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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
I use PDF995 as a virtual printer to create pdf files of BIAB leadsheets. As I print out each file, I'm prompted for a filename (the default is "notation.pdf", and I can enter the name of the piece or append an arbitrary number to the default (e.g. notation091.pdf).
This is fine for e-mailing odd copies to colleagues, but when it comes to a repertoire of over 100 pieces it becomes tedious, and I'd like to be able to "print" all of them into a single pdf file.
As the repertoire may be extended and pieces edited, I'd like to be able to produce a fresh set before each jam session, with copies for Bb and Eb instruments, which multiplies the irritation x 3!
Is there a work-around for this problem?
Thanks.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,844
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Joined: Dec 2000
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PDF995 can do this. You have to use the PDFEDIT utility (obtainable from their web site). Buy it if you don't want the ads (it's not expensive). The PDFEDIT utility has an option to append each document to the specified document. Just make sure to turn it on and off as appropriate.
You can read about it in the PDF995 help file. I do this often with notation programs.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
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OP
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Thanks, John, I should have thought of that!
I've installed PDFEDIT, but it doesn't behave quite as I'd expected in that the pdf file I've nominated doesn't seem to be available when BIAB finishes its multiple print, but appears after the next print job is sent to PDF995.
It looks as though I'm going to have to read the manual...
Foxy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
John,
I managed one multiple print to a single file, but haven't been able to repeat the successful sequence.
If I understand correctly, all I have to do is run pdfedit995 and tick the box marked "Combine pdf995 print jobs", and then perform the multiple print as usual from BIAB, but with pdf995 as the selected printer.
What happens to me then is that the first piece is sent to a pdf, and Adobe Reader opens up to display this single piece, and after that no further piece is sent to this file - although the procedure seems to be being followed as far as BIAB is concerned, and pdf995's printer status shows a succession of files being sent to the print queue and then being taken off as they're "printed". The end result is pdf file of the first piece.
Please confirm that I'm doing the right things here.
Foxy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 310
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 310 |
Program below will allow you to merge PDF files .... among other things. http://www.pdfill.com/pdf_tools_free.html
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,844
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Veteran
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Hopefully I'll remember to do this when I get home from work tonight, but I will try to write a short tutorial for getting multiple printouts with PDF995. I just did it recently from multiple individual scans (from a songbook) that I then compiled back into a single file PDF songbook. So I know it works.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Thanks, John.
I've sent in a help request to the pdf995 support desk, and will report back.
Joining lots of individual files isn't my problem, I know how to do that, but I don't want to go through the tedium of doing a MULTIPLE PRINT to individual pdf files and having to call them notation001.pdf, notation002.pdf .... notation126.pdf one by one before joining them together, especially because I also want to compile the same repertoire for Bb and Eb instruments.
I'm involved with a variable group of jazz musicians in a regular jam session, and we usually work from the various fakebooks that are available. We don't rehearse and don't know who's going to turn up until the night, and this approach tends to be limiting. We'd like to have an easy way of distributing alternative arrangements, and this is one way of doing it to include those (poor benighted souls) who don't have BIAB. It's essentially our own home-brewed fakebook, and I'd like to be able to maintain it as a single unit to keep everyone's version in sync. We can them e-mail our colleagues to say we'd like to include songs A, B and C next Thursday, and those players who're coming along can print out and practise them in advance.
Foxy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,844
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Hi, Foxy -
Hope this helps. I just tried it on my computer and it worked fine.
1. Open pdfEdit995.
2. Click on the Combine/Extract tab. (Note that you can use the “Combine existing PDFs” button, but you have to install additional [free] software to make it work. I’m just showing you how to use the “Combine pdf995 print jobs” button instead here.)
3. Make sure “Combine pdf995 print jobs” is unchecked. This is to print the first document.
4. Minimize pdfEdit995 on the task bar (so we can get back to it easily).
5. In BIAB, print the lead sheet from the first song you want. When asked for a filename, you can change the folder and the name. For this example, I am going to print to the desktop and call my project “Songbook.pdf”.
6. On my computer, the PDF output pops up in Foxit Reader (or it would do the same in Adobe Acrobat, if that were my default, but I use FoxIt as the default). If it doesn’t pop up, it’s probably because you have that feature turned off in your PDF reader; that’s okay. Once it pops up in the reader, close the reader. You don’t want to have that file open when you are trying to append the next document to it.
7. Go back to pdfEdit995 now and check the box that says “Combine pdf995 print jobs”. You’ll get a notification box that jobs will now be combined. There is a new checkbox that appears on the tab now called “Combine with the previous pdf995 print job”. Check that box also. Minimize pdf995Edit.
8. Print the lead sheet from the second song. When asked for a filename, enter the same as the first (for example, “Songbook.pdf” to the desktop). Note that “Notation.pdf” will be the default name, so change the name to “Songbook.pdf”. If you get a box to confirm overwriting the existing pdf file, click “Yes”.
9. When the document pops up in you PDF reader, scroll down to see that it now includes all documents printed so far. Go ahead and close your PDF reader again.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 for each document you want in your “Songbook”.
11. After you have finished creating your “Songbook”, open pdfEdit995 from the taskbar and uncheck the box “Combine pdf995 print jobs”. You’ll get a notification that jobs will no longer be combined. You can now close pdfEdit995.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Thanks, John.
My problem is that I'm dealing with > 100 songs at a time, and also producing a Bb and an Eb version of each.
I'd hoped to be able to use File->Print Multiple Songs... option to print all the songs at once, rather than having to select them and print them one at a time, keying in "Songbook.pdf" every time (actually, I wonder if it's necessary to change from the default filename - it's obviously necessary to change the name of the file after the whole job's done to avoid its being overwritten by the next job). By the time I get to number 229 in the sequence, I'm quite likely to be so bored I'll make a mistake and omit a song or put it in twice, or even type Singbook instead of Songbook!
No word from pdf995 - but they haven't had their 12 hours yet.
Foxy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,844
Veteran
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Veteran
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It seems to me, then, that it would be better to use a utility that can combine multiple PDF's into a single PDF. What I would do then is to create a single PDF for each song. If I change the song, then I create a new PDF. When I need to create a new songbook, then just select the songs to combine and create the larger songbook. I haven't tried it with PDF995, but the two additional programs you need to install are free (or were included with the pack you may have purchased). That's worth a try. That way, you'd have a separate file for each song (for when you need a one-off), or can combine them whichever way you see fit. This is from the PDF995 FAQ: Quote:
How do I combine documents into a single PDF?
PdfEdit995 v6.8 (and higher) offers two methods for Combining documents into a single PDF.
1. Combine mode at print time: Print the first document, turn on Combine mode in PdfEdit995. Make sure you are not overwriting a PDF that is open in Acrobat. Print subsequent documents to Pdf995. Each new pdf will contain all previously printed documents. Turn off combine mode when done.
Note: You can print a section of a pdf from the free Acrobat to Pdf995. This can be used to add, remove and reorder pages.
2. The Combine Existing PDF tool enables automatic concatenation of existing PDFs. The Extract PDF Pages tool enables extraction of a range of pages from a PDF to a new PDF. This can be used to add, remove and reorder pages.
Just a thought.
I don't want to go on too much about a non PGMusic product, but I do know it's important to be able to print out songbooks (which I've done for the musicians that play with me).
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Thanks again, John.
I got a useful response from pdf995's software support. It proved necessary to insert a line into the pdf995.ini file, which makes pdf995 "print" each song into a separate file, and then use pdfEdit995 to combine these - an extra step, but not hard to do.
At first I inserted the line "Output File=1", but as I was MULTIPLE PRINTing more than 100 songs I got into trouble with the combination of the files - pdfEdit995 sorts the files into alphabetical, not numerical, order, which means that 11.pdf and 111.pdf precede 2.pdf and so on.
I worked around this by using "Output File=100", but if you have over 999 songs you'll have to use "Output File=1000"!
I still can't MULTIPLE PRINT a whole Song List to a single pdf file in one go, but it's a whole lot easier (and therefore more likely to get done!) using this method.
To recap, for anyone else interested:
1. Select pdf995 as the Windows default printer.
2. Edit C:\Program Files\pdf995\res\pdf995.ini to include the line "Output File=100".
3. Set up the songlist you want to print in BIAB.
4. Use File->PRINT MULTIPLE to print the songs.
5. Use pdfEdit995 to "Combine existing PDFs" by clicking the "Add PDF" button and selecting the files you've just created.
6. Restore the original Windows default printer to its previous setting.
(in place of 1 and 6 you could also the print options within BIAB by clicking the "Setup Printer" button after choosing to print a single song, setting it up for pdf995 and then Closing print options without printing).
I'm still trying to eliminate the need for step 5 above, but at least this is a workable solution.
Foxy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,055
Productor Musical
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Productor Musical
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,055 |
Very useful information since I use PDF995 as my default printer. I print my lessons, guitar licks and practicing exercises for my students every day...that is a lot. Now I have a reasonable method for a neat catalog print. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------
Carlos
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
I've recently upgraded my copy of pdf995, and find that the very readable PGText font that I can see in my leadsheets on screen or on paper is no longer appearing on the pdf version, being replaced by a blocky bold font whose characters run into one another. To cut a long story short, I found that this is because the PGText.ttf is set up not to allow "embedding" in a document - this forces pdf995 to put a substitute font in its place when creating a pdf file of a song. Curiously, none of the other PG????.ttf series of fonts is affected. I'm not sure whether this is a deliberate policy of PG - if so I think it is counterproductive. Instructions on how to disable the "no-embedding" rule can be found at http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~luc/embed.htmlFoxy
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