PDF24 Creator Changelog

Feature: Option to disable certificate creation

The software offers the possibility to create a self-signed certificate to sign a PDF. This option can be deactivated. For this you have to set the DWORD value NoSelfSignedCertCreation=1 in the settings in the registry.

You can also set the DWORD value NoCertManagerAccess=1 to hide the links to open the certificate manager.

Feature: Merge function in assistant can use name of first file

The DWORD value AssistantJoinFilesUseFirstName (DWORD [1|0]) can be used to control whether the wizard should use the name of the first file for the merged file when merging files.

Optimization: More options can be configured in the HKLM area for all users

For further options, the HKLM area can now be used to store configurations centrally for all users. This means that almost all relevant options in the HKLM area are now possible.

Optimization: Some error messages are now more meaningful

Some error messages are now more meaningful and partly contain recommendations to solve the problem.

BugFix: Code page in the debug console fixed

Special characters and umlauts were not displayed correctly. The code page was incorrect. This is now fixed.

BugFix: Fixed scrolling problem in the page extraction interface

Some documents could not be scrolled down far enough so that some pages were not visible. This problem has been solved.

Feature: PDF/A-3 format added

The PDF/A-3 format can now be used in the Save As dialog.

Feature: 256 Bit AES security integrated

This version brings the 256 bit AES security. You can now encrypt your PDF with 256 bit AES and protect it with a password. This makes PDF files even more secure. The 256 bit AES mode can be selected in the PDF Security section.

Feature: File name query in the mail function

A query of the file name for the mail function in the wizard is available again. This makes emailing a file a little easier. There is also an option to disable this function in case someone does not want the new query.

Optimization: Better hint dialog when a file cannot be converted

During the automatic conversion to PDF it can happen that a file cannot be converted. In this case, there is a hint dialog. This is now a little more detailed and contains tips on how you can still convert a file.

BugFix: Fixed problem with page number position in settings

There was a problem in the page number position display. The position was not displayed correctly. The problem is solved in this version.

BugFix: Solved problem with the option to open PDFs in Creator

Print jobs were always opened in the Creator if the app was open, even if the corresponding option was not activated. This problem is now fixed and the option in the settings is now implemented correctly.

BugFix: Update mode setting was written to the HKCU area

The update mode setting is written correctly into the HKLM area of the registry again. An error in the logic had led to it, then this got into the HKCU path. You can only change the update mode if you are running the settings as admin.

Improvement: Usage of Ghostscript 9.2.3

This version includes the current Ghostscript 9.2.3. Improvements in this version also benefit the user.

Improvement: Tray Icon behavior optimized

Double click on the PDF24 tray icon opens the PDF24 Launcher. Right click on the icon opens the context menu.

BugFix: Fixed an error when determining file names via the printer interface

File names could occasionally not be determined if the PDF printer had to cope with hundreds of print jobs in a short time. We have analyzed and fixed a problem here, so that the file name should now also be correctly determined in such an application case.

Optimization: File size limitation for the Online PDF Converter interface

So that very large files are not accidentally transferred to the Online PDF Converter, we have implemented a limitation of the size here. The limit is usually not noticeable, but serves as a protection to give very large files.

BugFix: Some other minor fixes

Fixed an issue with user overriding PDF printer parameters. There was a fix in the context menu in the Creator. PDF24 Windows Service has been corrected to improve startup behavior.

Optimization: Messages in PDF printer Windows Service improved

The PDF24 PDF printer Windows Service has been improved. In the event of an error, this should help to find errors better. The messages are now better displayed in the Windows Event Viewer.

BugFix: Wizard is not started when the mail feature is disabled

If the mail feature was disabled in the settings, the wizard could not start anymore. This problem is fixed.

Optimization: Under Windows XP, the option 'Current user' is selected by default in the settings

Under Windows XP, there is still the older permission management and there, an admin always has the elevated rights in an application. In newer Windows versions you have to start explicitly with elevated privileges. We use this distinction to make a default selection between 'All Users' and 'Current User'. Since this is not possible under Windows XP, 'Current user' is always selected here by default.

Feature: Configurable memory profiles for all users

Save As profiles can now be stored for all users in the HKLM area of the registry. These profiles are then available to all users. A user cannot change such a profile. The cross-user profile location is located under the HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\PDFPrint\Profiles\fo registry path.

Be careful when copying user profiles. The 'pdf-ownerPass' and 'pdf-userPass' properties are encrypted in the user profile, so that only the user can see the passwords. With profiles in the HKLM area we cannot reverse this encryption and therefore the passwords must be stored unencrypted there.

Feature: CropBox/TrimBox can be used

Version 8.4.0 comes with a Crop function. This allows you to set the CropBox and/or TrimBox in the PDF document. In the Save As dialog you can define the corresponding parameters in the crop section independent of the paper format. It is now possible to add crop for the print shop with this new feature. The distances to the paper format edges are configured. X mm are removed from the edges of the current paper format and stored as CropBox/TrimBox in the PDF.

Optimization: PDF24 Windows Service error behavior configured

The PDF24 Windows Service is now better configured. The error behavior options are used to restart the service when problems occur. This migration is intended to fix problems experienced by some users who have reported problems with a broken PDF printer. The changeover is intended to ensure error-free operation.

Feature: Screen Capture function can be disabled

Some companies would like to disable the Screen Capture feature, but this has not been possible before. Now you can deactivate this function. To do this, the DWORD option NoScreenCapture=1 must be set in the registry or the corresponding option must be deactivated in the settings on the Features page.

Feature: Sort function in the assistant and file tools

In the icon bar above the file list in the assistant and file tools there is now also an icon for sorting the files in the list. This function is useful in certain cases.

Feature: Elements of the FileNameErasements can be separated by : and |

Normally, a line entry was used to enter the elements of the FileNameErasements. It was possible to enter a text per line, which is removed from the determined file name via the printer interface, in order to remove texts transmitted by the printing program as a prefix or suffix.

The settings are in the registry and the input of lines can lead to problems, because some configuration tools do not support this. In order to solve this problem, the input can now be done using the separator : and also |. These separators are now also supported in this version.

Optimization: UI Design Updates

In the UI design there were some optimizations in this version to adapt the buttons, check boxes and radio buttons to the Windows design. We think that users will find this better.

Optimization: Save button in profile dialog now shows successful saving

When saving profiles in the Save As dialog box, there was no feedback of a successful saving when using the Save button. Here we have optimized something. The button changes the color to green for a short moment. This then gives the user the feedback that the storage has taken place.

Feature: Default profiles can be selected in Save As dialog

Until now, it was not possible to select standard profiles in Save As dialog and load them. This version brings this feature and the default profiles can be selected next to the user profiles.

Feature: User profiles are now supported in server mode when saving automatically

If it is not possible to save in the user context during server operation, the user profile cannot be loaded from the registry of the user. We have made improvements here. User profiles are now possible if they are specified in the settings area of the software. The settings pane loads the user profile when it is saved and stores it in the printer configuration so that the profile can be used when it is automatically saved in server mode. If you change the user profile in the user, you have to reopen the settings as an admin and save the printer configuration so that the changes take effect.

Feature: Option to block overwriting of PDF printer settings

In the PDF printer options there is now a parameter to prevent the user from overwriting the PDF printer settings. This option is only visible if the settings pane has been opened as administrator. If this option is set, a user cannot overwrite the PDF printer settings. A corresponding message is displayed to the user.

Feature: Language can be stored centrally in the HKLM area

A language can now also be stored centrally in the program configuration in the HKLM area. This is possible with the new settings area. This language is then used as the default language. This avoids the determination of the user's language based on the user profile.

Feature: Auto Save option to save under a specific user

The configuration for automatic saving to a PDF printer now also allows you to specify a user for automatic saving. This is useful if only a special user has the necessary rights to save. If you use this option, the pdf24.exe has to run under this special user, so that the PDF24 printer service can forward print jobs to this user.

Optimization: UI design updates in the settings interface

There were some updates in the preferences interface to improve the design. The Apply button is now also visualized to show the user that the settings have been applied successfully.

BugFix: Layout Engine bug fixed

The Layout Engine had an error in a calculation, which led to distortion of the interface under certain circumstances, especially when modifying the windows in size. The problem is fixed. Some of the user interfaces are now even more fluid.

Feature: Add Profile and Reload Profile buttons in the settings on the Auto Save page

In addition to the profile selection box, there are now also new buttons with which you can create a new profile and reload the profiles in the selection list. In this way, you have quick access to the profiles and can create new ones and use a newly created profile.

Feature: Settings can now be made for all users or only for the current user

In the settings interface, there is a new selection box at the bottom of the page, which allows you to control who should use the settings. 'All users' and 'Current user' are available for selection. This way you can set settings for all users or only for the current user. The 'All Users' option is only available if the current user has opened the settings as administrator. In the title of the window you can see whether the settings are open as admin. The word ADMIN is added to the window title.

Feature: New features page in the settings area

In the settings area there is a new page where you can activate and deactivate features of the software. With this page you now have a central place to quickly and easily activate or deactivate certain features. Previously, this could only be done via various settings in the registry.

Feature: Mail function can be switched off via the settings

In the settings in the Features area you can now also switch off the mail function completely. For example, if a company does not want this option, then there is now an option.

Feature: Option to delete erroneous print jobs

In the Features pane, you can also enable an option to have faulty print jobs removed by the PDF24 Windows Printer Service to prevent them from blocking other print jobs. Sometimes it may occur that a print job is incorrect and blocks other print jobs. If you do not want to worry about faulty print jobs, you can use this option to remove them.

Feature: Delayed bring an application to the foreground as an option

Delayed bring an application to the foreground can be disabled in the Features section of the Preferences. The delay ensures that an application comes to the foreground after a certain time after new files arrive, so that the user recognizes the new files and knows which application has received the files. If you don't want this feature, you can now disable it.

Optimization: Updates in many language files

Improvement: Delievers Ghostscript now

The PDF24 Creator now ships Ghostscript 9.22 with the PDF24 Creator. The new version of Ghostscript fixes many bugs. Changes in Ghostscript often also affect the PDF24 Creator, because Ghostscript is used for many operations.

Improvement: Keep annotations Option is now disabled by default

This behavior corresponds to the behavior of older versions. Ghostscript 9.21, which was shipped with PDF24 Creator 8.2.3, has generated PDF files where the text could not be marked correctly. Disabling this option has fixed the problem, but with the current Ghostscript 9.22, correct PDF files are now generated when the option is enabled.

BugFix: Layout engine had problems with bottom margins in relation to DPI scaling

If the DPI scaling in Windows was set to > 100%, then in some interfaces the bottom borders of some elements were not calculated correctly. This problem is fixed.

Improvement: PDF24 Windows service no longer available after major Windows update

In case of major Windows updates, the PDF24 Windows service is apparently removed. Windows apparently deactivates some services and resets the setting of services when a major Windows update is installed.

In the case of PDF24, this caused the PDF printer to stop working and the service could not be started because it was no longer available. The message, that the service is not active, is now a bit smarter. If the service is no longer available, then an attempt will be made to reinstall the service instead of just restarting it.

BugFix: PDF/A2 documents could not be created

In the last version, PDF/A2 documents could not be created. There was a problem with an onfiguration here. This version fixes this issue.

Improvement: PDF24 Windows service message box now in foreground

If the PDF24 Windows service is required but is not started, a message pops up. Partially, this message has appeared in the background, so that it was not noticed. This should now be corrected.

Improvement: Language file updates

BugFix: Ghostscript TEMPDIR issue fixed

This version fixes an issue with the TEMPDIR environment variable, which is used in Ghostscript. Some applications set this variable during the installation and this can lead to problems in Ghostscript. We can deal with it now.

Improvement: Option to keep annotations

There is a new option in the save as dialog under the PDF output filter to keep annotations or to merge them with the content. You can now control whether to keep them or not. If this option is not checked, then the annotations will be merged down into the content. This flattens the PDF.

Improvement: DPI issue in rename job dialog fixed

The GUI interface to rename a job in the creator did not scale on high DPI screens. We have fixed this issue and the interface scales now correctly.

Improvement: Focus behavior in save as GUI interface improved

Some input fields have lost the focus in some specific circumstances if you have moved the mouse around. This was sometimes annoying. This version brings the improvement in the behavior.

Improvement: Windows file explorer context menu extension sorts files by default

Files could be unsorted in the GUI interface of the Windows explorer file context menu extension if you have opened it on multiple files. We have improved that and the interface now sorts the files automatically so that you e.g. can join the files in the right order directly without to change the file positions.

Improvement: Window placement improvement on Creator restarts

The creator now stores the current placement of the GUI interface in the users profile so that this placement can be restored during a restart of the app. If you work with multiple monitors and if you close the Creator on a specific screen and if you reopen the creator, then the GUI interface opens on the screen where you have closed it.

Improvement: Notification on stopped PDF24 Windows service and available print jobs

If the PDF24 Windows service is stopped and if you then print on the PDF printer, the print job will hang in the printer queue and can not be delivered. The PDF24 backend now checks that and gives you a notification that this required service is stopped. There is also a button in the message which you can use to restart the service. Some users disable this service and wonder why the PDF printer is no longer working.

Improvement: Print job name of print tool changed

The print tool in the assistant and the creator now uses the name of the printed file as print job name in Windows.

Improvement: Use the online converter if no PDF printer is installed

The DocTool now asks to use the online PDF converter in case that there is no PDF printer installed on your computer which can be used to convert to PDF.

Improvement: Scanner import tool can be disabled

The scanner import tool can now be disabled via the NoTwainImport (DWORD) option in the settings.

Improvement: Message if the PDF24 Windows service is not running

A message is now shown if the PDF24 Windows service is not started and if there is a pending print job in the printer queue of the PDF printer. The message says that this service is required and there is a button in the message to start the service.

BugFix: Cloud print error in assistant

The cloud print tool in the assistant resulted in an error and the tool could not be used. This is fixed.

BugFix: Rendering of buttons improved

Buttons were not rendered correctly if the Windows DPI scaling was used. We have fixed this issue and buttons looks good now on systems with standard 96 DPI and higher values.

Feature: Windows DPI scaling are now supported

The PDF24 Creator now supports the Windows DPI scaling. All users with high DPI screen, which also use the Windows DPI scaling, will recognize the new clear interface.

This modification was the largest change in this version. We have overworked every graphical user interface to make it DPI aware and to look good on normal as well as on high DPI displays. We have also made some additional improvements which we have seen while we have overworked the components.

Feature: Toggle button in the page extract dialog

The new toggle button is on the top right of the GUI. You can use the new button to toggle the current selection of the pages. This eases the work with this tool.

Feature: Not usable elements are better visualized

There are some elements in the assistant, the compression tool and in the file tool GUI that can't be used depending on the current state of the component. These elements could simply not be clicked in previous version, but they were not displayed differently. We have optimised here and we now work with an opacity to make them a bit transparent. You can now easily see which elements can be used and which not.

Feature: File tools can be invoked from the launcher

The launcher has a new button that you can use to open the file tools. A lot of users do not know these tools because these tools are hidden in the Windows explorer file context menu.

Feature: Automatic image compression option

The PDF output filter has a new option to automatically select the image compression. This new option produces sometimes better results and smaller PDF files.

Improvement: A lot of new icons

We use a lot of new icons in different components that can also be used on high DPI screens. You will find new icons in the creator, the PDF preview and in the launcher.

Improvement: Output filter dialog optimized

We have made some changes in the output filter dialog. The left menu e.g. highlights the current selection so that you can better see what you have selected.

Improvement: Larger buffer to select more files at once

We now use a larger buffer for the file selection dialog so that you can select more files at once. Some users reported that older versions where a bit to limited here.

Improvement: Page extract component produces smaller PDF files

The page extract utility now creates smaller PDF files, especially when the files contain images. We archived this due to an better image compression.

BugFix: File icons issue fixed

The file tools (Windows explorer context menu -> PDF24) shows icons for selected files. Sometimes these icons was not visible or a generic icon was used. We have fixed this issue.

BugFix: Simple page element view in the creator was broken

The simple page element view did not layout the page elements correctly, so that insert bars did not work correctly and that rotated page elements caused overlappings. We have fixed this.

BugFix: Interchanged labels at the watermark options

The mode labels (above or below the content) was interchanged in the German language file. This is fixed.

BugFix: Tooltip issue fixed when the window is in background

Older versions had a problem with tooltips when the application window was in background. Some tooltips were shown when the mouse was hovered above the elements even if the window was in background of another window.

BugFix: Bug fixed regarding the Windows Font support from version 8.1.3

The PDF24 Creator 8.1.3 supports Windows fonts better than older versions. We have analysed this new feature again because we got some bug reports from users and we have fixed these problems.

If you have problems with your PDF24 Creator 8.1.3 and if you can not create PDF files or if you see blank pages, then you should update to version 8.1.4. This version should fix these problems.

Improvement: Windows Font support improved

The PDF24 Creator 8.1.3 improves the support for installed Windows fonts. The installer scans available fonts and saves that information, so that these fonts can be found later.

If you have problems with Windows fonts or if some fonts get replaced with others, then you should try this version. The chance is high that this version fixes your font issues.

BugFix: Windows XP support was broken

A change in version 8.1.1 led to a broken windows support. A component could not be used on Windows XP so that some parts of the program could not be used. We have fixed that problem in version 8.1.2 and all users who have this problem should update to version 8.1.2.

BugFix: Profile selection layout in profile selection interface was wrong

Some shell tools (right-click on a file or folder -> PDF24) use a profile selection box to select an output profile. The layout of this box was wrong. User profiles were layouted vertically and wasted space. We have fixed the layout and user profiles can now fill the entire row before they break to the next line.

BugFix: Bugs regarding tooltips fixed

We have fixed some bugs regarding tooltips in the user interfaces. A window could loose the focus due to the tooltips handler which lead to unwanted flickering in the window. These problems are fixed.

BugFix: Usage of Ghostscript 9.21

This version installs and uses the current Ghostscript 9.21. That fixes some problems at loading and saving PDF files. Users reported that PDF files sometimes could not be created or that PDF files only contains one page with an error. These errors could occur when files pathes or Windows user profile names contain umlauts or other special characters.

If you have these kind of problems, then you should update to this version. We recommend an update because umlauts and other special characters are often existing and the error probability is not low.

BugFix: Issues with app calls on the command line fixed

We had some problems with white spaces in file pathes which could lead to problems on the command line and wrong application calls. We have fixed some places in the code where these problems could occur. Problems could be that some files could not be loaded or processed.

Feature: Page numbering feature added

Page numbers can now be added to PDF files automatically. We have continuously developed this feature in the past and now it is ready for use. The Save-As dialog contains a new sections where you can configure the page numbering options. These settings can also be stored into an output filter profile. The page numbering feature is extremely helpful, when you merge or join multiple files and if the final file shall have page numbers.

Feature: Watermark/Stamp texts with placeholders

Watermark and stamp texts can now have some placeholder. The PDF24 Creator replaces these placeholders before the file gets saved. Currently, placeholders for time and date are available. You can use this new feature to realize e.g. a date or receipt stamp.

We have also improved the watermark function to the effect, that it can also be used together with the new page numbering feature of this version.

Improvement: Language files and core functions

Under the hood, we have optimized and improved some core parts to make them better and more secure. We have also updated the language files and we have done some foundation works for future versions.

BugFix: PDF printer was not always usable under Windows XP

The PDF printer was not always usable under Windows XP. Some users have reported problems with Windows XP. We did not notice this kind of problem at first. We have used a fresh system to analyze this issue. The bug is now fixed and the PDF printer from version 8.0.4 can now be used under Windows XP again.

Improvement: Info text "Not started as Admin" on the PDF printer settings page

In the PDF printer settings section, it is relevant whether or not the settings have been started as a user with extended admin rights. If you start the settings without admin rights and if you change the settings on the PDF printer page, then the changes apply only to the current user. If, on the other hand, the settings are started as admin, the changes in this area apply to all users. This distinction must be taken into account when configuring a PDF printer.

Some users have reported that auto save mode did not work with shared PDF printers. Since version 8, a Windows service is used for the PDF printer handler. This service usually runs under the special user LocalSystem. If a print job arrives via a shared PDF printer, then there is no user context in this case. If the PDF printer is configured for a specific user only, then these settings can not be used because the reference to this user is not available. The PDF24 Windows Service can therefore only use the settings created for all users.

It is strictly necessary to configure a PDF printer as admin if you share that printer. In the settings area, there is now an information text, so that this distinction is pointed out. You can also directly start the settings as admin via a link in the information text.

BugFix: Loading of PDF files with small errors

The loading of PDF files with small errors was broken in version 8.x. We have investigated this issue and we have found the bug. This version fixes this, so that version 8.0.3 can load PDF files with small recoverable errors again.

Improvement: A lot of language files updated

About half of the over 30 language files are now up to date and all texts of these files are translated. The other half contains some untranslated texts. If the application finds an untranslated text, then the corresponding English text will be used instead. We update language files on a rolling basis and we bring new language files with new versions.

Improvement: Issue with file extensions fixed

We have overworked some code parts where it comes to replacing file name extensions. The problem is to find out whether the file name has an extension or not. This version looks for registered extensions in the system and if an extension is registered then the application replaces the old extension with the new one. If the extension is not registred, then the new extension is simply appended.

BugFix: File Explorer Drag & Drop Bug of folders fixed

If you wanted to move a folder by dragging and dropping them to the new place, then it could happen that the application moved the wrong folder, the folder below or above, depending on the move direction and where the name was clicked. We have fixed this bug.

Improvement: Optimizes terminal server features

The PDF24 Creator 8.0.2 mainly optimizes features, which are relevant for the usage on terminal servers and multi-user environments. The optimizations also fixes some potential bugs in these features.

BugFix: PDF printer could not be used with Word

The PDF printer could not be used together with Word, but with other software. The PDF printer was available in the list and could be selected, but after selection, the list view was curiously empty. I think other Microsoft products have the same behavior. We have fixed this issue. If you use the PDF24 Creator 8.0.0 then you should update to the new version 8.0.1.

Feature: Option to overwrite existing files added to the auto save feature

The auto save feature could not overwrite existing files. If a file with the same name was already available, then a new unique name was generated under which the file was saved. Sometimes, overwriting existing files is desired and therefore we have added an option by which you can control that behavior. The option can be changed in the settings pages of a PDF printer.

Feature: New function in the PDF24 tray icon

Version 8 brings back some functions of the tray icon which were present in some older versions of the software. You can right-click the tray icon to open the context menu and then you can see all the functions of that icon.

Feature: Uses Ghostscript 9.19

The new PDF24 Creator installs and uses the latest Ghostscript 9.19 and the changes of this Ghostscript version are automatically part of this PDF24 Creator version.

Feature: Information shown when an image is copied to the windows clipboard

The screen capture function can copy captured screen images to the windows clipboard. When you use this feature you will now get an information box after the image is available in the clipboard.

Feature: Online PDF tools accessible from the launcher

The PDF24 Online PDF Tools (https://tools.pdf24.org) are now accessible from the PDF24 launcher. We have added a new tile in the app. The user can now get faster to the tools. You can disable this new tile via the DWORD value NoOnlinePdfTools=1 in the config.

Feature: Tooltip of a page element in the Creator shows the source file of the page

When you assemble a new document, which means when you drag images from one file to an other one, then you could not see from what file a specific page comes. The new PDF24 Creator shows that information in the tooltip of the page element.

Feature: Progress bar improved

The new progress bar has the ability to visualize a new state which is used if an operation takes longer than expected. The new mode is used after a specific time limit exceeds. The user then can see, that the operation takes longer than expected.

Feature: File icons added to the file tool

The file list of the file tool (file context menu -> PDF24) now shows file icons. This makes the tool friendlier and users can better distinguish between the files.

Feature: File operations of the file tool can be canceled

File operations of the file tool (file context menu -> PDF24) can be canceled by hitting the cancel button. The cancel button stops the whole operation and not only the current action. If an operation is consisted of a lot of actions, then you could click a lot of times until you would get the whole process terminated. The new behavior is better and easier to understand which makes the tool more attractive.

Feature: Batch processing of the file tool optimized

The batch processing mode of the file tool has been optimized so that it is now easier to use this tool. The operation window is now shared between the particular actions. Opening and closing new operation windows is no longer necessary. The benefit is a smoother process without the annoying opening and closing of windows. This makes it possible that the process can run in the background and you could do other tasks in the meantime. All the changes makes the tool ready for batch processing of multiple files.

Feature: Fax profile can be selected

There is now a fax profile which you can use if you want to save a PDF file with the quality of faxes. If you need a PDF files for faxing then you can use the fax profile which generates a PDF with a quality level of faxes. The new fax profile can be enabled/disabled by the config key NoFaxProfile (DWORD) [0, 1].

Feature: Delete print jobs with errors

Under a Windows system with multiple users it can be possible that a print job of one user can block print jobs of other users. If that happens, only an admin can unblock the printer by deleting the blocking job. This new PDF24 Creator can do this automatically. The config key DeleteJobsWithError (DWORD) [0, 1] can be used to enable and disable this feature. The feature is currently disabled by default. If you need that feature you can set DeleteJobsWithError=1 and then print jobs with errors will be deleted so that no print job can block others.

Feature: Save automatically under a specific user

Feature: pdf24.exe as a Windows service

The pdf24.exe can now run as a Windows service which has some nice advantages. Running as a Windows services fixes some multi-user issues from older versions. This Windows service is then the server for all PDF printers. All print jobs are handled by this service and gets redirected to the user where the GUI application opens. This fixes several issues. If e.g. a user has stopped his pdf24.exe process then the service can restart the pdf24.exe for the user so that the user can get his print job. This was not possible in older versions and if a user had stopped his pdf24.exe then the print job could not be redirected to the user which resulted in a print job stalling in the printer queue.
If you still need the old behavior, then you can switch back by setting ServerPerUser (DWORD) [0, 1] in the application config. The PDF24 service can then be stopped.

Feature: Cloud Print feature added

The assistant contains a new tile to print a document in the cloud. When you click on this tile, then the document will be transmitted to the PDF24 cloud print service app where you can print the file using a cloud print provider. This function can be disabled by the config key NoCloudPrint (DWORD) [0, 1]. Simply set NoCloudPrint=1 and the new tile is no longer available.

Improvement: A lot of core PDF functions optimized

Version 8.0 optimizes a lot of core PDF functions and fixes some potential bugs and deadlocks. Merging, splitting and assembling of PDF files should now run a lot faster.

Improvement: Creator loads files faster

The new Creator loads files a lot faster than older versions. We could eliminate the pre-loading step which gives the main performance boost. When you switch to version 8 you will notice that files now loads really quick and you will see the preview a lot faster. This helps you to work a bit faster with the Creator.

Improvement: File preview in the file explorer of the creator accelerated

The preview mode of the file explorer in the creator now loads preview images faster. Older versions could also have some special issues with the generation of the images and this version fixes that.

Improvement: PDF/A and PDF security can't be used together

The PDF/A standard can't have security enabled. The PDF24 Creator handles that and does not apply security settings when PDF/A is selected as the PDF version.

Improvement: Installer shows better status texts

We have added some more status texts to the installer so that you can now ollow the installation better.

Improvement: Time estimation of some operations optimized

We have optimized the time estimation of some operations in the application. The progress bar of these operations should now be more realistic. If an operation takes longer than expected, then the progress bar switches over to the new special mode to visualize an unknown end time.

Improvement: Faster print function

We could also accelerate the print function due to parallel processing of tasks. The print function is now often twice as fast.

Improvement: Faster merging of files

We have optimized the merge function and we could accelerate the process a bit. Merging of files should now be a bit faster.

Improvement: Improved calling Ghostscript and the Doctool process

The operating system limits the command line to a number of characters. When you process a lot of files, then this limitation could cause an unexpected result. We have optimized that and now you can process as many files as you like. You can now e.g. use the file tool (file context menu -> PDF24) with hundreds of files to batch process them. Windows explorer limits the number of selectable files to 100. If you would like to process more files with the file tool, simply copy all files into a folder and open the file tool on that folder. All files in that folder will then be used in the file tool.

Improvement: Optimized printer job file name determination

There where some issues with the file name determination under multi user environments. Sometimes a file name of a print job could not be determined if more than one user was logged in to the system. We have investigated the reason and we found the problem. The bug is now fixed and version 8 should provide the right name of the print job.

Improvement: Flickering in the file tool removed

The file list of the file tool could flicker a bit when the GUI was used. We could find the reason and we have fixed that.

Improvement: Language files updated

Language files are now up to date, but there are still some language keys which are not translated. We will update the language files with newer versions after we have finished our translation tasks.

Improvement: Operation window optimized

The operation window could run into a deadlock under some special circumstances. This problem is fixed.

Improvement: DocTool command line is now case insensitive

Case insensitiveness eases the usage of the doctool and that's the reason for this change.

Improvement: Online converter requests are no longer limited to one file

Online converter requests can now contain more than one file. The latest version of the online converter can process multiple files per request and this version of the PDF24 Creator uses this feature to submit more than one file if required. You no longer need to submit every single file, in order to get your files converted to PDF online.

BugFix: Tool-tip issue of hidden tiles in the launcher fixed

Tooltips of hidden function in the launcher came up when the user moved the mouse in the window. If you had e.g. disabled the fax function (NoFax=1) then the tile of this function was no longer present in the window but the tool-tip was still be shown when you moved the mouse above the actual position of the tile. This was a bug in our layout engine and we have fixed that.

BugFix: Profile selection did not show anything if the last used profile was deleted

Normally, the last used output profile is selected in the profile selection list view on the next start of the application. If the last used profile is no longer available then no profile was selected. We have optimized that behavior and now we select an other profile instead.

BugFix: Output profile PSD 150 DPI was broken

The 150 DPI option of the PSD output filter was broken. The problem is fixed now.

BugFix: PDF passwords can now contain umlauts

PDF passwords with umlauts were not encoded correctly so that a secured PDF file could not be opened with the same password. This version fixes this bugs and you can now use umlauts in your passwords.

BugFix: Fixes an issue regarding file icons

We have fixed an issue regarding file icons. Sometimes file icons could not be shown in the GUI. We have overworked relevant code parts and we could fix that issue. If you have problems with invisible file icons, then update to version 8.

Feature: CTRL+V support within the Assistant and compression tool

The Assistant and the compression tool now supports CTRL+V to add files. Drag & drop support was already available in older version and CTRL+V is now a second option.

Feature: Compression tool now accepts all file types

The compression tool now accepts all file types and not only PDF. Everything what can be converted to a PDF file can be compressed with that tool. If a file is not a PDF file then the compression tool converts the file first and compresses afterwards. Users do no longer need to do that manually.

Feature: Compression tool added to the assistant

We have added the compression tool to the assistant so that you can send the printed PDF file directly the the compression tool to tune the size of the PDF file.

Feature: A file can be dropped to the PDF24 Launcher

A file can now be dropped to the PDF24 Launcher. The Launcher then sends the file to the Creator where you can do something with the file.

Feature: Config option EmailInterface can be used in the HKLM config section

The config key EmailInterface can now be globally set in the application config section under the registry path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PDFPrint and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\PDFPrint respectively. It's a bit easier for companies to set the option there instead of setting it for every user separately.

Feature: Extended the printer installer tool

We have extended the PDF printer installer application. We have added two new commands to install a driver only and to set a config of an existing PDF printer. We have also added a fax config profile which is now used for the fax printer which should improve fax results.

Improvement: New Windows Explorer context menu extension

We have implemented a new shell file context menu extension. We no longer use the cascading file context menu. When you open the context menu in your Windows Explorer you will see the PDF24 menu entry. When you hit that menu entry then a special PDF24 GUI opens where you can select a tool to run. This new mechanism is better for the PDF24 Creator. We are now a bit more flexible, we do not fall under the Windows limitations and extensions are easier to add.

Improvement: PDF printer description improved

We have improved the PDF printer description to fix custom paper size and orientation issues. We have also added new paper formats.

Improvement: Improved loading of multiple files within the creator

We have overworked the multiple file loading feature in the creator. The creator no longer pops up after each file loaded. Only the last loaded file brings the creator to the foreground so that you know when the last file is finished. The creator can now work in the background and you can do other things in the meantime.

Improvement: Author no longer automatically added to a PDF

When you save a file with the Save As dialog you can set document information like author, title and keywords. The document information section can be enabled and disabled. If this section was disabled, the created PDF file often contained an automatically generated author field based on the windows user name. We have modified that behavior and we no longer use that automatically generated author information.

Improvement: Auto rotate pages option are made more intelligent

The auto rotate pages option of the Save As dialog is no longer always enabled by default when you save a PDF file with the Creator. This option was enabled by default in earlier versions, but in some situations it's better to disable that. A lot of users forgot to disable that option after they have applied a custom rotation and so they got a final PDF file with an automatically applied rotation which could be wrong. We have optimized related parts and we now disable that option automatically when the user uses a custom rotation.

Improvement: The continue button of the Save As dialog now has the initial focus

The initial focus of the Save As dialog is now on the continue button so that you can hit the enter button to continue if you do not want to make changes in that dialog. A lot of users informed us that this would be a nice improvement for a future version for those who want to work a bit faster here.

BugFix: Files in the compression tool can no longer be added twice

A file already in the list of the compression tool can no longer be added again. You could do that in earlier versions but that was rather disadvantageous than beneficial.

BugFix: Fixed the debug console

Since our compiler changes the debug console could no longer handle line feeds correctly. The debug console could not be used with that bug. We have analysed related parts and we have fixed that issue and now the console prints out correctly.

BugFix: Fixed an app crash when printing a range of pages

Printing a range of pages could cause an app crash due to a logik bug in the page selection code. We have fixed that problem. Printing of the whole document and printing of selected pages worked as expected without errors.

BugFix: Fixed several issues regarding the screen capture feature

• Fixed issues on systems with DPI scaled screens
• Fixed cursor flickering when selecting an area on the screen
• Fixed black screen issue
• Fixed issues on systems with multiple monitors

BugFix: Fixed an auto save file name issue

There was a minor bug in the auto save feature when using an output profile for file types like PNG, JPEG or other image file types. The produced filename still contained a suffix.

Improvement: PDF Printer settings page improved

Settings of the PDF Printer page are now automatically applied when you change the current PDF printer or when you add a new one.

Feature: Variable $printerName added to the auto save feature

The new variable $printerName can be used in the auto save configuration. This variable will be replaced with the PDF printer name on which was printed.

Feature: PDF24 Mail Interface added

We have added the new PDF24 mail interface which you can use as alternative to the other ones. The other interfaces requires a locally installed mail application such as Outlook to send mails. A lot of users do not use such an email client. That's the reason why we have added the PDF24 Mail interface. This is a online service which can be used to send mails with PDF24.

Feature: Enable/Disable components via a HKLM

You can now enable/disable components via the registry settings under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PDFPrint or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\PDFPrint.

Feature: NoUserOverride Flag added

The flag NoUserOverride can optionally be used in the printer service settings to prevent users from overriding the configuration of a PDF printer.

BugFix: Fixed Load on Creator option

You can select the application which opens when you print on the PDF printer. There is an option for the Creator. Sometimes the assistant opened instead of the creator because of a bug in the tool selection function. We have fixed that issue.

Feature: Support for multiple PDF printers

We have added support for multiple PDF printers. The changes of the software were a bit larger but now the feature is available. The installer installs you one PDF printer. More PDF printers can be added via the PDF Printer settings page. There you can find a PDF printer manager where you can manage and configure your PDF printers.

Improvement: Several minor improvements and fixes

This version brings some minor improvements and fixes. The following have also been changed:

• Drag & Drop into the bottom bar of the Creator could crash the application
• Fixed windows size issues of two GUI dialogs
• PDF Printer installer tool extended and improved
• GUI rendering engine extended so that the new PDF printer manager could be implemented
• Improvements and adjustments of the installer

BugFix: Subject was not set in the Outlook OLE email interface

The new Outlook OLE email interface did not set the subject of the new mail object. The older MAPI interface does that. We have changed that, so that the subject is now the same as in the MAPI interface.

BugFix: Fixed issues regarding showing/activating the GUI's

We have fixed some issues with the GUI's. The Creator e.g. lost the maximized state at startup or when a new document was available. Sometimes the GUI's did not get activated when a new PDF was printed on the PDF printer, especially when the application was minimized. We have fixed several issues here.

BugFix: Click on the tray icon always opened the Launcher

A right click on PDF24 tray icon opens the context menu of that icon. If you clicked elsewhere on the screen to close the context menu, the PDF24 Launcher always opened. That was a bug and we have fixed that behavior.

BugFix: Fixed issues of the print feature

We have optimized the print feature of the Assistant and the Creator. The new version is a bit faster (sometimes twice as fast), shows a better status and fixes an issue with the "Print multiple copies" options.

BugFix: Print action of the Assistant did not applied the selected profile

The print action of the assistant did not applied the selected profile, so that e.g. the digital paper has not been combined with the actual file. The problem is fixed.

BugFix: Click on the embedded image could crash the application

A click on the embedded image of the application windows could crash the application. We have fixed that so that a click on the image now behaves correctly.

Improvement: Language file updates

We got some new translated texts and we have update the corresponding language files. Five language files more are now up to date.

Improvement: Screen Capture (user defined area) optimized

We have optimized the user defined area mode of the screen capture feature again. We have seen some more places where the tool wasn't that robust.

BugFix: GUI engine issue fixed

There was another small bug in the GUI engine which we have fixed in this version. The TAB key can normally be used to move the focus between the input fields but the bug caused an application crash instead.

BugFix: GUI issue of the Creator fixed

The Creator has a small bar at the bottom of the application window which was sometimes not visible so that you got odd GUI effects. We have fixed that problem in version 7.6.1.

Feature: Outlook OLE Email Interface as an alternative added

This version brings the new email interface Outlook OLE as an alternative. The new interface requires an installed MS Outlook on your computer. Older versions can only use MAPI as interface but MAPI has some issues when Outlook is the mail software. New Outlook Emails created via MAPI does not add signatures automatically. That's bad for users because they have to do that manually. The new Outlook OLE interface fixes that problem. You can switch to the new interface by changing the corresponding option in the settings. The new interface does not work if Outlook is not installed.

Improvement: Screen Capture feature optimized

We have tuned the Screen Capture feature a bit because users reported some odd effects with the new GUI. Sometimes the GUI was visible after the Start button has been hit. This version fixes that. We have also slightly extended the GUI.

BugFix: Window size issue fixed

In some cased the GUI engine had a problem to calculate the correct windows size. The size was sometimes some pixes to high which resulted in odd rendering effects. We have fixed that problem.

BugFix: Fixes issues with PDF-A and PDF-X generation

We have overworked the generation of PDF-X and PDF-A files which was incorrect in the last versions. Files generated with last versions did not pass all validation checks. We have overworked the relevant parts so that this version generate better files. You have to pay some attention with respect to the color model. You can select the model when you save a PDF file. When you want to generate a PDF-A file then you have to choose an ICC profile. The intended color model of that profile must match the selected model in the Save As dialog. Example: If you select an ICC profile which requires CMYK then you also have to select the CMYK color model in the dialog in order to generated correct PDF-A files.

Feature: New Launcher added

The Launcher is now a central element in the PDF24 Creator. The launcher is a small tool where you can see all the available tool of the PDF24 Creator (Creator, Assistant, Compression Tool, ...) and where you can open it. The PDF24 Creator contains several tools and now you have a tool which list all them and where you can open these tools.

Older setups installed you some icons in your windows so that you could open the PDF24 tools. This new version does not install these old icon shortcuts because we now have the new launcher. Now, the installer only installs you one icon shortcut which opens the launcher where you can open a specific tool.

Extension: GUI engine extended and improved

We have extended and optimized the GUI engine so that we can now do some more things with that engine. We have improved speed, fixed some layout bugs and added new features. You can now also use the TAB key to move the focus between input text fields. The overall speed of the new GUI should be better.

Extension: Paper size ArchE1 added to the PDF printer

We have extended the PDF printer description so that you now can now also choose the paper format ArchE1.

Extension: Drag & Drop of files into the Assistant

You can now drag & drop files into the file list of the assistant. You can drag & drop every file which can be converted to PDF. The file will be converted to PDF if the file isn't already a PDF file and shown in the list so that you can perform actions on that file.

Extension: Added more languages to the installer

We have added Ukrainian, Slovenian and Norwegian to the installer.

Improvement: Screen Capture feature overworked and improved

We have improved and extended the screen capture feature which is build in. We have added a GUI for that feature which helps to take screen captures. The GUI opens when you click on the screen capture button within the new Launcher. There you can select a mode and a target and you can start taking a screen capture.

The user defined area mode now supports multiple screens. You can select an area on each available screen which is connected to your computer. You can now also cancel the user defined area mode by hitting the ESCAPE key. We have also optimized the visualization of that mode. When you enter, you will notice the new light white transparent overlay on your screen. When you select a rectangle with your mouse, then we redraw that selected area without that overlay so that you can easily see what you have selected.

Improvement: Tray icon improved

We have also overworked the tray icon because the new features of this version made some of the functions located in the tray icon redundant. When you right click on the tray icon you can open the context menu of that icon. You can no longer do that with a left click. We have stripped-down that menu and we have removed all elements except the open and close one. A double click on that icon now opens the new launcher mentioned above.

Improvement: Highlight color in the file list of the assistant changed

The color is no longer the odd blue one because that does not fit into the design. We have changed that to a light gray. This is now also consistent with the PDF compression tool.

Improvement: Image export improved

When you export a document as an image file format, then the exporter creates a new directory where the pages gets stored. Each file in that directory represents a single page of the exported document. When the document itself only contains a single page, then you will now get a slightly different behavior. In this single page case the application now uses a second step which removes that directory and which saves the single file under the name of that directory, directly as image file. That is what most users desired.

Improvement: Assistant or Creator PDF printer targets

We have improved the PDF printer behavior in case of selecting the right tool for the printed file. If the assistant or creator is the foreground window than the printed file will be opened there. If both tools are open and none of them is the foreground window than we choose the tool depending on your settings. If only one tool is open, then we load the file there.

Improvement: Language file updates and corrections

We have updated and extended all language files. Some parts of the language files are still untranslated. If you like the PDF24 Creator and if you have some spare time then you could support this project by translating some text elements. There are some easy to read language files in language folder of the software which you can open with a text editor. Send us your translations so that we can update our files.

Bugfix: Application goes into background

A user has reported a bug that his application goes into background when he prints on the PDF printer. We have analysed that and we have fixed the relevant part which causes that. Now that should no longer happen.

Bugfix: Fixed a bug in the dialog of the join files feature

You can join you files by the PDF24 context menu option. This join feature lets you select the output file. When the output directory contains the name PDF, then the dialog behaved wrongly. We have overworked this part so that the behavior should now be correct.

Bugfix: Compression tool could rotate pages

The PDF file compression tool sometimes rotated pages in a PDF file. That behavior is wrong because this tool should not affect page rotation. It should only compress PDF files. We have fixed that is this version. The orientation of pages should be kept as is.

BugFix: A document could be shown in a wrong user session in a multi-user environment

If an user had closed his pdf24.exe and printed on the PDF printer then the printout could be shown in an other user session. That was wrong. We have fixed that in version 7.4.1. Now, if a printout can not be shown in the right user context, the printout remains in the windows printer queue until the file can be printed or until the user removes that document there.

BugFix: Missing quotations marks at the autostart entry

There where no quotations marks at the pdf24.exe autostart entry. We where told that this is required. We have added these ones.

Feature: New tool to compress PDF files

The main change of this version is the new PDF compression tool. This tool can be used to compress existing PDF files by manipulating some parameters which reduces the size of PDF files. The tool is very easy to use. Just open it, add PDF files, modify the default settings if you like and have a look at the resulting size. If the new size is acceptable, save the compressed PDF files. You can also open the compressed file to ensure that the quality of the compressed file is good enough.

Improvement: Operating window optimized

We have optimized the operating window because we have seen some problems under certain conditions. The window could block an operation and could not be closed in that state. We have overworked the relevant parts so that the problem should be fixed.

Improvement: Optimized determination of printer job file names

If the name of a print job is very cryptic or if the name represents an URL it's a bad decision to choose that name as a file name because the name can also contain some bad characters. The file chooser dialogs warns the user in that case. We have optimized a bit here. We replace bad characters and use alternative names if the name is very long.

Improvement: Tooltips improved

The software uses tooltips to explain the tools. Tooltips in old versions where a bit limited. We have improved that parts so that tooltips can now also be multi-line and displays at better positions. Now we can show better and longer texts which helps to understand that tool better. The new compression tool uses the new tooltips.

Uses again the older Ghostscript 9.14

This version installs and uses the slightly older Ghostscript 9.14 instead of the latest version 9.16. We have seen some problems with Ghostscript 9.16 so that we decided to switch back. Problems with Ghostscript 9.16 are the following: Unable to load files with umlauts. Unable to process some PDF files with minor errors whereas Ghostscript 9.14 can process them.

Extension: F2 key to change the name of a document in the creator

You can now change the name of a document by pressing the F2 key when you have selected a document in the document list. You can select a document by clicking on it. The F2 key opens a form where you can enter a new name.

Extension: Auto generation of owner password

To apply PDF security settings an owner password is required which you had to enter in the form. You now can apply security settings without to enter this password. The PDF24 Creator generates a random one for you when you leave the password blank.

BugFix: Change of PDF printer tool

The PDF printer tool could sometimes not be changed via the preference pages of the application. This was a bug and we have fixed that. Users who had errors should now be able to change the tool.

BugFix: First try to fix the "Error writing to output file" error

Some users could not save PDF files. They got the error "Error writing to output file". We do not know the exact reason why that happens but we have an idea what could cause that error. This version tries to fix that bug.

BugFix: Not removed temporary files

Sometimes the creator where unable to delete some temporary files which where used by the application. We have found two new places where that could happen and we have implemented a fix for that.

Improvement: New logic to load files into the creator

This version brings a new logic to load files into the creator. Some users have reported that they had font and character issues when they merge files. We have found a solution for that with the new file loading mechanism. The new procedure is a little bit slower than the old one but not too slow and fixes the mentioned bugs.

If you feel bad with the new procedure you can reactivate the old behavior by pressing the CTRL key while loading a file or you can change the registry DWORD value CreatorDirectPDFLoad to 1 within the user settings of the app.

Improvement: PDF security now possible together with file enclosures

Automatically appending and/or prepending a file to the actual one could not be combined with PDF security options. The generated PDF file had no security settings applied. This is now possible.

Extension: Print function added to the Assistant

The Assistant has got a new function. You can now print a document directly from the Assistant on a printer available in your system. That is a cool thing, e.g. to use the PDF printer as print preview. Print on the PDF printer if you need a preview. The Assistant opens. There you can open a preview by clicking on the corresponding button. If all is fine then print on a physical printer directly from the Assistant.

Improvement: PDF print feature optimized

Version 7.2 brings an optimized PDF print function. The function has been revised and optimized.

Extension: Open output profiles from the Assistant

There is a new link in the footer of the Assistant. A click on that link opens the output profile view where you can manage your profiles.

BugFix: Fixed default page rotation settings

The setting value to rotate pages automatically based on the text of the document is normally activated by default. This was not the case in the last versions. We have fixed that so that pages will be rotated automatically if you do not choose an other option.

Extension: Output profiles extended and bugs fixed

RGB is the default color model if you do not choose another one.

The JPEG compression is now the default one for color and gray scale images. PDF files should now be a little bit smaller in size than PDF files produced with older versions. You can change the compression method and the JPEG compression quality when you save as PDF.

We have also added a new section to the PDF filter. You can now convert the colors of a file by choosing one of the color convert options of the corresponding select field. You can, for instance, convert colors to gray-scale.

We have also fixed a bug in version 7.1.0 regarding the color model and color conversion. Version 7.1.0 could produce PDF files which could not be opened.

The PDF filter areas has been reorganized to improve the usability.

Extension: GUI Layout Engine extended

We had some issues with keyboard events which where not passed correctly to parent components. That was the case why the console of the Assistant could not always be opened by the F12 key.

Extension: Overlay-Feature added

Version 7.2 brings the new overlay feature. In addition to the paper feature you can select an overlay PDF file. The content of that file is combined with the content of the actual file so that the content of the overlay file is on top of the content of the actual one. That is the opposite compared to the paper feature. You can use that feature to brand a file, to add a complex watermark or as alternative to the digital paper when the content of the actual file hides the content of the paper.

Extension: Updated the language files

Improvement: Better PDF printer configuration

The installer of version 7.1.0 uses a better PDF printer configuration. TrueType fonts are now downloaded as softfonts by default. This fixes a lot of bugs related to font problems such as font substitution or character issues. User who had problems with fonts should try this version.

Extension: New user configuration options

The user configuration now has the option keys NoOnlineConverter, NoShellContextMenuExtension, NoShellFileContextMenuExtension, NoShellDirectoryContextMenuExtension, NoShellBackgroundContextMenuExtension, NoEmbeddedBrowser. All of these options are of type DWORD. A value of 1 disables the corresponding feature whereas a value of 0 leaves that feature enabled. Al of these options can be manipulated via the settings of the software.

Extension: Some extension in the settings interface

There are two new sections in the interface. The first one is the Explorer context menu section. Here you can enable/disable all or some of the Explorer context menu extension features. The second section can be used to control the features of the application where you currently can enable/disable the PDF24 Online Converter as fall-back tool. The interface itself can now new resized, minimized and maximized. We have also optimized the left pane of the windows.

Extension: The setup now installs the latest Ghostscript 9.16

Extension: Updates of language files. Please send us translation of the new texts.

BugFix: Issue with pinned directories under Windows 10 solved

Opening a pinned folder under windows 10 mysteriously started the PDF24 DocTool application. Version 7.0.7 brings a workaround which fixes this behavior. We currently do not know why Windows 10 is doing that. We hope that we will get some more information about that new behavior in order to implement a better solution.

Extension: -profile flag for the join operation of the DocTool

We have added a profile flag (-profile PROFILE_ID) for the join operation of the DocTool to apply that profile after having joined the input files.

BugFix: Page-Extract-Dialog could not be opened via tools menu

The page extract dialog could not be opened via the tools menu of the creator. We have fixed that issue.

Extension: DocTool command line documentation

We have added a documentation of the command line of the DocTool. Calling the DocTool without command line arguments prints the documentation on the screen.

BugFix: Multi-Page-Tiff output broken

Multi-Page-Tiff files could not be generated with the corresponding output filter of the Save As dialog. We have fixed that too.

BugFix: Append a file via profile was broken

Version 7.0.0 introduced a new feature to append a file at the beginning and at the end to the actual one via a profile. There was a bug in appending a file at the end. Appending a file at the beginning worked, appending a file at the beginning and at the end worked to but appending a file at the end only was broken. Version 7.0.5 fixes this bug.

BugFix: Assistant opens in background

Users have reported that the windows of the assistant opens in background after you have printed on the PDF printer. That's a bit annoying. We have solved that problem in version 7.0.4.

BugFix: Preview of the assistant broken if a PDF password is inside a profile

When you select a profile which contains a PDF password and when you click on the preview button then the preview opens without showing anything. We have fixed that problem.

BugFix: Profile with PDF password without using the Save As dialog wrongly applied

When you use a profile which contains a PDF password to save the actual file without the Save As dialog then the password inside the profile was wrongly applied and you could not open the PDF file with the password you have entered. The PDF24 Creator encrypts the password and stores it inside the registry. Without the Save As dialog we forgot to decrypt the password before applying it to the PDF file so that you could not open the file with your password. That problem is fixed.

BugFix: Normal page view of the Creator broken

There are different views of a document inside the creator. There are different previews and there is the normal page number view. The normal page number view was broken because there were missing images in the bin file. We have fixed that.

BugFix: Assistant App Crash when PDF24 fax is not installed

If PDF24 fax is not installed then the assistant could not start but rather crashed at startup. That problem is fixed in version 7.0.1.

Extension: Extensions and improvements in the assistant

Version 7 brings a revised wizard that has been improved in many ways. On the left there is now a file list which contains the printed files. The center pane of the application contains the file action buttons which are now better than the old ones. The buttons are larger and have icons and text and better mouse effects. Above the list, there are some buttons to manage the list. Joining all documents in the list is also possible. You can select a document in the list and you can perform an action on that document by clicking on one of the action buttons.

We plan to make the action buttons customizable so that you can add or remove buttons. We will introduce that feature with a future versions. The benefit of that customization is that you as a user or as a company can add some more buttons to add functionality you need. Write us so that we can discuss that feature so that we can develop in the right direction.

Feature: Integration into Windows Explorer context menu

Improvement: Improved command lines of some tools

When it comes to the command line of the PDF24 Creator tools, some improvements have been made. Some arguments have been revised, removed, added and unified in order to facilitate the work with the command line. The command line interface will be documented later.

BugFix: Prevent from opening twice

Under certain circumstances, some tools could open twice, which is not wanted for some tools. The Creator, for example, should be opened only one instance, because this instance can handle multiple files. Under certain conditions, it was still possible that the tool could open twice. The problems should be fixed.

BugFix: Fixed a bug in the PS and EPS output filter

The output filters for the file types PS and EPS was broken. We have fixed and optimized the relevant parts and now you should be able to save as PS and EPS.

BugFix: EPS filter creates one file per page

An EPS file contains one page per file. The output filter in the PDF24 Creator was not correct, so you could always only save the first page of a file. This problem is now fixed. The output filter for EPS now creates a folder containing the files of each page.

BugFix + Improvement: Drag and Drop fixes and improvements

The drag and drop implementation has been improved so that more things are possible here which can be used by the tools. Version 7 also fixes some other minor bugs within the implementation.

Improvement: Output filters for image files improved

When you save a document as an image, then one image file is created for each page of that document. The output filter has now been extended so that the filter always creates a folder with the page image files of the document. The user has to choose a destination file. The filter creates a folder under that name and saves the page image files into that folder.

Improvement: Moved the Page-Extract-Dialog from the Creator to the DocTool

The Page-Extract-Dialog is now part of the DocTool. The advantage of that change is that the DocTool can now be used to open this dialog for a file.

Improvement: Page-Extract-Dialog enlarged and improved

The Page-Extract-Dialog is now slightly larger and the usability is now better.

Improvement: Process-Status-Dialogs can now be reused

Some operations executes minor sub task which would normally open and then close the process dialog. This is annoying for some operations. One dialog instance can now be shared between some tasks and the tasks itself only change the status of the shared status window instance.

Improvement: Clipboard handler of the DocTool optimized

If there are files in the clipboard, then the DocTool can extract these files and now also communicates the names of these files correctly. Older versions did not used the document name so that the name could not be used in the tools.

Feature: Extended the DocTool

We have added a lot of new features to the DocTool. Almost all the functions that are present in the PDF24 Windows Explorer context menu extension uses the DocTool to execute the corresponding operation. The functions can be executed from the command line. We will document these functions later.

One example of what you can now do with the DocTool is to join multiple files to one.

Extension: Extended the GUI layout engine

The GUI engine has been extended and improved in some points and some components (e.g. the assistant) uses that new features.

Improvement: Improved the language file module and all language files

Language files can now have some properties in the file header and the language module can read these properties. The PDF24 Creator uses these properties to determine the language at first application start and to display better language names in the setting page.

We have added Norwegian as new language file. A lot of files are fully translated, but there are still some files with missing parts. The English language file is used for all missing elements. Translations are usually contributed by users. If you can translate and if you have some minutes, you are welcome to translate missing parts.

Improvement: File names when printing in a browser

When browsers print they often send file names which represents URLs or parts of URLs. We now take that into account and to our best to determine a file name of that submitted name.

Feature: Append and/or prepend a file to the actual one

The PDF output filter has a new feature to attach a file automatically to the actual one. You will recognize the new element of that filter when you open the Save As dialog. The files can be stored into a profile so that you can apply a predefined profile to printed files. This is a good feature e.g. if you want to append some terms or other information automatically.

Improvement: Save As dialog optimized

We have seen some effects in older version of the Save As dialog which could be optimized. Loading a profile is now faster. Older version have a bug and load profile twice because of some events. File select elements could sometimes not be stored/loaded into/from a profile.

Improvement: Prompt for "The document XXX is not yet saved ..." optimized

The prompt of "The document XXX has not been saved. Do you want to save it?" also appeared if you have only loaded a document. It would be better to show that message only if the document has been modified. We have implemented that in this way.

Improvement: Updater optimized

The GUI, update request, downloading and error handling have been improved. The behavior especially in cases of errors where not satisfying in older versions.

Improvement: Layout fix in the Creator at DPI levels not equal to 96

The Creator is optimized for DPI levels of 96 DPI but can also be used at other DPI values. Version 7.0 fixes the to large spacer bar between the toolbar and the file path element of the explorer inside the creator.

Improvement: Citrix Multi User session fix

If a user is logged in multiple times and if the user prints on the PDF printer then the assistant opened in one of the user sessions but not necessarily in the session from which was printed. That was bad. We have optimized some parts in order to fix that behavior. If you still have problems with that, please contact us.

BugFix: Fixes some issues regarding the auto conversion of documents

Sometimes the default printer was not changed back after having changed temporarily to convert a file to PDF. This version fixes that and resets the printer as default which where the default printer before. Another problem was the conversion of Excel files when the PDF24 PDF printer was not the default printer. In that case the conversion failed. That's also fixed.

BugFix: Fixes application crashes in version 6.9.0

Some users reported us application crashes in version 6.9.0. We investigated the problem and found a part which caused the crashes. Version 6.9.1 brings a fix for this issue.

Improvement: Optimized auto save feature

We have improved the file save method of the auto save feature. In previous versions a created file could be overwritten with the next auto saved file if the next file was produced to fast. We now have a better file locking mechanism so that we can make a file name unique if there is already a file with the same file name.

Improvement: Better support for converting MS Office files to PDF

We have optimized the auto conversion of MS Office files so that these files can now be better converted to PDF. These files are now handled in a special way.

Feature: Support for the backspace key within the file explorer list

We have added support for the backspace key within the file explorer list to change to the parent folder of the currently opened one.

Improvement: Improved label editing within the file list

We also improved label editing within the file list view of the file explorer when a link is to be edited.

Improvement: Improved the file explorer list in point of speed

The file list is now virtual and a lot of faster then the list of previous versions. If you open a folder with only a few elements than you will not notice the faster list but if you open a folder with some thousand elements then the speed difference is very large. In previous versions you could wait some seconds until the list was ready and now this will only took some milliseconds. Some companies have really large folders and waiting is really annoying.

Improvement: Improved the file explorer tree

The file explorer tree no longer shows the current folder of the file list view because this reduced the file explorer speed in some cases. You can still navigate by the directory tree to open folders and the list shows the currently opened folder of the tree but in the other way this is no longer the case. This greatly improves the speed and the behavior is now more like the Windows explorer. Furthermore we have optimized some other points to make the tree faster.

Improvement: Optimized the start condition of a Drag & Drop operation in the explorer tree

Sometimes the Drag & Drop operation was initiated to fast which was not necessary. We have optimized that part to get a better behavior.

Feature: Added an input field for the currently opened folder

We have added an input field which shows the currently opened folder. The path of that input field can be edited by the user to change the path by hitting the enter key.

Improvement: Updated some language file.

BugFix: Fixed an auto save issue

Added the auto save command quote fix. Some commands could bot be executed because of a quote character problem.

Improvement: Improved double clicks within the file explorer

Optimized the double click behavior in the explorer list. Older versions also started a drag & drop operation which was not necessary. We have optimized that a little bit to distinguish better between the beginning of a drag & drop operation and a double click.

Improvement: Optimized Drag & Drop

Drag & Drop optimized, especially when dragging files from the PDF24 Creator and dropping them into the Windows Explorer or other applications.

Improvement: Optimized Ghostscript calls

The app now uses absolute paths to call Ghostscript because an installed Ghostscript into the system32 folder would run this Ghostscript instead of the PDF24 delivered version.

BugFix: Fixed an unsynchronized access issue

Fixed a potential app crash issue caused by an unsynchronized access of the file icons and file thumbnails within the explorer list of the creator.

BugFix: Fixed a PDF lib issue

Fixed a bug in the PDF lib. Some special PDF files could not be opened in earlier versions.

Feature: PDF24 Creator can use the PDF24 Online PDF Converter

The DocTool can now use the PDF24 Online PDF Converter if necessary. If there is no local application which can print a file on the PDF printer in order to convert the file to PDF, then the user will be asked to convert the file online with the PDF24 Online PDF Converter. If he agrees, then the DocTool sends the file to the service to get it converted to PDF.

BugFix: UrlLib issue fixed

Fixed an issue with the UrlLib, which could create wrong URLs.

Improvement: Language file fixes and updates

Improvement: Optimized auto save feature

You can now use placeholders when specifying the folder, where to save to file. Available are date and time placeholders like %Y, %m, %d, %H, %M, %S as well as environment placeholders like %USERNAME%, %USERPROFILE%, ....

Improvement: Control of default printer optimized

The DocTool sometimes have to change the users default printer to the PDF24 PDF printer in order to convert a file to a PDF. This change is reverted after the conversion is finished. We have optimized this part of the code within the DocTool.

Improvement: Mutex Locks optimized

The DocTool uses mutex locks to synchronize DocTool executions. We have optimized here so that these locks will be used only when really necessary.

Feature: DocTool now has a shell print command

The DocTool can now be used to execute a shell print command on a file to print the file on a printer.

Feature: DocTool can create PDF files from clipboard content

This is a cool feature. You can use the DocTool to e.g. create a PDF file from an image which is in the clipboard. If the clipboard contains a file reference then this file will be converted to PDF.

Feature: DocTool can do file uploads

The DocTool can now be used to upload files to internet services.

Improvement: Converting files with the PDF printer optimized

We have optimized how we access the PDF printer to convert files to PDF. In previous version the message "Could maybe not be converted" where shown relatively often because we did not know whether the conversion is possible or not. Here comes the optimization. We have optimized that so that we now better know whether a conversion is possible or not.

Improvement: Special handling for Word, Excel and PowerPoint files no longer required

There was a special handling for Word, Excel and PowerPoint files to convert these files to PDF. This is as of now no longer required because of the optimization above. If a print command is available for a specific file type then this file can be converted to PDF.

Improvement: Drag and Drop file import order optimized

The file import order now exactly matches the order of the submitted files via the drag & drop action. Older versions could break that order which was bad in some cases where the order is crucial.

BugFix: Fixed a bug in the PDF lib

There was a bug in the PDF lib which caused an application crash when reading some special PDF files. We have fixed that one.

BugFix: Image of the progress window did not scale

The progress windows was optimized for 96 DPI. Higher DPI settings caused a gap at the right side of the window which was a little bit ugly. We have fixed that issue and now the progress windows is DPI aware.

Improvement: Moved a settings area

We have moved the block PDF Printer Tool from the general element to the PDF Printer element because this block is more related to this section.

Feature: Progress window can be disabled in auto save feature

The progress window could be annoying when saving a lot of documents automatically. The window can be disabled in the settings in the auto save section.

BugFix: Language files fixed

There was a wrong key element in all language files so that there was a not replaced placeholder in the save as dialog. We have corrected that.

BugFix: TWAIN Import Bug fixed

We have fixed a TWAIN import bug in version 6.4.1. Some users reported issues with that feature. Sometimes it worked with no problems and on other PC's or other drivers it was broken. We have investigated the issue and we have rewritten some code parts with the hope that this should solve the problem. If you have problems with the TWAIN import part please report your problem in our support forum.

BugFix: Files were not signed in version 6.4.0

The build process was broken so that the files and the setup itself were not signed with the Geek certificate. We have fixed that.

Improvement: TEMP directory detection improved

Some users reported that PDF files could not be created. One problem was die TEMP directory bug so that temp files could not be created. We have optimized the part which determines the TEMP directory and that should solve the problem of some users.

BugFix: Drag & Drop Bar fix added

When dragging and dropping pages of documents a vertical bar is drawn which indicates the insert position. Sometimes this bar were drawn with an invalid height so that some areas were overdrawn. This is now fixed.

BugFix: PDF color model fixes added

Users can select the color model when saving a PDF file. We have fixed some parts here so that the selected color model should now be correctly applied to the document. If you now save a PDF and if you select the gray color model than the final PDF file will be gray-scaled.

Improvement: Ghostscript 9.14 is now shipped with this release

Improvement: Language file updates

Affected language files: German, Italian, French, Lithuanian, Czech

Improvement: Setup translation updates of several languages

BugFix: Fixed a minor bug in the PDF24 PDF lib

The bug could cause an application crash when the user loads a special PDF file.

BugFix: Removed debug message from the DocTool

There was a debug message in the DocTool which was shown after using the DocTool. This version removes this debug message.

BugFix: Fixed issues with the save as dialog

Fixed a major bug introduced in version 6.3. Entered values in the text boxes of the save as dialog could not be correctly read by the app so that they were not used in saving process. Default values were used instead. Passwort protection for instance could not be used although correctly entered all fields.

Improvement: Optimized environment variables

Improved the environment variables of the apps so that the pdf24 apps itself can be used in auto save mode without to use the whole path of the app.

Improvement: Further optimized focus optimization from version 6.3.0

We improved the focus optimization from version 6.3.0. The problem was that if you have clicked into a form element and if you have moved the mouse out of the element then the form element lost its focus so that you could not enter text. The mouse had to be in the element to enter text. That was a little bit bad and we have optimized that so that you now can click into an element and you can move the mouse a little bit away and the element keeps its focus.

Improvement: Overwriting files in auto save mode

The PDF printer auto save feature now does not overwrite existing files any longer. Now, if a file exists, a suffix is appended to the file name under which the file will be saved.

Update: Update of language files

The following files has been updated: English, Polish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Czech, Spanish, Italian

Improvement: Moved file name erasement options

The file name erasement options are now part of the PDF printer page.

Improvement: Supported placeholders added to the form

Supported placeholders in the settings pages are now visible in the GUI.

Improvement: Scrollbar issues fixed

Sometimes scrollbars where shown where they wouldn't be necessary. We have optimized some GUI parts so that now scrollbars are only visible if they are really necessary.

Improvement: Focus change between areas optimized

Now, some windows gains the focus when the mouse moves into this windows. This improves usability in some dialogs where user can scroll so that no click is needed any longer to get the focus which activates scrolling for that window.

Improvement: ADMIN suffix in settings dialog title

The settings window now has the title suffix ADMIN when the settings dialog is opened with full administrator rights to change special settings.

Feature: Custom command in automatic save mode

We have added a custom command feature to the PDF printer auto save mode. The feature can be enabled and configured in the PDF Printer pages of the application settings.

Feature: ShellPrint command added to the pdf24-docTool.exe

Now there is a shell print feature in the pdf24-docTool.exe. The command pdf24-docTool.exe -shellPrint -printerName FILE can be used to print out a file on a printer using the shell print windows feature. The can be used together with the auto save feature of the PDF printer to print out a file on another printer.

Feature: ALT key to break auto save mode

Now you can use the ALT key to break the auto save mode of the PDF printer. If auto save is enabled and if you print on the PDF printer, the printed file is then normally saved to a file. You can temporarily break this by keeping pressed the ALT key when sending a file to the PDF printer. This opens the PDF24 assistant or the PDF24 Creator where you can handle the file as if you don't had activated the auto save mode.

BugFix: Custom profile in auto save settings page

We have also improved the custom profile selection in the auto save settings page. The custom profile was not shown as selected after having been selected.

Feature: Custom profile when saving automatically

When the custom profile option in the auto save setting page is selected then the format option dialog will be opened after printing a document on the PDF printer. There you can make custom settings which will be used when saving the file.

BugFix: Added a TWAIN fix

Added a Twain fix which could cause an application crash in some circumstances

BugFix: Preview generation could cause application crash

The PDF24 Creator could crash if the user drags & drop pages from one document to another while the preview generation of the documents is still in progress.

Improvement: Faster preview generation

The preview generation in the PDF24 creator is now more parallel. This is faster on CPU's with multiple cores.

Improvement: Custom page size section of the PDF printer driver optimized

Optimized the PDF printer driver in terms of custom page sizes. Sometimes the wrong page size was used.

Improvement: ParseDSCComments is now enabled

This parses the DSC comments and add that information to the target document.

Update: Updated all language files

We have updated all language files and added some new elements too, which are currently not fully translated. We update the files on a rolling basis as soon as we get translations from the translators.

Improvement: Default file name for the auto save feature

The default file name for the auto save feature is %Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S ${fileName}. This is a time stamp and the name of the file, if the name is available.

Improvement: PDF24 Tray menu can be opened with left mouse button

You could only use the right mouse button to open the PDF24 tray menu, but the left mouse button is also good for opening the tray menu and so we added the additional handler for the left mouse button.

Improvement: Settings module optimized

Changes in settings now better takes effect in running modules so that no application restart is necessary for a lot of changes. For instance now you can change the auto save feature without to restart the pdf24.exe backend module.

Improvement: Layout orientation (horizontal/vertical) is now saved in profile

Now the setting is in profile so that a application restarts don't change the layout.

Improvement: File extension handling via printer interface is now more intelligent

Known file extension are removed from the name which was determined from the printer interface. This is mostly OK and now you don't have the original extension in the name.

Improvement: Updated translation files

The language files Czech, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, PortugueseBrazilian, Swedish where updated. Here is thank you to the translators who sends us updates.

Feature: Send To entry for the PDF24 Creator

The setup adds a Send To entry for the PDF24 Creator. Now you can easily send files to the Creator which then will be converted to PDF.

BugFix: Fixes a bug when saving without GUI

BugFix: Reworking of digital paper feature

Integration of digital paper into the document was erroneous if the PDF files was of a newer standard (1.5 and above). We have solved that issue in this version.

BugFix: Extra page when adding watermarks

An extra page was added to the document when the watermark feature was used. This bug is solved.

Improvement: Renaming of PDF24 Editor to PDF24 Creator

The PDF24 Creator itself is consisted of the PDF printer and a tool called PDF24 Editor, which can be used to compose/edit files page-based. Users also expected that they can also use this tool to edit the content of PDF pages, but that is not possible. The tool can do something with whole pages but the content of pages can not be manipulated. That is the reason for the renaming and we think the name Creator better reflects the possibilities of that tool.

Improvement: Ghostscript 9.10 is now used

This version now uses the latest Ghostscript 9.10.

Feature: Screen Capture to clipboard

A lot of users desired the Screen Capture to clipboard functionality as option besides the Screen Capture to PDF feature. The new feature is now part of the software and is accessible through the PDF24 tray icon. A new menu group was added to the tray icon which contains the new tools.

Improvement: Changed a license part for the good of the user

There was a license part which stated that some parts of the software will be disabled after 6 month usage without update. This part is now no longer part of the license terms. Nothing is disabled after 6 month usage. Now, the user will only see an update information if an update is available and recommended for installation.

Feature: Default save folder = source folder of loaded file

This little change eases the usage of the PDF24 creator because the folder of the loaded file is often used to save the new file after doing some modifications.

Improvement: "Target could not be found" issue fixed

The warning was shown in the PDF24 Creator if a shortcut could not be resolved. Now this warning will not be shown if the PDF24 Creator opens.

BugFix: Fixed the page from .. to feature when saving files

The page from ... to fields where sometimes not recognized. This version contains fixes in the corresponding parts so that the problem should be solved.

Improvement: Fixed some GUI issues

Some GUI elements where not displayed correctly, especially when the default DPI settings was changed. Some GUI parts of the application scaled in a wrong manner so that it was not possible to work with that parts. We have optimized the parts so that the program can also be used on screens with higher DPI values.

Improvement: Save as Dialog cut on screens with resolution of 1280 x 1024

We have overworked the GUI of the Save As dialog so that a screen with 1280 x 1024 Pixel should no longer be a problem.

Feature: New output filter TEXT added

The new filter can save as text, currently in the encodings UTF8 and UCS2.

Improvement: Restructuring of the settings

We have added some new options to the settings pages which could not be integrated into the old structure. Therefore we have changed a little here.

Feature: Open PDF file after storing it

Now, there is also the feature to automatically open a saved PDF file. This eases the work flow PDF printer -> Assistent -> Save -> Open

Improvement: Extended language files

We have extended all language files and made them up to date so that all files have all keys. Some files are currently not fully translated. This will be done by translators and we will add the missing parts as soon as we get it.

BugFix: Resetting the default printer

Resetting the default printer was not executed in some parts so that the PDF24 printer was left the default one. We have fixed that for the known parts.

Feature: Auto-Save feature added

Files can now be saved automatically without GUI interaction. The feature can be controlled by the settings. You can define the folder where to save, a file name pattern and a profile which shall be applied when saving. If that feature is enabled and if you print on the PDF printer then the printed document will be saved automatically into the defined folder. You can also define whether the folder should be opened after the file was saved.

Improvement: Optimized the print feature

The PDF24 Creator has a print feature by which the current selection can be printed. Sometimes the print quality was bad especially when printing high resolution documents. We have improved that part so that the quality is better and can also be better controlled by the DPI setting in the printer property pages.

Improvement: Umlauts and other characters are now usable when saving to PDF

Older releases had some issues with umlauts and other characters outside the ASCII range. Issues where related to the following subsections of the PDF output filter: Watermark text, PDF meta data such as title, author and keywords, PDF/X and PDF/A settings and PDF passwords.

Feature: Faster loading of PDF files in PDF24 Editor

Loading PDF files with the PDF24 Editor is now faster then in older version. Try it out, the difference is really noticeable.

Improvement: Prints ENV information when the debug console opens

This information is often necessary when analysing user problems. That's the main reason why we have added this feature.

Feature: PDF printer driver overworked

Now there are a lot more predefined paper sizes the user can select.

BugFix: PDF-X color bug fixed.

Sometimes colors got converted when the file was saved as PDFX.

New language files Slovenian and Ukrainian

BugFix: Fixed an issue with the file name of the email as feature

After clicking on the send as email button an input form pops up where the user has to enter a file name for the file of the email attachment. There was a character encoding bug which caused unreadable names when attached to the email. We have fixed that.

Feature: Email subject line is filled with the file name

The email subject line is automatically filled with the documents file name so that the user does not need to enter the name into the subject line. This feature was often wanted to speed up the process.

BugFix: Fixed an issue with the PDF info meta information

The PDF info meta information could be set when the source document already had an information block. We have changed the code parts so that the information can also be overwritten when already available.

Improvement: Optimized language file parts for the assistant

We have optimized the assistant/* parts so that the key are more correct with the respect to the intention inside the assistants GUI. Furthermore we have optimized the order of the buttons.

Improvement: More room for button text

We have removed the icon of the button which was equal to all buttons. Now there is more place for the text which we already use for the languages German and English.

BugFix: PDFX issue fixed

The application could crash when the user has chosen the PDFX output format so that the save process failed. We have fixed that.

Updated language files

BugFix: DPI values in Save As dialog were not applied in save process

DPI value changes in Save As dialog were not applied in save process. This was a bug. Only the default quality profile values were used. Changes of the DPI values had no effect on PDF file size or image quality.

BugFix: Some fixes regarding periods in file names

Determination of file names from the printer interface had a little bug, because the method behind that feature has removed the file extension, which was the cause for a file name issue. If there where periods in filenames such as my.document.docx then the PDF creation process has used the name my.pdf as save file name. We have overworked related parts of the creator and hopefully we have found all places.

Language file Portuguese updated

Improvement: Optimized image quality in created PDF files

The image quality was sometimes poor in a created PDF files regardless which PDF quality was chosen. The user could sometimes also not influence the image quality with other options. We have improved some parts within the PDF creation process so that the image quality is significantly better and can be better controlled with the PDF quality options.

Improvement: Some minor improvements and fixes

We have improved and fixed some parts of the PDF creator which could cause problems in some cases.

Improvement: Fax option optimized

We have invested a lot of time to optimized the fax option and the fax service which is used to transmit the faxes. We try to make that part as easy as possible.

Some language files updated

Improvement: Added new languages to the installer

The PDF24 Creator itself has several language files which can be used. The installer, on the other hand, had only a few languages which could be used during the installation phase. The new available languages are: Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Russian, Japanese, Polish, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew

Improvement: Language file Greek added

Improvement: Ghostscript 9.07 is now installed

All improvement of the new version of Ghostscript are therefore available. The new Ghostscript option -dFastWebView is used by the creator.

Improvement: Opening of folders in the integrated file explorer of the editor optimized

The file explorer of the pdf24 editor now automatically opens the containing folder when the first file is loaded. This is a very cool features because this folder is most of the time the folder to work with so that you can do something in that folder again and again without to open it manually. Especially useful when opening a file via the "Open with" dialog.

Improvement: Saving the last profile in assistant

The selected profile is saved as last used profile when the assistant closes and not only when the pdf save operation was executed. This behavior is the more expected one.

Improvement: Added fontmap creation to the setup

The installer now create the fontmap which Ghostscript uses. The map is created based on the fonts in the windows font folder.

BugFix: TWAIN (Scanner) bugs fixed

Importing from scanner or camera could be very hard because the used driver had some bugs. Some users reported GUI issues and other problems in this part. We have overworked the corresponding part of the PDF24 Creator to provide a more reliable component and we hope that all that issues are now a thing of the past.
Furthermore importing multiple pages at once should now also be possible.

Feature: Loading files by command line when the PDF24 Editor is opened

Only one instance of the PDF24 Editor can be opened at a time. If you tried to load some files by command line when the PDF24 Editor was already opened then nothing happened. This version provides that feature. If the Editor is open and if you want to load files by command line then the files are loaded in the already opened instance.

Improvement: Optimized the installer to fix an PDF creation issue

If you already had an old version installed and if you installed an update or a new version then it could occur that you couldn't create PDF files any longer. The problem was old files, virtualized by the Windows UAC. The installer now detects such a case and installs the PDF24 Creator so that PDF creation is possible.

BugFix: Font issue fixed when merging PDF files

Merging PDF files together could cause character problems in the final document. Some text have used the wrong font and therefore some letters could not be displayed correctly. This problem is fixed.

Change: Font settings in PDF output filter removed

The font settings are now controlled fully by the PDF24 Creator to ensure that the final PDF file does not contain font problems.

Improvement: Optimized some internal processing parameters

To optimize the PDF output we have optimized some internal processing parameters. Now the output of some PDF files are better.

BugFix: Not removed temporary files

The Drag & Drop feature of the PDF24 Editor has not removed some temporary files after the application was closed. This bug is fixed.

Language file update for Japanese

New language file Hebrew

Improvement: Optimized the internal preview concerning speed and usability

The internal preview has been accelerated dramatically. Zooming into documents could be very slow in the old version. That was annoying and so we decided to overwork this tool. The new preview is much better in zooming in and out and does not slow down. Furthermore we could improve the usability in zooming in and out using the CTRL key and the mouse wheel. We try to keep the current point of the document in the view so that the document does not jump when you scroll.

BugFix: Fixed another TWAIN issue

We found another weakness in the implementation of the TWAIN import module which sometimes causes problems in some device drivers.

Improvement: Improved PDF output quality again

We could improve the PDF output quality of high quality PDF files again by optimizing some internal parameters of the generator. The predefined PDF quality levels are now more precise so that you will get better graded results. The PDF file size is now directly dependent on the chosen quality level.

Improvement: New language file and updated existing ones

We have updated nearly all language of which we got updates since the last release. The new language file Turkish is now part of the setup. If you also a have new language then you can send us the file to forum@pdf24.org so that we can add the file to the setup.

BugFix: Fixed an Word 2010 related conversion issue

There could be a problem in automatic conversion of Word files with Word 2010. The problem could be solved with a delay in the conversion process.

Feature: Language file for Portugal added

We already had an Portuguese language file, but the old file was targetet for Brasilia. The new file is for the Portuguese. We have renamed the old file in PortugueseBrazilian.

Improvement: Language file updates

We have updated all language files and added some new parts which, partially, still needs to be translated. As soon as we get the missing parts we will add it to the PDF24 Creator.

BugFix: Fixed scanner (TWAIN) issues

There where some problems in some scanner GUI dialogs of the TWAIN interface. Sometimes some elements could not be selected and others closed automatically after it was opened. The new version fixes these issues.

Feature: Load last profile in Save As dialog automatically

Now you save some time when you save a lot files with the same profile. You now do not need to select this profile manually, because the last profile is loaded automatically. If the last loaded profile is the right profile for save then you can click on Continue to proceed.

Improvement: Overriding files improved

Overriding files can be erroneous if the files is opened or locked by the system. The problem was that PDF24 does not have noticed you if file writing fails. We have implemented a new behavior of this. If a file could not be written, then PDF24 tries with a different (very equal) name. If that fails to then you get an error message.

Improvement: Improved image quality in Image To PDF feature

Sometimes the image quality in the PDF file of converted images to PDF was very poor, especially for high quality images. This version brings significant improvements in image conversion process.

Improvement: Improved image quality in saving to PDF process

This process had weak spots in image quality too, even though if a high quality was selected. We have overworked some parts in this process and we could highly increase the quality of the result.

Improvement: Optimized quality of internal preview

So that the user gets a good idea of the result, we have improved the preview in terms of quality. The preview provides sharper and more accurate results.

Feature: Integrated new option when saving to PDF

The JPEG quality was added as an new option to the Save As dialog. You can fine tune the new option to get customized quality results and therefore customized compression rates.

Improvement: Buttons rearranged in PDF24 Assistant

Improvement: Optimized the background in the GUI of the PDF24 Assistant

Removed the default quality part from the settings. Is no longer necessary.

Improvement: Save As dialog optimized to ease the usage.

Improvement: Save as PDF process optimized to control the quality with the parameters a little better.

Improvement: Mail As PDF

Mail As PDF button send the mail with a PDF files by default. The Save As dialog isn't shown by default any longer.

Improvement: Element Customize... added to the profile selection in PDF24 Assistant

Choosing the new element modifies the behavior of some buttons in the GUI. The Save As dialog is used to customize some parameters and the output which is then used as input for the process of the particular button.

Improvement: Load multiple files with the PDF24 Editor on command line

Now you can specify more than one document on the command line of the PDF24 Editor. The PDF24 Editor loads all specified files one after another.

BugFix: PDF file filter issue fixed

Th PDF file filter in the explorer list of the PDF24 Editor now supports uppercase file extensions.

Improvement: Hidden and system files are never displayed in the file list of the PDF24 Editor.

BugFix: Missing file extension when saving a file in PDF24 Assistant

Entering some special file names caused the PDF24 Assistant to remove the file extension from the file name so that the saved file had no extension.

Update mode is not automatic by default

Improvement: Added new Ghostscript version to the setup

We now deliver a new Ghostscript version with the PDF24 setup. The new version brings a lot improvements under the hood of the PDF24 Creator.

Improvement: Optimized internal processing parameters

We could increase the PDF output quality by improving some internal processing parameters.

Improvement: Improved message boxes in PDF24 Assistant

Improvement: Image to PDF tool determines image DPI which is then used in the PDF file

Improvement: PDF/X and PDF/A settings pages in Save As dialog combined with the PDF page

This version combines the PDF/X, PDF/A and PDF pages to one page. Now you can use all options of the PDF page for creating PDF/X and PDF/A files. This could not be realized in an older version. The PDF standard selection element now contains new entries for the PDF/X and PDF/A standards. Selecting one of these activates related form elements.

Feature: PDF/A-1 and PDF/A-2 Standard added

Improvement: A lot of minor improvements in the Save As dialog formular

BugFix: Fixed an issue when using some special characters in PDF informations

BugFix: Fixed a potential time computation problem in update process

BugFix: The PDF24 Editor crashed in the following case

Deleting the last page of a document and dragging and dropping the new last one into a new document crashed the PDF24 Editor. This bug is fixed.

BugFix: Fixed problems in importing from scanner or camera

Importing from scanner, camera or other devices that supports the TWAIN interface was often error-prone. We have overworked some related components and fixed some bugs so that importing should now work better.

BugFix: Fixed a bug in fax tool

If the user double clicks on the fax icon then the fax window pops up and loads a fax with an empty document. This was a bug, introduced in one of the previous versions. Double clicking on the fax icon now opens the fax file load page where the user can choose a file which can then be send as a fax.

Enhancement: Optimized loading of PDF files

Saving merged PDF files could result in errors for special input files. We have optimized the loading process of files so that merging and saving should now work fine for all files.

Enhancement: Extended the send as email feature

We have extended the send as email feature in the PDF24 Assistant and PDF24 Editor. This new feature makes it possible to email not only as a PDF file. All output filters can now be used. This makes it possible to send the file as PDF, as images or any other output format which the PDF24 Creator supports.

Enhancement: Extended the fax tool

Added file type check on fax tool start. The fax tool accepts a PDF file as command line argument which is loaded as a fax. If the user starts the app with no file or with a file which is not a PDF file then the fax tools pen the file choose page where the user has to choose a PDF file which can then be send as a fax.

Language file update of some language files

BugFix: Fixed a special name bug

Sending a document attached to an email directly from the PDF24 Editor changed the name of the corresponding document to a cryptic one. This was a bug which is now fixed.

BugFix: PDF24 Editor window appeared behind other windows

The PDF24 Editor window could appear behind all other windows when you print to the virtual printer and the Editor is set as default target. This problem is fixed.

Enhancement: Font replacement in settings dialog

The font in the settings dialog of the PDF24 Creator has been replaced with a better readable one. Now the dialog looks more modern.

Feature: Close assistant after sending the document via email

There was already an setting to close the assistant automatically when the file was saved. This feature is now also available for the email function of the assistant. You can configure the assistant so that the assistant closes after you have sent the document via email.

Enhancement: PDF password obfuscation

Passwords in Save as Dialog are now obfuscated by "*" characters so nobody can read them. This was a potentially risk in prior versions because the password was visible in the input field.

Enhancement: Save as PDF with digital paper and security enabled

Digital paper and security can now be used together when saving a PDF file.

Feature: Format options and profiles can now be opened via a menu entry

In older version you could only add profiles when you have saved a document via the save as dialog. Now we have added a menu entry in the PDF24 Editor's main menu where you can open the format options and where you can manage your output profiles.

Feature: Refresh option in folder tree of the PDF24 Editor

We have added a refresh option to the explorer tree in the PDF24 Editor so that the user can refresh the tree manually if something have changed what the application do not track automatically.

Enhancement: Password encryption in output profiles

When you specify a password in your profiles, the text was visible in the registry. This was a potential risk. Now passwords are saved encrypted in the profiles which are stored in the windows registry.

Feature: Names of network drives are now displayed

The names of connected network drives where not visible in older versions. Names are important to identify a drive fastly and therefore we have added the names of network drives to the explorer tree of the PDF24 Editor.

Feature: Better cursor when opening a folder

This version now uses better cursors when opening folders in the explorer of the editor. Especially when operating on network drives it could take a little longer to get results. In the waiting time a wait cursor is shown so that the user knows that the application is busy. The application switches back to a normal cursor, after the operation is finished.

Feature: Dropping files to the favourites folder

Dropping files to the favourites folder in the explorer of the editor now creates only shortcuts to the dropped files. No files will be moved or copied any longer. Now the favourites folder is a special folder with shortcuts to often used files.

Enhancement: File icon query improved

The module which is responsible for querying file icons has been improved in many cases. Especially the risk of potential deadlocks has been better taken into account.

BugFix: Fixed an icon bug in the file list of the explorer of the PDF24 Editor

The bug was responsible that in some cases wrong file icons was presented to the user. This part has been overworked and the bug is fixed.

Enhancement: Many core module enhanced

We have overworked many core modules of the software with the result of a better API and many minor improvements and minor fixes.

Enhancement: Shortcut resolution improved

We have improved the explorer inside the editor to handle shortcuts properly. Shortcuts too files and directories are now handled correctly within the file list and the folder tree.

Enhancement: Icon creation of shortcuts improved

Furthermore we have improved the creation of image icons of shortcuts. Shortcuts are resolved and an icon of the linked file is determined.

Enhancement: Improved selection and deselection of documents

We have slightly improved the selection and deselection of documents in the document list of the editor. Now it is more Windows Explorer like selection and deselection which is more intuitive.

Feature: Drag & Drop of documents to move them

Now it is possible to drag & drop documents inside the document list of the editor to move them up and down. This makes working with documents easier.

BugFix: Drag & Drop memory leakage fix

There was a memory leakage in some circumstances when dragging and dropping documents in the PDF24 Editor. The responsible parts have been overworked so that the bug is fixed.

Feature: Drag & Drop documents combined with output filters

We have extended the drag & Drop support of documents in the PDF24 Editor. If you drop documents you can now choose an output filter which is used to create the resulting file which is then dropped to the target. This way you can drop documents to create PDF files, images or any other file format which the output filter accepts. Furthermore you can configure the output filter so that the dropped result is what you need. Additionally you can now drag & drop multiple files at once. This extension is a quite cool new feature which eases working with the PDF24 Editor and which makes dropping of files very powerful.

Enhancement: Error handling when opening PDF files

We have added an error handling when opening PDF files in the PDF24 Editor. If a PDF file can not be opened directly we try to recreate the file and we try to open the recreated one. This often helps to load PDF file with small errors.

Enhancement: Image to PDF quality improved

We have increased the default image quality in image to PDF conversion. Now, images inside PDF files have a better default quality. We have also added customizable config values to the image to PDF tool. This options are currently not available in the settings pages of the application.

Enhancement: PDF processing improved

We have optimized some internal processing parameters to produce better PDF file results.

PDF API improved

This release brings improvements of the PDF API. Improvements affected the reading of PDF files which is now more robust. We have added a reading feature for some PDF files which contains some invalid offsets for special data objects. Furthermore wee have added another feature so that some PDF files with special incorrectnesses can be read. The result is that the PDF24 Creator can open and read more PDF files.

Dutch language file added

Viewer in PDF24 Editor now opens maximized

Double-clicking on a page of a document in the PDF24 Editor opens a viewer of the document. This viewer now opens maximized and no longer in a small window.

Font in Save As dialog replaced with a better readable one

Older versions uses the font Times New Roman in the Save As Dialog UI. This font looks a little outmoded. This font was replaced with Verdana. Now, the options in the Save As Dialog are better readable.

Standard profiles modified

Automatic page rotation is now used in all default profiles. This wasn't the case in older versions. Automatic page rotation were not used in in the good and best profile which was a little confusing. Now the automatic page rotation options are consistent.

Fax Upload improved

A new retry upload feature was added to the fax tool. Sometimes fax file transmission results in an error. A reason can be a bad internet connection. If the transmission results in an error a retry button and an information message is displayed. Clicking on the retry button restarts the fax file transmission.

Saving a file in PDF24 Editor updates the UI element with the new name

Saving a file in PDF24 editor under a new name did not updated the UI name element of that file. This version fixes this issue.

New language file: Serbian

Drag & Drop Bug in PDF24 Editor fixed

The Drag & Drop support in the file list of the file explorer in the PDF24 Editor could cause problems under some circumstances, which can result in a data loss. The bug is fixed. We recommend to update to the new version.

Fixed a critical bug in PDF lib

This bug is one of the reasons why the PDF24 Editor could not open some PDF files. Opening such PDF files crashes the application. This bug is fixed.

Fixed a critical bug when dropping files into the PDF24 Editor

Dropping files from some applications could cause an unresponsive PDF24 Editor. Outlook was one of these applications. This problem ist fixed.

New language file version: Portuguese

Non-translated GUI elements added to language files

New language files version of Danish, Italian, Russian

Some minor bug fixes

Fax printer to send faxes for free

The new version 4.4 also install the new PDF24 FAX printer on all windows versions. The new FAX printer is a very handy new printer which enables you to send faxes very easily.
Printing on the Fax printer opens a small form where you can enter the FAX number of the target device. A preview of the fax is also displayed.
The Faxes are sent through the new PDF24 Fax service, which is located at fax.pdf24.org. To send faxes, a short registration is needed.
Currently the service is completely free, but limited to a few number of faxes each day. After a short beta phase the service will be extended and then you can remove the limits by paying for each fax. Receiving faxes will also be possible by registering and paying for a fax number.

Better names when loading a document into the PDF24 Editor

Names for documents in the PDF24 Editor are now the file names when dropping file to the job list or when opening a file from a file system. This is more intuitive and easier. If a name can not be determined, e.g. if a drag & drop operation does not deliver a name, then a new name is created for that document.

Bug in PDF24 Editor fixed

Importing a single file via File->Import->From filesystem did nothing. Importing multiple files worked without problems. This bug is fixed.

Better names for files when saving as an image

This version uses leading 0 in front of the page number. This improves the sortability of the produced page image files. Old names and sorting was like this: Page1, Page10, Page11, ..., Page20, Page2, Page3, Page4, Page5. This is changed to the new names: Page001, Page002, Page003, ..., Page010, ... Page020. This is better for sorting.

Added support for new keys in page container of a document

The new supported for keys are LEFT, RIGHT, HOME, END. This eases the navigation inside a document.

Support for new keys in document container of the editor added

The new supported keys are UP, DOWN, PAGE_UP, PAGE_DOWN. This eases the navigation inside the document list.

Improved drag & drop of pages in the PDF24 Editor

The support for the new keys introduced some new complexity concerning the drag & drop of pages. The drag & drop components have been overworked to fix all these problems.

Fixed a bug concerning the debug console

The debug console received not every outputs which were produced by the applications. This problem is fixed.

Components of the PDF24 Creator improved

All components now link against the msvcr100.dll and msvcp100.dll, which are part of the setup. This reduces the size of the PDF24 Creator and enables some nice things for the future.

New version of ZLib added

The setup itself now supports new languages: Hungarian, Danish, Finnish

New language file Croatian added and some other language files overworked

Fixed temporary file bugs

We have fixed two temporary file bugs which could result in non-deleted temporary files when deleting jobs in PDF24 Editor.

Automatic file conversion to PDF optimized

Overworked the automatic document conversion part with the result of some small improvements.

Automatic document conversion sequentialized

Conversion of multiple documents is now sequentially and uses less system resources which solves the problem of a wrong document order in most cases. Documents can be sorted, but if the documents have no sortable names then sorting gives no good results.

Printing of multiple documents to PDF24 Editor sequentialized

Printing multiple documents on PDF printer with opened PDF24 Editor is sequentialized too. This solves the ordering problem and uses less resources.

Printing many documents to PDF24 Editor optimized

Printing a lot of documents on PDF printer with opened PDF24 Editor - such as reports from an access database - works better now. We have fixed some bugs which were the reason for lost documents and incorrect ordering. Less system resources are used too.

Language file fixes

Fixed a bug in all languages files: rotate-left and rotate-right keys were reversed

Bugs in Updater fixed and Updater extended

We have added some new parts to the Updater which makes the Update more flexible. Furthermore we have fixed some small bugs which could cause errors.

Language file updates: Lithuanian, Czech, Italian, Spanish

Bug fixes and enhancements in PDF core components

Opening and saving PDF files in PDF24 Editor could generate an erroneous PDF file which could not be opened by a PDF reader. This was a minor bug because the problem only occurred on some special PDF files. Furthermore we have enhanced some PDF components so that the PDF24 Editor can open more PDF files.

Bug concerning users personal folder fixed

The PDF24 Creator could not start if the users personal folder was not reachable. One cause why this folder can not be reached is that the folder is stored on a network drive and the network is not available. We have fixed this bug. Now the PDF24 Creator also runs if this folder is not available.

Added support for right shift key in PF24 Editor

Some user work with the right shift key to select something. Before this release the PDF24 only supported the left shift key to select pages in the PDF24 Editor. This version introduces the support for the right shift key.

PDF printer driver installation improved

The component which installs the PDF printer driver contained some minor bugs which could be the cause why a PDF printer driver could not be installed. We have overworked this part and now PDF printer driver installation should work better.

Romanian language file updated

Text elements from PDF24 setup added to PDF24 Creator language files

The setup also contains some text elements which are to be translated by translators. This elements are now part of the PDF24 Creator language files so that the translators can translate these elements.

Bug BugFix: 2 minor GUI problems fixed

Italian texts added to PDF24 setup

New version of the language file Lithuanian added

Bug BugFix: Version number bug fixed

The version number was not correctly compiled in so that the version number could not be displayed correctly in PDF24 GUI. Instead of the version number a c cryptic text was shown. The version number is highly important for the update process. Without a correct version number no updates will be found. This bug is fixed.

Bug BugFix: Default Printer Bug fixed

The recently published version 4.0.0 contains a bug which prevents a component to make the PDF24 PDF printer temporarily to the default one. This is bad because this caused that some documents could not be converted to PDF and nice drag & drop conversion in editor is not working. We have overworked this part of the application and now everything should work fine.

Component based setup introduced

Version 4.1 introduces a new component based setup by which single components of the PDF24 Creator can be selected or deselected. Currently there is only a single component but in the near future we will add some more optional components which than can be checked or unchecked during setup phase.

This new feature is also helpful for system administrators. Admins can select or deselect some components via the command line. A list of all supported command line arguments of the PDF24 Creator setup is documented in the manual.

Language file Hungarian added

Added more meta information to language files

Meta information are helpful for translators. We have added the encoding information because PDF24 Creator language files should be encoded in UFT-8 with BOM.

New version of the language file Italian added

Added debug console to several parts of PDF24 by pressing F12

This new feature makes a debug console visible to the user into which debug outputs are shown. This outputs helps in some circumstances to find errors. If you have problems with PDF Creator you can open the console and you can email the outputs to us so that we can look at it to find problems.

Bug BugFix: PDF creation problem when Ghostscript was installed before

If another version of Ghostscript was installed in your system PDF24 had problem to work correctly if the version installed by PDF24 and the other version was different. PDF creating failed in this case. This was bad because Ghostscript is installed on many computers and all those people could not use the PDF24 Creator. We have searched the problem and we have found and fixed it in this version.

Bug BugFix: Wrong state of Save All icon in PDF24 Editor toolbar

The save all icon in the PDF24 Editors documents toolbar was selectable in some cases if no document was visible. This was a wrong state. We have corrected that so that the button is only usable if documents are available.

Bug BugFix: Fixed some PDF profile inconsistencies in several modules

There were some PDF profile inconsistencies in exchanging data between several PDF24 Creator modules. In most cases users shouldn't have noticed anything. We have fixed this problem in version 4.0.

Slovak and Finnish translation added

Misspellings in English language file removed

Drag & Drop bug fixed

Fixed a bug when dragging a document in PDF24 Editor to Windows Explorer. Dropping failed in prior versions.

Remember last used profile in assistant and auto select last used profile after printing on PDF printer

New feature: Blank pages can be added to documents

This feature is provided by the PDF24 Editor and is located in context menu of pages. Just right click on a page of a document and you will see two options to add blank pages. Blank pages can be inserted before or after a page. The inserted blank page has the same dimension as the page before or after which the blank page was inserted.

Bug BugFix: Fixed a bug in PDF library

With this bug fix the PDF24 Creator now can open more PDF files. Some special PDF files could cause problems. There are still some PDF files which can't be opened by the PDF24 Editor. If a PDF file can't be opened there is a trick to open the file. Just print the file on the PDF24 PDF printer to create a new PDF file based on the old one. The new file should work fine. That's possible because real PDF readers often can still open these files.

Added /NOUPDATE flag to setup

Use this flag when installing the PDF Creator to disable update checking and installation. This flag is useful for companies which wants too use the PDF24 Creator on their clients. Use this flag and you can disable updates which are often the preferred update mode.

Changed button name Save in format options dialog to Continue...

The new name is often better than the old one because the user has to do some more things after clicking on the save button. The Continue... button is better if some more steps follows.

Romanian and Bulgarian language files added

The PDF24 Creator is available in 16 different languages. To make the PDF24 available to more people we need more language files. If you have translated one language files to a language which is not available in PDF24 Creator setup then send us your file and we will add it to the PDF24 setup. Many people would be very thankful.

All language files overworked

We have overworked all language files and added missing parts. Not translated parts are marked with a #! marker. All these lines needs to be translated by translators. Please translate these parts and send us your files.

Improved data removement if not used any more

The PDF24 Editor had stored not used data longer than required. We have fixed this. Not used data is freed as soon as possible.

Slightly improved drag & drop support in editors document list

Invert selection feature added to page extract dialog

We have added a context menu to the page container in the page extract dialog. This context menu contains a invert selection entry which inverts the current selection of pages. This new feature is useful if extracting pages of large documents.

Mouse wheel feature added to page container in page extract dialog

Now you can use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down in the page container of the page extract dialog. Very useful when using large PDF files.

Drag & Drop Support enhanced in PDF24 Editor

New language file Swedish added

Some language files overworked

Selection of multiple files in import dialog of PDF24 Editor

The import dialog in File->Import->From file system now supports selection of multiple files at once. Prior this version only one file after another could be imported.

Multi-page TIFF support in Drag & Drop import in PDF24 Editor added

In previous version only the first page of a multi-paged TIFF file was imported into the PDF24 Editor. Now all pages become imported into a single document.

Bug BugFix: Uppercase/lowercase bug in email function of PDF24 Assistant fixed

After PDF file creation the assistant opens which has a sent via email button. After clicking this button the user has to enter a PDF file name which us used as the filename for the email with the attached PDF file. The problem was that the entered name was converted to lowercase letters regardless whether the user had entered uppercase letters. This problem ist fixed.

Image to PDF A4 paper size optimization added

In image to PDF conversion process the paper size of the final PDF files was computed with a fixed DPI values and the image size. The conversion of large images results in large PDF file paper sizes. This is a little problem especially when merging PDF files. The PDF file with the images could be very large and the displaying of the merged file was bad in such circumstances. Now we optimize the paper size to A4 format. The paper size of PDF files from large images will always be not greater than the A4 format. The paper size of small images remains as in previous versions of the software. In future versions we have planned to add an option to preferences to make this configurable.

New Drag & Drop support added to PDF24 editor

Not it is possible to save document from the PDF24 Editors document list via Drag & Drop. Just drag & drop a file to a target and the PDF file is saved automatically and transferred to the target. We have planned to add more drag & drop support to the editor.

Update of language files and one new language file added

Language files which has been renewed are Japanese, Italian, Lithuanian and Czech. The new language file is the Danish one.

Bug BugFix: Bug in profiles fixed

There was a bug in creating and selecting profiles. If you had added and then selected a profile without selecting a signature the PDF24 crashed. This bug is fixed. Profiles should work without signatures now.

Bug BugFix: Watermark could not be underlayed

The watermark could not be printed under the content of the file. It always was printed above the content regardless what option the user had checked. This problem is fixed in this version.

There is a new language file for Lithuanian.

Bug BugFix: Quality loss in PDF file composing and merging

In composing and merging process could be a noticeable quality loss in PDF file with images. The reason was some incorrect settings. This problem is fixed.

Options for image resolution in PDF files added

Image resolution options are now part of the save as dialog in PDF pages. You can enter your preferred image resolution. This is useful if you want to fine-tune the PDF quality and therefore the PDF file size. Lower resolutions results in a smaller PDF file.

Feature Digital Paper added

This new feature gives you the possibility to combine the content of a PDF file with the content of a digital paper. The content of the digital paper is displayed under the content of the PDF file. This has the same effect as if you had printed the PDF file on a normal printer with special paper. The digital paper can contain more than one page. The last page of the digital paper can be repeated and underlayed to the other pages of the PDF file.

Some minor non critical bugs fixed

Language files overworked and extended

The language files has been updated. A lot of new text are translated. Thanks to the translators. The current PDF24 Creator contains some new text elements which needs to be translated.

Watermark/Stamp Feature added

The new feature makes it possible to add a watermark to a PDF file. The new feature is located in save as dialog. Click on Save As button in assistant and you will see the new menu entry. There are a lot of options to configure the watermark. You can configure the Text, the font, the font size, the angle, the color, the mode and the margins. All options can be saved into a profile. This new feature can be used as a stamper too. Choose the overlay mode and the text will be printed on top of the page content.

Some bugs fixed

PDF/A OutputConditionIdentifier Bug fixed. The OutputConditionIdentifier couldn't be set. PDF/X and PDF/A Bug fixed. There could be problems in creation of these types. Weboptimize bug fixed. The Weboptimize feature could not be used.

Signature feature in Save As dialog integrated

This change provides the signature feature also in assistant. You don't need to open the editor to add a signature to a PDF file. You can also use the signature with profiles. Make your settings in Save As dialog, save all into a new profile and than you can use the new profile instead of making all settings again. The eases signing PDF files. Currently there is a limitation web optimize feature. Signature and web optimization can't be used together.

Old signature process removed from editor

The old PDF signature process has been removed from PDF editor because the old variant is not needed any longer. In the last version we have change the editor which uses the Save as dialog. This dialog now contains the PDF signature feature. Therefore the old dialogs are redundant.

PDF security bug fixed

Security settings in PDF preference pages contained a bug. PDF permissions have not been set correctly into the PDF so that permissions were wrong. We have removed the bug and now PDF permissions should work correctly.

Translations notes added to language files

The head of each language file contains a block with note for translators. Please read the notes if you plan to translate a language file.

Language files overworked and new language file Vietnamese added

We have updated all language files and marked missed texts with the #! marker. We have received a new Spanish language file with a lot of corrections. Furthermore we have added the new language file Vietnamese which we have received from a user.

Rotation problem fixed

For some documents, the rotation function did not work correctly although the pages were shown at the right angle. It could be that that the rotation was changed after saving a document. This problem is fixed. The rotation should now work correctly. Please note the automatic page rotation feature in saving dialog. If this property is marked in this dialog, the rotation can be changed during saving. The automatic rotation depends on the text in the document and is set accordingly for each page.

Properties dialog of a document removed from PDF editor

The properties dialog of a document which was accessible via the context menu has been removed. This has become redundant. All properties of a document can now be set when saving. There is also a new dialog as it already exists in the assistant in the save as function. The use of profiles is possible in this new dialog which speeds up working.

Properties dialog added in editor save, sign, and mail function

The new properties dialog to set properties of an output format was also added to the sign and mail function so that you can also set your desired properties prior.

Sorting of files in Explorer

All people who have already missed the feature have it now. Files are now sorted in Explorer.

PDF quality bug fixed

In some situations the PDF quality was not set properly. We have fixed this problem.

New language file Czech added

If you have already translated the PDF24 into another language, then send us your translation and we add it to the PDF24 Creator setup.

Rotation of pages of documents in PDF Editor

There is the possibility to rotate pages of documents. The new feature can be found in context menu and the main toolbar. You can rotate single pages, all pages or selected ones.

Sorting of documents in PDF Editor

Now you can sort opened documents in PDF Editor. The new feature can be used via toolbar. The sorting function always uses the document name and can sort in ascending or descending order. The new feature is very useful when editing many documents like many images which are to be merged to one PDF.

Main menu in editor overworked

The main menu in editor has been re-structed and extended by some new elements.

PDF Editor Start/Close delay fixed

If there where remote devices connected to a PC which where temporarily not available then the PDF24 Editor started and closed very slowly. The problem was the request of information of the remote drives which ends in a timeout. This problem is fixed.

All language files overworked and updated

The structure of all language files has been checked and missed elements has been added. Some parts of some language files are not translated. These texts are marked with the letters #! at the beginning. Translators, please translate not translated texts and check the language files.

Bug fixed in assistant when saving a PDF by using a user profile

There could be problems in saving a PDF file using a user profile. The PDF file could be broken.

Bug with file name determination fixed

There was a bug in file name determination process when printing a file via PDF24 PDF printer. If a file name contains more than one dot the name could be truncated to much. Normally only the file extension should be truncated. This bug is fixed in this version.

Case sensitivity bug in save as dialog in PDF editor fixed

There was a bug with case sensitivity in save as dialog in editor. If the user entered a file name with capital letters these letters becamed converted to lowercase letters and the PDF file was saved under the filename with the lowercase letters. This was a bug which is fixed now.

Bug while creating large files fixed

The creation of large files was not possible because of a bug. The progress bar in PDF creation process showed 100% but the process doesn't finnished. We have fixed this bug. Large files can now be created as well as small ones. Users are recommended to update to this version.

Default PDF Profile Bug fixed

In PDF24 Creator settings a default PDF profile can be configured. This configured profile was not used as default profile in assistant and PDF editor. This bug has been fixed. If a PDF has been created the assistant and the editor now uses the default profile as the selected one. The user can change the profile for each PDF file separately.

Bottom bar in PDF Editor GUI removed

The bottom bar did nothing special. We have classified the bar as unnecessary. The bar has been removed. The application has now more room for the explorer and the files. This helps to increase the usability.

PDF Editor split view enhanced

The split view has been enhanced. The ration between explorer and files is now 40 to 60.

Drive names in explorer inserted

The drives in explorer were displayed as drive letter (C: D:) only. Now there also the drive name if there is any.

Bug in file explorer fixed

A bug in file explorer could cause that some directories could not be opened. This bug is fixed.

Last opened directory in file explorer is saved

The PDF24 Editor saves the last opened directory in file explorer so that this directory will be opened the next time the editor starts. Previous versions always opened the favorite directory.

Bug in Save dialog of Editor fixed

If images or other documents were converted to PDF then there could be a problem while choosing a filename to save the PDF. If known file extensions are hidden in Windows the user had no chance to choose the correct .pdf file extension with the result that the saved file had an incorrect extension and was not recongnised as PDF in Windows Explorer. We have fixed this bug.

Bug in Save As dialog fixed

Because of a bug several settings in save as dialog were not applied to the saved PDF. It was not possible for example to set security settings of a PDF. We have fixed the bug which has slipped in in one of the earlier versions.

Some Bugs in PDF API fixed

The Screen Capture feature and the conversion of images to PDF was broken. There were some bugs in the PDF API which we have fixed in this version. Screen Capture and Image to PDF conversion now works.

Updated Italian language files added

Bugs in PDF API fixed

We have fixed some bugs in PDF API. Some special formatted PDF could cause problems while reading the PDF. There was another bug with encrypted PDF files. Normally encrypted PDF cannot be opened in PDF24 Editor but it was possible in version 2.9.1 which results in errors. Version 2.9.2 blocks encrypted PDF. If you want to open the encrypted PDF just create a new non encrypted file by printing them on the PDF24 PDF printer. This creates a new PDF file which is not encrypted.

Foreground/Background bug in PDF editor fixed

If the PDF24 Editor was open and overlayed by other windows and if you printed a document on PDF printer so that the editor loads it the application windows stayed in background and became not a foreground window. There was no possibility to bring the window to front. We have fixed this bug. Not the windows automatically becomes a foreground windows if a new files is available.

Option to create multi-page TIFF files added

There was no option to create multi-page TIFF files in save as dialog. If a file had more than one page every page was saved in a separate TIFF file. A TIFF file can be multi-page. We have added this option. If selected a multi-page TIFF file will be created.

Chinese language file added

Bugs fixed

We have fixed some minor bugs and we have returned to an older Ghostscript version. In PDF24 creator we have introduced Ghsotscript 9.0, but this version of Ghostscript seems to be instable. Because of that we use an older Ghostscript version in PDF24 Creator 2.9.1.

Preparation for service apps

We have introduced an interface by which it is possible to integrate other service apps. This new interface is for future purposes. The PDF printer service already used the new interface.

Reduced setup size

We could reduce the size of the setup by circa 3 MB.

Feature: Support for PDF/X and PDF/A

The support for creating PDF/X and PDF/A files has been integrated. This two new file formats can be created by using the Save as dialog. Each of these type has it's own properties which can be configured in the dialog.

Feature: Selecting multiple pages in editor enhanced

In previous versions of the PDF24 Editor it could only be selected one page after another. There was no possibility to select more than one page at a time. This was no problem for documents with only a few pages, but if the document is large and if you would select a range of pages you had to select every page manually by using the CTRL key and the left mouse button. We have improved that. Now you can select a range of pages by using the LSHIFT key and the left mouse button. The behaviour is similar to the Windows Explorer file selection. To do a range selection do this: Select the first page by clicking the left mouse button, then click the last page by holding down the LSHIFT key. If you the CTRL key is also pressed then this page range will be added to currently selected pages, otherwise all other pages will be deselected.

Feature: PDF output profiles chooseable directly in assistant

In Save as dialog you can add profiles for the output format to preconfigure an output. If you define a profile for the PDF file type this profile is then chooseable in assistant's profile list. This workflow is shorter than saving to PDF by using the save as dialog.

Feature: Automatically close assistant after file save

There is a new option in settings by which you can configure the closing behavior of assistant. By activating the close after save option the assistant will be closed automatically after a file was saved.

Improvement: Better font for input fields in user interfaces

There were some incorrect fonts in some input fields which don't suited to the rest of the user interface. We have enhanced some core parts of our rendering engine to improve this.

Improvement: Profile intention for profiles in save as dialog added

A profile in save as dialog now contains an intention for which output type a profile was made. A profile switch now opens the output type page for which the profile is intended. This property is also used in assistant for collecting all PDF profile and for make available in profile selection box in assistant.

Bug BugFix: Bug in conversion util fixed.

There could be unpredictable results in conversion util when be used with multiple files at a time. This version contains a solution for that problem. Now you use the conversion util ith multiple files without any problems. The conversion util is used in editor to automatically convert documents to PDF by dragging files into the appropriate area in editor.

Bug BugFix: Solved problem in signature util when signing documents with only one page.

Documents with only one page could not be signed because of a bug in a algorithm. The editor crashed when doing it. We have fixed the bug.

Bug BugFix: Optimize for web an security option in PDF properties can not be used together in all circumstances

A PDF could not be saved when optimize for web and security options with user password was activated. This version contains a workaround for this problem. If security with user password is active a PDF will not be weboptimized. We will improve this behavior in future versions.

Improvement of program updater

We have improved and changed some parts of the update of the pdf24 creator. The new updater contains a new update request mode which is more flexibel. With this change we prepare for future and increasing update request.

New printer driver installation

PDF lib improved

We have fixed two bugs in our PDF lib which caused problems in reading and writing special PDF files. We have also added some new parts into the lib to build up new features for future versions of the PDF24 Creator.

Integration of Ghostscript improved

No registry keys are needed for Ghostscript any longer. We have switched to environment variables which are also possible to run Ghostscrpt. This has a main advantage. A user can install other versions of Ghostscript and the PDF24 Creator will not be affected by this.

Bug in BMP output filter fixed

The 3-Bit mode of BMP output filter has been removed. This mode is not possible.

Setup images changed

The setup now contains images with the sheep. The images are better than the old ones. During installation everyone can see the images with the sheep which makes a good impression to persons who installs the software.

New GUI in PDF24 Assistant

The new GUI in PDF24 Assistant displays elements better than the old one. The formatting of elements should now be ok with all languages. The old GUI had formatting problems using languages with bigger text elements. Forthermore there were problems in older versions of the PDF24 pdf printer when using it in Windows environments with DPI settings other than the default 96 DPI.

Hide drives in explorer of PDF24 Editor

The explorer of the PDF24 Editor now uses the Windows Explorer setting, which is located in registry under the path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDrives, to hide drives. Admins of Citrix systems now can use this to hide drives which some user must not see.

Settings - Load PDF in editor if it is open - added

With this option you can control whether printed PDF documents are to be loaded in editor if the editor is open or not. By default PDF documents will be loaded in assistant and if the editor is open it will be loaded in it. User who don't want this behavior can change this with this new option.

Remove some strings from filenames determined in PDF printing process

The settings contains a new area in which a user can add some strings which are to be removed automatically from filenames which were determined in PDF printing process. Some applications add prefixes to filenames which are unwanted. This new area gives you the possibility to remove this automatically. There are preconfigured strings for some Microsoft programs like Word.

Removed flickering in GUI of PDF24 Editor

Partially there was annoying flickering in the list of loaded PDF documents when you have clicked on a document. This flickering is removed now.

Improved renderung of some GUIs

GUIs which are rendered by our small HTML rendering engine are now rendered faster. Some GUIs looks better now and have removed or reduced flickering.

Problems in explorer preview mode of PDF24 editor fixed

The explorer preview mode of PDF24 editor has been optimized so that all preview elements should be displayed as it ought to be. In older versions it could be that some preview elements could not be displayed correctly.

Rotation of preview modes of loaded PDF documents in document list of PDF24 Editor by using CTRL + MOUSE-WHEEL

PDF documents in PDF24 Editor can be displayed is some preview modes which can be changed by menu entries. Now you can also change or rotate the display mode of all documents in the document list by hold down the CTRL key and using the mouse wheel.

Language file Portuguese added

The PDF24 Creator now contains a portuguese language file. This is for all of the portuguese users which now can choose this file to localize the PDF24 Creator to portuguese.

Additional PDF options added in Save as dialog

Clicking on Save as button in PDF24 Assistant opens a dialog in which a user can select and configure a output filter. The PDF output filter now contains some more options to customize PDF output. You can now configure the PDF standard, page rotation, resolution, color model, image compression method and fonts too.

Installation of enhanced PDF printer driver under Windows XP

Windows 7 and Windows Vista user could already use the enhanced PDF printer driver. Now this driver is is usable under Windows XP too. The new PDF printer driver is tuned for PDF creation. The driver supports a lot of new paper formats and does not contain a real limitation in paper size. The paper sizes A0, A1, A2 can now be used in addition to the old paper formats. Forthermore there is a option to customize the paper size.

Some minor bug fixes removed

This version is mainly a bug fix version which removes some minor bugs which we have found in the past. Forthermore we have enhanced some core parts of the software to be able to integrate new feature in the future.

Language files Spanish and Japanese added

The PDF Creator now contains the language files spanish and japanese.

Installer contains more language files

The installer now contains more language files too. The old installer had activated only the german and english language files. Now there is a german, english, french, italian, russian and spanish language file.

French language file added and italian language file improved

We got a french language file and an improved italian one. The new files are provided in version 2.8.3.

Automatic language selection enhanced

We have enhanced automatic language selection. Language files must have a special name so that the automatic language selection are able to find the files. If a language file isn't named with a correct name the auto language selection doesn't recognise the file but the file can be choosen manually in preference pages. Prior version 2.8.3 language files could only be named with english names but now files can also have the name in appropriate locale, e.g. the italian language file can be named Italian.lang or Italiano.lang.

Shortcut problem of mapped network drives solved

If a folder contains at least one shortcot to a mapped network drive and the drive isn't and can't be connected, then the user had to worry about delay times caused by auto resolving the shortcut. The problem is solved. There are no waiting time anymore. The waiting can occure only if you double-click a network folder shortcut and the network drive isn't connected.

Problem solved sharing the pdf24 printer in a domain based network

If the PDF24 printer of a pc belonging to a domain has been shared and connected to another pc in that domain, then print jobs could not be redirected to the right user account. We have enhanced the pdf printer and now you can use and share pdf printers between computers in a domain.

Placeholder problem when changing the language solved

If you change the language of the PDF Creator without restarting the software after the change, then you could see placeholders in some places. After a restart of the pdf printer placeholders are replaced correctly. This small imperfection is solved.

Russian language file added

The PDF24 Creator now contains the language files German, English, Italian and Russian. You can add forther languages by copy and edit an existing language file. A small instruction is located in our forum.

Tray icon can now be disabled in preference pages

The tray icon can now be disabled or enabled in preference pages. The tray icon contains the nice screen capture feature which can't be used if you disable the tray icon. Some users doesn't need this feature or be annoyed of the additional tray icon, this users can now disable the icon.

Better button coloring in assistant

Now the buttons better fit to the background. Edges are much more softer.

Enhanced language selection

If no language has been configured for a user the language will be determined from system language. The automatic language determination has been optimized. Now the right language should be determined correctly if the needed language file is available.

Further changes

We have enhanced the setup and some componennt of the PDF24 Creator.

Problem with read confirmation using email function solved

Using the buttons to send created PDF files via email had activated read confirmation by default. This has been changed in version 2.8.1. By default read confirmation is deactivated. You have to enable this option manually if you want a a read confirmation.

Preview in assistant integrated

The assistant contains a preview now which gives you a fast overview of the created pdf file. The preview loads fast and has basic functionality to overview the document. Based on the preview you can see whether all pages were created correctly.

Filename request in assistant integrated when using email feature

When using the email function an inputbox is shown first to request a filename for the file which will be attached to the email. In older versions there was no filename request with the consequence that files could have cryptic names in an email. There was no possibility to change the name. Sometimes the name was ok because PDF24 Creator hat a method to request the name from windows printer monitor, but a name isn't always given. Now you can enter a good name.

Names of documents in editor can be changed now

You can change the name of a document in editor via the context menu. The context menu contains an entry to start changing a name. In older versions name changes were done when saving a document. Useful is this feature when sending a document via email. The name of a file attached to an email is the name of a document in editor. The new feature gives you the possiblity to change the name and therefore to enter a good name for files in emails.

Removed bug in email functionality

When sending a created file via email the standard email program is used. There could be a focus problem when opening this standard mail program. This focus problem has been removed.

Removed bug when sharing the PDF printer in a network

A printer can be shared in a network. This can be done with the PDF24 PDF printer too, but there was a bug while printing on this shared printer from a pc which uses this shared printer. The message "Could not open user pipe" popped up in this circumstances. This problem has been removed. Now you can share a PDF printer in a network and use it on other PC's in the network. A typical instance is a client server application. If you have a server in which a program is running which is used by clients, you can share the client PDF printers and install them on the server so that the clients can print on their PDF printers to get some printouts of the application on the server.

Faster viewer in editor

The viewer has been enhanced. The viewer is faster and annoying flickering has been removed.

Alternative output formats added

The PDF24 Creator 2.7.0 provides a way to save documents not only as PDF. A lot of output filters have been added so that you can save documents as the following formats: PDF, PS, EPS, PCL, PNG, JPEG, BMP, PCX, TIFF, PSD. The most of the new output filters are image file formats. For the moment these new output filters are only available in PDF24 Assistant. A new button named "Save as" have been added to the assistant to open a formular and to choose an output format. Each of these output output formats have own properties which can be changed to customize the output. Furthermore all properties can be saved to profiles to reduce the time to change properties and therefore to create a file.

Visualization of processes in assistant

Processes are visualized now. If the assistant saves or converts a document a small process windows is shwon so that the user can see that something happens. This is helpful even when operating with large files.

PDF core components extended

PDF core components have been extented so that the PDF24 Editor should read more PDF files. Most of the PDF files could already be read before, but now the software can read some more documents.

PDF Screen Capture extended

A new capture option have beed added. PDF24 Creator now supports the Windows Clipboard. As soon as an image is available in the clipboard the appropriate option can be selected to generate a PDF of that content. To copy the current screen to clipboard just use the "Print" button on your keyword.

Enhanced property area

The property area have been enhanced graphically. Sections are better structured now.

PDF24 Creator supports Twain interface now

PDF24 Creator can import images from devices like scanner, digicam or webcam to create PDF files based on these imported images. The requirement is that these devices supports twain interface too. If a device supports twain interface you can select the device through device selection box. That way you can create PDF image maps and you can use PDF24 Creator to optimize PDF for some purposes, e.g. you can compress PDF to send it via email.

PDF24 Creator now usable with Windows Terminal Server

Version 2.6.2 of PDF24 PDF Creator is now installable and usable within windows terminal server. This version has been tested within a Citrix terminal server environment.

Problem fixed when installing PDF printer on Windows Vista/7 x64

When the PDF printer was installed on systems with 64-bit versions of windows vista and 7 then the user got a error message that the pdf printer couldn't be installed. This problem is fixed. The installer finished with no errors on 32-bit versions of windows. The PDF24 Creator can now be installed on 32-bit and 64-bit systems with windows XP, Vista, 7 as operating system.

Installer improved, to install when an old version is available

If the PDF24 Creator has been installed without removing an old version it could come to conflicts. Now the new installer checks whether an old version is installed and uninstalls the old version before installing the new one.

Uninstaller improved

To uninstall PDF24 Creator all running components have to be closed. If one component is running, the uninstaller blocks uninstallation process. The problem was that PDF24 Creator uses a running hidden component to create PDF files and this component had to be closed by user. To ease that the installer and uninstaller first closes this hidden component automatically and the user only have to close all running visible components belonging to PDF24 Creator.

Multi user environments now supported

The PDF24 Creator has been optimized for multi user environments. There were problems in older versions when using PDF printer on PC's with more than one user. This problems has been fixed. Now you can use the pdf printer on PC's with more than one users.

The update behaviour has been changed too. Not every user can install updates. The PDF creator checks security attribues of users now and determines whether a user has necessary rights to update the program. A user with limited rights can't install updates but administrators. The new concepts of Windows Vista and Windows 7 has been taken into account. Users with limited rights will only see a notification that an update is available.

PDF Screen Capture feature integrated

Now you can capture the screen or only a portion of the screen to create a PDF of that content. There are several options: whole screen, screen working area, active windows, active window content or a user defined area. The screen capture feature is located in PDF24 Creator windows tray icon.

Windows Tray Icon integrated

There is a windows tray icon for the PDF24 Creator now. Currently the tray icon is used to display settings, open the PDF editor, show infos, close backend program and use screen capture feature. The icon becomes visualized if a pdf creation process via pdf printer in running. Programm notifications can always be shown.

New pdf printer drivers for Windows Vista and Windows 7

The PDF24 Creator uses new printer drivers for pdf printer. The new drivers provides more features than older used ones. Now there is no limitation in paper size. Small pages can be created as good as large ones. The driver contains most of the common used paper formats A0 - A7, letter, ledger, executive. A user defined paper size is also possible.

Settings area extended

Now there is a central preferences area. This area can be opened from several locations. The user can configure more settings than in older versions. The preferences area can be used on PC's with more than one user too. Not every user can change all settings, e.g. only administrators can change update behaviour. The UAC of windows Vista and 7 has been taken into account. A user will see a message if a property page can't be selected because of limited rights. There is also the possibility to elevate a user if the user is an administrator to do all changes.

Program restructured

The PDF Creator has been restructured to make ready the program for future developments.

PDF Viewer in PDF Editor enhanced

There could be a dealock in some circumstances in PDF viewer. The problem has been fixed. Furthermore you can navigiate through pages with arrow keys now.

File explorer in PDF editor enhanced

The explorer supports shortcuts/links now. The explorer can be hided so that only the document list is shown up. There are appropriate menu entries to hide or show the explorer.

Program settings strictly separated from user settings

The settings of the program and the settings of a user are strictly separated now. Every user can change his PDF creator so that it suits his requirements. The changed will be saved in user profiles. Only administrators can change settings which concerns the whole program.

Document to PDF converter tool supports shortcuts/links now

The component which is responsible for converting documents to PDF now supports shortcuts/links in file system. In addition a bug in the tool has been fixed.

Updater extended

The updater of the PDF24 Creator has beed redesigned and extended. The user user guidance has been changed to. The updater supports multi user environments now. Users with limited rights can execute the updater to look for updates, but they can't install ones. This is reserved for administrators.

PDF signature bug under Windows Vista and Windows 7 fixed

There was a bug in signature process when signing a PDF file under Windows Vista and Windows 7. Partly the signature was incorrect. The bug is fixed. PDF signatures are correct now. Signatures can be checked in Adobe Reader.

Signature time bug fixed

The time of a signature process was not saved correctly. The problem was time offset for time zones. The bug is fixed.

Enhanced installer

The installer of the PDF24 Creator has been enhanced. The installer searches for active components now. If a components is active the installer notifies the user that all components have to be closed. The installer only installs an update/new version if all components are closed. This works also in a multi user environment. As long as any user has a running components the installer blocks installations.

PDF editor can be started with a file

The PDF24 Editor can be started with a file, e.g. drag & drop a file to the PDF24 editor icon. This was disallowed in older versions. The start file will automatically be loaded in editor and becomes converted if the files wasn't a PDF.

Better icon set for Windows Vista and 7 integrated

The new icon set contains now bigger icons too, so that program symbols looks much better when using a large preview in windows explorer.

Language selection at program start optimized

The language selection at first program start has been optimized. There is a problem in version 2.5. In this version the german language becomes selected, but this isn't good for non german people. The problem is fixed. The german language becomes selected on systems with german language and the english language for all other. This version is shipped with a german and a english language file.

Profiles integrated

With the profiles you can control the quality and compression of a PDF. A lower quality results in a smaller PDF file size and a higher quality results in a larger size. A profile can be changed in PDF creation assistant after creating a PDF through the pdf24 printer or in context menu of a document in editing user interface. The program settings contains an option to set standard profile which is selected as default.

Send PDF via email

PDF files can be send via email. This can be done in PDF creation assistant after a PDF was created with pdf24 printer or in editing user interface. A button was added in the PDF creation assistant and several menu entries and a toolbar button where added in the editor to send a PDF.

Sign a PDF

The PDF24 Creator can now sign PDF documents. The software contains everything to create and embed a signature into a PDF document. Signing can be done with self signed certificates, which can be created with PDF24 Creator or with a signature card. When using a signature card a special windows middleware is required to make certificates on the card available and useable. Signing is only integreated in editor. The editor contains a new toolbar button and a new context menu entry to open a signing dialog. In signing dialog you have to choose a certificte and to enter some informations required for signing.

Determination of a filename for a created PDF

This version determines filenames for created PDF files with help of the windows printer interface. If you print a document with name XYZ on pdf24 printer, a PDF file will be created and the name XYZ will be determined as name for the PDF. This helps when working with PDF24 Creator especially when creating a lot of PDF files. This can be used by opther software to give PDF documents a name when created via pdf24 printer.

Optimized conversion of image to PDF

Image can now be converted to PDF a little better. The created PDF don't contain an ugly margin any more but only the image. This can be used to create nice PDF image maps when converting images to PDF and merging them to one PDF file. The resulting file can contain image with different sizes.

Enhanced usability

The usability where enhanced in several ways so that the user has to click a little less when working with the editor. This includes the functions merge and delete with toolbar buttons. Based on the document selection can be decided what should be merged or deleted. This saves a click when choosing between all or only selected documents.

Bug concerning security settings removed

If you open security settings dialog, make changes there, close and than reopen it, made changes doesn't be displayed despite being saved correctly. This problem is solved.

Bug marking single pages fixed

Selecting a single page doesn't select all loaded pdf documents any more. This is a bug in previous versions. If the user selects a single page in a document then the document which contains the page becomes selected. All other documents becomes unselected.

Splash Screen when opening PDF24 editor removed

The PDF24 editor starts very fast. A splash screen makes no sense here. Therefore we have removed it. The splash screen has shown the personalisation image. As replacement for the splash screen we have inserted a link in booter area of the editor. I click on this link opens a windows with the content which was shown previously in splash screen. The personalisation image in that window is clickable. A click on the image opens a browser with the url which was specified at personalisation.

A couple of menu entries changed

Menu entries which stands for options which are selected were displayed in gray and could not be selected again. The intention of this grayed menu entries are normally a state which is unuseable. We have changed this with a state which displays a marked checkbox in front of a menu entry to show the user that this state is currently selected. This is better and easier to understand.

Settings area enhanced and more options added

The settings area is displayed now in a new user interface and we have added some more options to customize the PDF24 Creator. Now you can change the update behavior, language and standard quality profile.

PDF printer driver for windows 7

The installer installs an suitable printer driver when installing in windows 7. The PDF24 Creator can be used now with Windows 7.

Signed PDf24 Creastor components

All components of PDF24 Creator are signed with a certificate so that you will have the certainty that PDF24 Creator are secure and have not been changed by a third party. Windows Vista and Windows 7 will show you a corresponding message when you start the PDF24 Creator whether the program is secure or not.

Update behavior changed

The update behavior have been changed slightly. You can customize the behavior in settings. You can choose between three options (automatic, only check and notify, disabled). The updater and other program parts have been adapted to the new options.

PDF creation assistant restructured

The layout of the assistant have beed improved. A selection box to select a quality profile and a button to send the created PDF via email have been added. The update and info button have been removed and inserted as link into the bottom bar. All buttons now represents pure function buttons which do something with the created PDF.

Editor tools menu extended

There are two new tools in the PDF24 editor. The first new tools can create a self signed certificate and the second tool opens a certificate manager where you can manage your certificates. These tools are importent for the signing feature.

Deadlock problem in integrated viewer

There could be a deadlock in integrated viewer when a document contains pages of other documents and when this document is shown in viewer. Browsing between pages could cause the deadlock. This bug have been removed.

PDF editor introduced

Improved updater

The updater have been extracted and inserted into an own executeable and the functionality have been extended.

Background program PDFBackend optimized

The background program PDFBackend have been improved. This program waits in background for a new print job which was printed on pdf24 printer.

PDF printer driver installation improved

The PDF printer driver installation have been improved. The new installer can now install different printer drivers which can be used with pdf24.

Program which comverts documents to PDF integrated

A program have been build which converts documents such as word or powerpoint to PDF. In this version the conversion is done with help of PDF24 PDF printer. The program has to be started with a document as argument and then it prints it out on pdf24 printer.

PDF edit button in PDF creation assistant added

The assistant now has a button to edit a created PDF. A click on this button starts the editor and loads the created PDF file there.

Automatically load documents in editor

If the PDF editor is open and if a new PDF is created with pdf24 printer then the created PDF becomes loaded automatically in editor and not in assistant.