priPrinter 6.0.2.2244

Overview

priPrinter Standard is a convenient way to preview and edit your documents before actually printing them. It is installed as a virtual printer, and is compatible with any application that supports printing. Features include a variety of print preview options (such as rulers, zoom, pan, transparency control and text search), page layout settings to adjust margins, spacing, the number of pages per sheet or the content’s position in the sheet. It is also capable of saving the given file as a PDF, in just one click.

Installation

Installation is very easy and needs no configuration in order to complete. It’s safe to install since there is no adware or spyware included in the package (see scan report). When you finish it will ask you if you want to set priPrinter as the default printer.

It can run under any Windows 2000, Server 2003, XP, Vista, 2008 and 7 OS.

Interface

The main window can open from the system tray icon that appears right after setup finishes. The interface is very similar to the one of Microsoft Word. It is rich in features, with the menu bar being in the form of tabs and many buttons right under that, for quicker access of options and settings. On the left side are thumbnails for every page, and in the main screen the document’s content is displayed.

Pros

You can completely adjust the look of the file before printing it. You can highlight and color certain parts of the text as well as edit it, change the font in many ways (size, bold, italic, strikethrough) and even add watermarks.

If you want to create a booklet, you can do so by selecting the appropriate tool from the page layout tab. There are preset themes particularly for booklets and posters; therefore you don’t have to go through a lot of hassle to create a decent booklet or poster.

Instead of printing the document, you can save it instead as an image file. Theavailable file types are .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tga and .tiff. Before saving there are some customizations you can make, like change the resolution and add effects. The output file, apart from being saved as an image can also be saved as a PDF file.

Cons

If any bugs exist, then it’s probably too hard to reproduce them. It is a stable program that doesn’t consume too much memory or processing power. You could say that a minor drawback is the watermark it leaves in every page, but that’s just until you buy a license key. There is no other limitation in the unregistered version.

Alternatives

FinePrint is a universal print previewer which mainly focuses on saving ink and paper, but has most of the functions that priPrinter has. It has features like booklet printing, watermarks and save as image. GreenCloud Printer is a virtual printer designed to make your printing jobs friendlier for the environment too, but it is very poor in features compared to the priPrinter and FinePrint.

Conclusion

priPrinter is a very good solution for printing large numbers of files often, which need special editing beforehand. Once you get the hang of it, then it will be a joy using this incredibly helpful software.