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Prep4PDF Updates and Revision History
Prep4PDF Updates
Prep4PDF is a work in progress. We're constantly improving it and adding new features. This Revision History lists the changes we've made lately.
You can always update your current copy of Prep4PDF to the most recent version at no charge.
To update, visit the Downloads page, follow the instructions there to download and install the latest version. That will update Prep4PDF automatically. You do not need to uninstall Prep4PDF first or re-enter any registration information. Just run the installer and you're updated, whether you have a demo or fully registered version.
Revisions are listed by date, most recent changes first.
Revisions that affect all PPTools add-ins
August 2010The Help dialog now has an "Edit PPTools.INI" button you can click to launch PPTools.INI in Notepad. No more chasing all over your hard drive to find the silly thing when you need to edit it.
There's also a bit of text at the bottom of the Help dialog box that tells you where your PPTools add-ins are installed. If you click the text, it opens the folder in Windows Explorer.
March 2010- Various minor speed/efficiency improvements
- Now tests for filenames like CON.ext or CON. when checking filenames for validity
- Includes registered user name in diagnostics listing
- Now round-trips to the same format as original file rather than converting to PPT.
- Now applies color schemes from original file to round-tripped/repaired file (helps prevent certain unwanted color changes).
- Now leaves both original and round-tripped/repaired file open after round-tripping so you can compare the two more easily.
Prep4PDF Revision Log
13 Dec 2010
FIXED: A bug in the way PPT 2007 and 2010 handle EPS files prevented Prep4PDF from creating links in PDF files. This is described more fully in PROBLEM: Prep4PDF doesn't produce links in PDFs. After you install this update, when you use the AutoPDF feature, Prep4PDF automatically makes the needed registry modification before making the PDF, then sets it back to its original value afterward.
14 Apr 2009
You can now trigger Acrobat and Reader menu commands from special action settings you create in PowerPoint. This allows you to do things like add a fullscreen toggle button to any slide. There's a much more detailed explanation here: Special commands
21 Nov 2008
FIXED: ActionHighlightEffect= setting in PPTools.INI was only controlling some links, not all.
FIXED: Various problems with punctuation in slides/titles
18 Jul 2007
FIXED: Distiller error when slides have a parenthesis character in slide title
10 Apr 2007
Added workaround to a PPT bug that causes bad links to slides with a comma in the slide title
5 Feb 2007
Added automatic export of embedded sounds and linking to them in the resulting PDF
Added Sonic PDF to list of "approved" printers
Added Microsoft Document Imaging to list of "unapproved" printers
4 June 2006
- Major rewrite to improve hyperlink/action settings handling; fixed quite a few obscure bugs.
- Added support for multiple masters
- WebPath=xxx INI entry (see below) now works for all hyperlinks (Action settings on shapes and text hyperlinks)
- Added explanatory labels etc. to Preferences dialog box
- If a slide has been set to Omit Master Graphics, Prep4PDF ignores any links/hyperlinks on the slide master for that slide.
- Prep4PDF now "sees" hyperlinks within groups
- Added PPS, PPTX, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM to file types recognized as PPT files when user chooses to convert PPT links to PDF links in Prefs.
- Added the ability for users to control which extensions are seen as PPT files and Other Document files when converting PPT links/Other document links to PDF.
To use this feature, add the following to your PPTools.INI file, the [PREP4PDF] section:
; What extensions are to be considered PPT files? ; Default is PPT|PPS|PPTX|PPTM|PPSX|PPSM ; This example sets it to PPT only: PPTtoPDFExtensions=PPT ; ; What other extensions should be converted when ExternalDocsArePDF=YES? ; Default is ALL files except web links ; This example limits it to DOC files OtherDocstoPDFExtensions=DOC ;
01 November 2005
Added the ability to create PDF Movie "annotations" from linked movies in PPT instead of the current PDF Launch File links. If the Movie annotation points to a linked movie that Acrobat/Reader can play natively, the movie plays within the PDF rather than launching an external player.
To activate this feature, add this line to the PPTools.INI file, directly under the [Prep4PDF] line:
LinkMovies=YES
Anything but YES is taken to mean NO (though it's not case-sensitive). If NO, then Prep4PDF creates Launch File links to movies and sounds.
23 September 2005
Added the ability to specify the effect you get when clicking a link in the final PDF.
Previously, the effect was always the default, Invert.
Now you can choose the effect you want by adding this line to the PPTools.INI file, directly under the [Prep4PDF] line:
ActionHighlightEffect=I
which gives the default Invert effect. Possible values are
- I for INVERT, the default effect
- N for NO effect at all
- O for OUTLINE - Acrobat briefly puts an outline around the link area
- P for PRESS - Acrobat creates a button press effect when the link is clicked (this effect is what Adobe calls INSET in the Acrobat documentation)
10 December 2004
Added no update option;
In PPTools.INI, the [Prep4PDF] section, use
ScreenUpdating=NO
to turn screen updating off. This can make the process of creating a PDF marginally faster.
There's also a new EPSLogging=YES option to turn diagnostic logging on while creating PDFs
This off by default and should normally be left that way unless you're helping us troubleshoot a problem.
7 May 2004
Fixed a problem that caused Prep4PDF to leave EPS images behind on slides
29 April 2004
Added WebPath=xxx INI entry and DosPathToAcroPath mod to allow forcing link paths to point to web rather than local files. Currently only works for Action settings, not hyperlinks in text
Add
WebPath=http:\\www.yourdomain.com\
to the [Prep4PDF] section of PPTools.INI
14 April 2004
Previously Viewed Slide action in PowerPoint now translates into a "Go To Previous View" link in Acrobat/PDF.
Previously Viewed Slide can produce unexpected effects in PowerPoint; the Go To Previous View link in PDFs may not act identically. Test your presentations carefully!
Links to local html files are treated as file links rather than weblinks in the PDF
20 March 2004
- Added PDF995 to list of OK printers (it uses Ghostscript)
- Added Apple LaserWriter to list of OK printers.
- Added Linotronic, PS, Apple, Agfa to OK printers list
Fixed Type Mismatch problem in import filter test (problem only occurred in PowerPoint 97 SR2b)
- Prefs form now closes if no printer drivers installed
11 February 2004
- Now detects and attempts to work around bad links that PPT creates when a comma is included in the slide title
11 March 2004
Fixed a problem that caused Prep4PDF to stop with a "91" error message.
Added PDF995 to the list of "recognized" printer drivers
8 December 2003
Prep4PDF now verifies that the MS Office EPS import filter is installed before proceeding.
It can't do its job without this filter.
Problem: PowerPoint EPS Import Filter problem causes links to fail in PDFs
If PowerPoint 2002 or later is installed on the same comptuter as PowerPoint 2000, its EPS import filter overwrites the earlier PPT 2000 one. The newer filter works in PowerPoint XP and appears to work with PowerPoint 2000 but in fact doesn't. EPS graphics imported into PowerPoint 2000 using this filter won't print to a PS printer. Prep4PDF relies on EPS graphics printing to a PS printer to work.
Prep4PDF now tests for the PowerPoint and filter versions and gives a warning if the combination is a known bad one. If you receive this warning, use the newer version of PowerPoint instead of 2000 to create your PDFs.
Fixed: Error when trying to create links to non-existent slides.
If you create links to slides in your presentation and later delete the slides the links point to, Prep4PDF would produce error messages.
Prep4PDF now leaves a message about links to missing/non-existent slides in the log file but doesn't error.
4 October 2003
Demo behavior changed
The Demo version now DEMO-stamps PDFs; we've removed the 6-slide limit. You can now convert presentations of any size to PDF with the demo.
Added: Prep4PDF now checks in several places for valid printer driver name.
If the printer driver name contains POSTSCRIPT, PDF CREATOR, DISTILLER, ADOBE PDF, it's OK
If the printer driver name contains PDFWRITER, DESKJET, it's BAD (ie, it won't work with Prep4PDF)
If the printer driver name is not OK (ie, it's BAD or undetermined), Prep4PDF warns you and declines to make PDFs.
If your printer driver's name isn't recognized (ie, it's undetermined) and you're certain it's a valid PostScript driver, you can force Prep4PDF to accept it as valid. Add this line directly below the [PREP4PDF] line in PPTools.INI:
OKPrinter=xxx
(replace xxx with the name of your printer driver, exactly as it appears in Prep4PDF's preferences dialog where you chose the driver)
Save PPTools.INI and Prep4PDF will now accept your printer driver as a valid one.
Added option to set link appearance and behavior
In the [Prep4PDF] section of PPTools.INI add the following lines and uncomment the appropriate one (ie, remove the semicolon from the beginning of the line) to get links in your PDFs that Invert, Highlight, Outline etc. when clicked.
;CustomLinkParams= /H /N ;CustomLinkParams= /H /I ;CustomLinkParams= /H /P ;CustomLinkParams= /H /O ; H means Highlight ; N = None ; I = Invert ; P = Inset ; O = Outline
Other fixes
Fixed: Next/Prev/First/Last links applied to text made invalid links, prevented PDF from being created.
Fixed: Links to files like "..\Dir\File.DOC" became links to "..\DOC" or similar in the PDF
Fixed: Crashes during PDF creation when "External Links To PDF" option selected
Fixed: Various other minor/cosmetic bugs/annoyances