) and description that's meaningful to you. Click Next and then Finish.

To use

1. When you print from within your application, choose the printer name you gave in step 9 above and click Print.

2. A PDF file will be output to your home directory in the PDF folder (e.g. /home/user/PDF)

Note

Using CUPS-PDF with the Opera web browser seems to output a useless, empty PDF file. A web search shows other people have experienced this problem.