Off-topic request for recommendation regarding LARGE PDF files.

[BVstudios]

It's a trifle off-topic, but I am in need of a hand creating a pdf which will be outside of the "standard" letter or legal size. I have Cute PDF installed, and while it is pretty reliable creating pdf files from Finale and other apps in sizes up to 8 1/2 x 14, it simply falls flat moving up to ledger size or larger, plus I cannot find any controls in Cute PDF for adjusting the paper size.

I have created an image file which must be delivered in pdf format (printing company's rules) and at 100% of final size (again, see the printer). It's not music, in fact it is an image of a 6-foot tall man in a tux (It's for my wife's dance company). The dance troupe needs to have the image printed as part of a banner for their spring show. They have pretty much zero budget, which is normal for a dance company these days. It was the print company which told me the image needed to be a "full-sized" pdf... "ok", I said, never realizing that there may be an issue.

I've done all the spadework, obtained the image (legally), done the editing to fit the ads messaging and re-sized the result so that "Fred" is indeed a full six feet tall. What I can't do is make "Fred" into a PDF that opens to the proper size. As a bmp or even a jpg, opening the file results in a huge image far larger than my 24" monitor (even in MS Word), but any attempt to convert to a pdf end in a letter-size disaster.

If I use Cute PDF, the app only formats enough of the image to fit on a legal-size piece of paper. Everything outside that "square" is left out. What remains is indeed full size, but it is also only a piece of the actual image on the screen! Testing has shown me that Cute PDF starts at the physical centre of the image and works outward pixel by pixel until the built-in paper size is reached- in this case, that works out to an area the size of a piece of paper from his belt buckle "southwards" (and that's about all on THAT I'm going to put in writing!).

So...I need to find a way to save "Fred" as a pdf in all his 6ft of tuxedo'd glory, complete with red rose and toothy smile.

Does anyone know of a downloaded pdf converter which will allow me to re-size the electronic "paper" and satisfy the printing company? Full Acrobat will do it, I know, but I am not charging the dance company for it, and Acrobat is a little out of their budget this year..

As I said, it's off-topic, but between us, we do print a lot of music every year, so I am hoping someone has something squirreled away which may help.

Thanks!

[Silh]

I use LibreOffice Draw for making PDF's of flyers/posters which I send to a print shop, though I haven't done anything bigger than a 17"x11" poster size thus far. Just checked in the program though, and you can set a custom page size for whatever you want (I tried out a 24"x72" page and it didn't complain). Once you've got whatever page size you want, import your image and resize it to fit on the page, and you should be good to go.

The program's freely available as part of the LibreOffice suite, which I've been using for years as an alternative to Microsoft Office and other programs, so it includes a whole lot of other stuff which you won't need (for this particular project at least), and I think you can choose which portions to install, but I don't remember that clearly from the installation program.

[AlanPerkins]

Kevin, not sure if you resolved your issue yet, but I just found this on the CutePDF FAQ list:

• How to add a custom paper size?
  Go to Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes. Choose Server Properties command on File menu. Add your paper size on Forms tab. Then, please select exact matched paper size (and orientation) during printing (in print dialog box, click on Properties -> Advanced).
  On Windows 7/8, please go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Print Management -> Printer Servers -> %computer name% -> Forms. Click on Action menu -> Manage Forms to add the custom form.