The portable document format (pdf) is the only serious contender when it comes to distributing documents electronically, thanks largely to cross-platform support and widely available free viewing software.

PDF Producer from Germany's Data Becker is a low-cost pdf creation tool, which aims to provide a cut-down alternative for those who don't need the features or cost associated with Adobe's Acrobat.

Installing as an additional printer driver, pdf creation is available from any print-capable Windows application and is as simple as selecting PDF Producer instead of the usual physical printer. Clicking on the Properties button opens a dialogue box where a number of options are available, including optimisation for web or print use and password protection.

From here, it's on to the Preview window where a final visual check can be made before the pdf is rendered. Pages can still be deleted or restored at this stage. The preview sometimes struggled to represent some of our documents, but despite this glitch, the resulting pdfs usually emerged unaffected.

Working with some Microsoft Publisher documents, we encountered occasional text spacing and rule anomalies, but for general office and personal use, this shouldn't pose too many problems.

It won't threaten Acrobat's dominance, but should prove a capable enough performer for less demanding requirements.

Contact: Phoenix Global 0870 240 4494
www.databecker.com

System Requirements:

• 300MHz processor
• 128MB of Ram
• 10MB of free hard disk space
• SVGA monitor
• Windows 2000/XP