>A Sharpie for the None Too Sharp

Oh my God! I just started crying I am laughing so hard!

Letting the smoke out of your computer.

Actually, no, because my mind is still there.

So, instead, a question: We have a client that has a whole lot of sales type documents, about 150, all in pdf format (for today's discussion). They want a "library" of them. Something browsable by complete and total idiots who can then click and download the pdfs... The end result has to be PC-compat while built on a Mac.

They had something legacy, but the program is apparently proprietary and also kaput. Whatever. Same guy couldn't understand why my Mac wouldn't open up an .exe file. I mentioned I work with JackAss Idiots?

I am just looking for any information people have off of the top of their heads because I am frankly not supposed to be solving this problem. Yet. Soon, it will totally be my problem. And once it is my problem, I expect to be paid for my time spent finding the solution. Or asking you guys and then spending that time on b.org... Whichever.

Cass, if I were doing it, I'd just link to them from an html file. Maybe I don't understand the question.

I was thinking html, actually.

But the bosses don't know I can code so I am iffy about telling them. They might think it is one of my job requirement things... And they don't pay me that well.

Yeah, I think html and actually making a file is the answer... I was hoping for some program that would do it all for me.

Thanks, Ginger.

I have a stupid question to top all stoopid questions.

I've redone all my professional forms in Appleworks on my eMac because I'm having trouble getting easy access to the Word forms on my iMac. And, because they needed updating anyway.

Now. I painstakingly recreated 3 forms and saved them in multiple formats so I could email rtf or Word files to my clients.

Why. For the love of dog, why, do they get all messed up in the other formats? Lines missing, spacing off, graphics go poof, etc.

It looks like it is impossible to make a pdf in Appleworks.

So am I screwed?

I've been vigorously avoiding buying Word for OS 10.1.5 (my current) for financial and down-with-the-MAN reasons...but I gotta have these forms in an emailable format.

What do I do?

Well, if you still want to avoid word, you can play with Apple's newest, which is Pages and is part of iWork. I think iWork was only $79 or $99 when I purchased it. You might need a more recent version of OS X though.

Do you need them to be fill-out-able on the computer, or simply print-outable and fill-inable by pen?

If it's teh latter, then, well, I'm not sure what version of OS X they introduced it on, but certainly on 10.2 - 10.4 any program that prints can save as a PDF. Just go into the print dialogue and choose the button that does it. If 10.1 can't do it, well, Upgrading OSes if necessary, while possibly more of a hassle than buying Word, would probably actually be about the same price or cheaper, and would confer many other advantages in the long run (if nothing else, 10.2 is noticably faster on most hardware than 10.1, and many say the same about 10.3 and 10.4, though I personally didn't notice the shift as much.)

Both these solutions sound good to me. (And, yes, I just need printoutable)

But this still leaves me with the rtf, for those that can't pdf problemma. Damn this Apple addiction! (I fantasize that live would be so much simpler if I would just quite resisting the Borgpc hardware.)

Once I'm done teaching my class tonight, I'm going to work on finding 10.2 to download somewhere...can't find it at Apple. (natch)

Thanks for the tips fellas!

I'm afeared my puny 128MB won't sustain the upgrade, so I'm back to my need-more-memory problem that I've been handwaving away since the beginning of the year.

Blargh.

I've run 10.3 on 128 MB.

What happens when you print and hit "Print to PDF"? an error?

Also, if you can print to a postscript file, one of us could make a pdf for you until you decide.

If you do upgrade, you also have the choice of NeolithicOffice ( [link] ) better known as NeoOffice. MS Office formats without the Borg.

ETA: Ah, I see, you can do PDF, I misunderstood. Still? What she says next. People who can't read PDFs aren't worth it.

But this still leaves me with the rtf, for those that can't pdf problemma

People who you send it to who can't read PDFs?? Silly people. Tell them to download Acrobat, stat!