creating new source-books, rule-supplements etc as pdf-files?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

IIRC the universality of pdfs in printing was the whole point of creating the file type in the first place...

[Lincoln_LM]

thanks a lot for the replies!

I´ve already downloaded some of the suggested freeware/opensource programmes.

I´ll probably have a closer look at those programmes in a few days (i´m pretty busy right now) and see if they work out for me.

Another question that´s come up is which of those programmes is best to create templates for characteristics etc.
We´ve decided to do a yearbook for our a-levels-class at school, so I/we will need a software for that too.
(the printing shop that´s producing the yearbook also wants a pdf-file)

greetz

[Tobian]

Well it's as much as an attempt to make visualiseable postscript which is/was the default standard for printers, and opens up post-script to non postscript printers too.

As for recommendations: I'd say that you should be able to get by with Open Office if your budget is Zero It's word compatible, and can make PDF's, and for what you need it for, it should be fine. If you have a budget, I'd recommend InDesign, it's my favourite tool of choice

[Alex]

For my rulebooks and adventures, I use Microsoft Word (from Microsoft Office 2003 bundle) and PDF 995 (a freeware utility to make a fake "printer" that generates the .pdf file when you print to it from any program). For graphics, I use an older version of Paint Shop Pro. These aren't the best tools, but I already own them so let's make the most of what we have! Word is particularly bad for sophisticated layout tasks, but it can do them if you don't mind pulling out half your hair in the process....