Printing to an external file

You can print document(s) to an external file, such as an ASCII or PostScript® file. The documents are not actually printed but saved in a file that you specify on your hard disk drive. In Windows®, you must set up a PostScript printer before printing to a file.

To set up a PostScript printer in Windows

About this task

Procedure

  1. From the task bar at the bottom of the screen, choose Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes.
  2. Select a PostScript printer.
  3. Click File > Properties.
  4. Click Details.
  5. Under Print to the following port, select an option starting with FILE:.
  6. Click Apply and then OK.

To print to a file

Procedure

  1. Click File > Print.
  2. Do one of the following under What To Print:
    • To print one or more documents, select Selected documents.
    • To print a list of documents, select Selected view.
  3. In the Name field under Printer, select a PostScript printer description with on FILE: as the Type description. Click OK and enter a file name.
  4. Click OK.

Results

Tip: If you have access to more than one printer, you can set up one printer, with the appropriate driver, to always print to a file. Then, when you want to go from printing documents to printing files, you can switch printers in the Print dialog box.

Macintosh users

About this task

Procedure

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To print one or more documents to a file, select the document(s) in any view where they appear.
    • To print a list of documents in a folder or view to a file, switch to the folder or view and select the document(s)
  2. Click File > Print.
  3. For OS X, in the drop-down menu whose default is Copies & Pages, choose OutputOptions and select Save as File.
  4. Optional: Specify a format. For more information, refer to your Macintosh OS Help.
  5. Click Print.

Results