Serendipity.
SerendipityOk, I like to print out my manuals so that I might take them with me and read whenever there’s an opportunity…like at work 😆
I do not like to read manuals from the screen, thus the following request:
It would be great to have a nicely formatted and easily printable pdf version of the current manual. It was a pretty chore to edit out the top menu and other non-essential 😈 stuff from the html version when I tried to print it. Just trying to save some ink (yeah I’m cheap 8) ) and get a clean layout. I’m shure others might be interested too.
Maybe you don’t have the time to convert it Frits, with everything on your plate, but perhaps one of the users might have the time and knowhow…if you let them?
It’s just a thought. 😉
Oh, and no knowhow here.
ZynewaveIt is my intention to produce a pdf file, once the manual is complete. I have no experience with producing pdf files, so I don’t know if it is easy to convert html files to a suitable layout.
but perhaps one of the users might have the time and knowhow…if you let them?
If anyone wants to do this, I’ll sure let them.
duncanparsonsAt musicdsp.org, they generate pdfs on the fly with ezPDF.. Don’t know if that would help in the short term…
There are some free tools out there which will generate simple pdfs from word docs, which may well be enough. I’ll ask what our BetaBugs bloke uses..
DSP
super_crunchydownload the PDF995 printer driver from this page http://www.pdf995.com/download.html and install it.
Copy and paste all the Guide html pages into word. You might want to insert a page break for each section. You can also try just opening the html pages in Word and then copying and pasting each page into one Word document.
When you’re finished building the document, choose File… Print… but change the printer to “PDF995” and it should make a PDF
I don’t have Word installed on this computer so I can’t do it
(edited to make instructions a little clearer)
DandruffOr use OpenOffice, which has build-in PDF-Export … http://www.openoffice.org
SerendipityWell, a nice variety of solutions offered there guys. I’m sure I’ll get around to trying them out sooner or later.
Now, you don’t happen to have a solution for plugging such a pdf file directly into the cerebral cortex for instant enlightenment do you? 😆
I could use a fix right about now… :frustrated:
super_crunchy@Dandruff wrote:
Or use OpenOffice, which has build-in PDF-Export … http://www.openoffice.org
i didn’t know that… thanks for the tip 8)
duncanparsonsGreg at betabugs uses the OpenOffice pdf function..
Apparently if you want to have book marks and stuff, then you need acrobat, but for simple stuff the freeware ones should suffice.
🙂
DSP
ZynewaveRather than starting a new topic, I’m reviving this old one 🙂
Since this topic was started, the Podium guide has been moved to the wiki section. The last couple of days I have spent some time making an easily printable version of the guide based on the wiki pages. I would rather not have to maintain two different versions of the guide in the future (the wiki pages and the old html guide). Take a look at this page:
http://www.zynewave.com/wiki/doku.php?id=guide:index
There is a new link that will open the entire guide in a single printer-friendly web page. I have tried some of the freeware pdf printer drivers, and the next release of Podium will contain a pdf file instead of the now obsolete html guide.
I am also searching for a slightly more advanced pdf printer-driver, which would allow auto-generation of pdf bookmarks (to create a linkable TOC in the pdf). If anyone encounters a pdf printer-driver that can do this, please let me know. It doesn’t have to be freeware.
ConquistadorVery nice. I printed out the Podium guide last year sometime, but this way it will be much easier! Thanks 8)
duncanparsonsI’ve been using the opensource PDFCreator print driver recently.. I can’t recall if it has TOC.. will check at home..
It’s good tho!
DSP
Zynewave@duncanparsons wrote:
I’ve been using the opensource PDFCreator print driver recently.. I can’t recall if it has TOC.. will check at home..
Thanks Duncan. I’ve now switched to PDFCreator. The sponsor pop-ups of pdf995 was getting quite annoying.
SerendipityThis is nice, thank you!
ConquistadorI just spotted the rather bold Podium banner. Nice.
It might be an idea to link this to the Releases forum as the banner has the very latest version no. on it. Which I think is a good idea but possibly linking this banner to the Releases forum would be a good idea as well.
The size of the banner is quite nice, I think it demands to be clicked 😆
Something else I noticed…some of the screenshots in the Podium guide may confuse more than clarify since they are now a bit dated. I guess you would love to have the Podium guide automatically update it’s text once a new update is released 😆 but in any case I thought I should bring it up.
Maybe if the whole guide is updated first (even if it does take some time)…then any new updates added to the guide as they arrive. This would be much easier I imagine.
Otherwise it may never be fully up to date as has been the case for as long as I can remember. Tough job for a single developer. But it I really think it could be fully up to date with perhaps a bit of assistance 😉
I guess writing is not as exciting as coding and seeing the results eh? If so I can see why. 😉 Maybe as members we could somehow chip in to update certain parts for you?
Certainly identifying out of date entries or screenshots (as above) might not be too difficult and would I imagine save you a bit of time that could be better spent on development?
ZynewaveI just spotted the rather bold Podium banner.
The banner is a screenshot of the new splash screen you will see when 1.71 is released.
I’m currently writing about the project start page in the guide, and the “getting started” pages will be updated as well. Having the guide in the wiki section will hopefully make it easier for me to keep the guide updated. When I eventually fill out the remaining chapters, my goal is to keep it updated on every release.
Maybe as members we could somehow chip in to update certain parts for you?
You’re all welcome to edit the wiki. If you’re afraid to touch the Podium guide, then you could consider writing tutorials describing how you work with Podium. This way you could get feedback on the tutorials in the forums with suggestions on how to improve the workflow.