PDFCreator: Create PDF Files for Free from Any Program

Antonio NEMCD Author

Published Mar 28, 2009 · 2 min

Sometimes you need to make a PDF file quickly, for example from a price list or a document. One program that can help is PDFCreator.

PDFCreator by PDFForge

It’s free and creates PDFs from any program that can print.

Advantages of PDFCreator

1. The program is completely free.
2. The source code is open.
3. It installs a virtual printer, so you can create a PDF from any application that can print: choose the PDFCreator printer and “print” to a file.
4. It can save not only to PDF but also to PS, EPS, PNG, JPEG, BMP, PCX, TIFF and other formats.
5. It has many interface languages, including Russian and Ukrainian.
6. Lots of settings: process priority, document author, auto-save, fonts, image resolution and more.

PDFCreator settings (in Russian)

How to change the interface language

Open Options → Languages, click Refresh list, choose the language you need and install it. Then select it under Current language and save.

Things to keep in mind

• Watch the checkboxes during installation: the installer also offers a browser add-on, and everything works fine without it.
• The program is Windows-only: the developers list support for 95/98/NT/2000/XP. Linux has its own alternatives, such as CUPS-PDF.

Program website: pdfforge.org.

All in all, it’s pretty good, and free too :-) Know something better? Let me know.

As of November 2026

Windows 10 and 11 have a built-in virtual printer, “Microsoft Print to PDF”, so you don’t need to install anything just to save to PDF. PDFCreator is still being developed and is useful if you need settings, other formats or auto-save.