# Oldies but Goodies - A brick factory by Bruce Chandler



## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

This is a really good thread to see some unusually effective building techniques.

Matheson's Textile Plan 


Search terms - factory, brick, plexi, plexiglass, windows, doors,


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## railcandy (Dec 19, 2010)

*Mike*... you really deserve some kind of award for all your efforts keepin' there archives alive !

Thanks for posting;
Perry


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Ditto Perry. Thank you so much Mike. 

Robert


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike .. I hate to ask and probably not the place, But can you give me some idea how you made them in to a PF. file so i can get my How to stuff on MLS i did yrs ago on to a Comcast web page so i don't loose my old stuff.. And do i still use the photos in My MLS web. to use or upload them also in the Comcast web? Now sure how you did them and sure would like to learn how to save them if you can show us..We have the Adobe PF program but not sure how to use it like you did. Noel & Jane


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Noel...it's easy...and it has more application than just archiving your own copy of an MLS page. Here's what I did/do.

a. Go to PDF995.com and download the printer driver and converter. You can choose to download the free version (I did) or pay them $9.95. The free version requires you to click on something every time you use it...no big deal IMHO.

b. After the download completes, run the printer driver to install it as a new printer on your Window machine. 

c. Check your Windows printer status.... Settings/Printers. You should see a new printer there named PDF995.


Now, whenever you print something...from any program, you'll notice that Windows pops up a window name Print. The top bar on that window has a pull down that is preloaded with the last printer you used. My real printer is a Lexmark, so that bar says "Lexmark"...but on the right end of that bar is a down arrow. Click it, and you'll be able to change the printer to PDF995.

Now, you're ready to print whatever you want as a pdf. It can be a web page...a Word document...an Excel spreadsheet...a CAD drawing. Anything that you can print...cept instead of printing to a real printer, it prints to a PDF file.

As an aside, all the digital bills I get on my computer's email, I print with PDF995. I print my eBay receipts when I buy something to PDFs. I print my bank account statements to PDF files. I use the PDF995 printer to print anything I want a digital copy of. And...as a secondary benefit, my computer has Google Desktop on it, so it indexes my PDF files. That allows me to search my disk to find articles/threads/receipts by entering a search term in the Google Desktop query box. If I want to see my water bill from November, I just type "water November", and I get a direct link to the file.


Now...for MLS you need to set up what you want to print before you print. 
a. Since MLS threads can be multiple forum pages, you need to get MLS to display a whole thread on one page. 
b. To do this, you click the Printer Friendly icon on the upper right of any page. It's a little printer icon. So, if the thread and all it's photos and drawings take up six pages, this makes all six pages show up on one page. That's the page you print.
c. So, once you have the Printer friendly version displayed, you click File/Print on your browser and select PDF995 as the printer...then click OK to get it to print. A progress window pops open showing you it is converting the file to a pdf.
d. Then, PDF995 will display a window that says it's going to save the PDF file to a specific directory and gives you the name it's selected. I change that stuff to the file name I want, and the directory I want it saved in. 
e. Then I click the SAVE button. Next PDF995 (on my computer) puts up a window that asks me if I want to keep using the free version...and buy it. I click keep using the free version...it saves the file as a PDF...and gives me a new window with an ad in it.

The beauty of this approach is that it doesn't matter what is displayed...it prints to a PDF. Photos, drawings, icons, everything is printed to the PDF file. Now...you'll need to get used to playing with that Windows File/Print window with PDF995 selected if you print weird stuff...like size E drawings. It will do it...but you'll need to learn to play with the printer settings to get a big print onto just ONE PDF page if that's your desire.


And...remember, you can print PDF files to your real printer. Just open the PDF with Adobe Reader...and print.


PS...there's probably a way to use your Adobe software to achieve the same result. I didn't want to buy it. I didn't want to learn how to use it. I wanted KISS...and that's what I got.


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Tks Mike.. I have it as a printer icon with my main printer.. now have a chose to work with.. tks... Now I read that it puts an PDF Icon up in Micro.word in the tool bar..It will convert it to a PDF file. Now have to find that to copy it for testing and then go from there.. neat so far..tks again guy.. Noel


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Another option for 'printing' PDF is Cute PDF http://www.cutepdf.com/ I found this from one of my college professors who required that every essay be sent in PDF format so she could read them, instead of having to worry about different versions of Word ( or Mac's word). Copy and paste into word, open up print and select cute pdf printer instead of your 'regular printer'. :edit: unlike the pdf printer linked above cute doesn't require you continually click on links or attempt to sell you anything (one of the benefits of open source programs) I've never had a problem with it.
Craig


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