Forum Moderators;

I have a question regarding the Natty Bo thread. Once the project is finished, would it be possible for you to compress all the pages into a single downloadable file? Maybe this sounds quirky, but I would like to have a permanent record of the entire thread and I feel fairly certain that there are quite a few others that feel the same way.
We'd appreciate anything you can do.
Thanks from another crazy model railroading fan.

Ditto what Chuck said.

I am already doing this using some free utilities that are available to everyone.

I have been "printing" each page as it is filled to a PDF file using CutePDF. There are other similar utilities out there (like PDFforge).

When the thread is "done" (the point where I decide to cut off), I will be combining the saved PDF pages into one big PDF file using the Adolix Split & Merge PDF utility.

The resulting file will probably be in the 30Mb range (or more, depending on where the thread goes, content-wise, after the cars are delivered). I'd be happy to try and email it to anyone whose email host can handle files this big. Many ISP's set cut-off sizes for email file attachments, so it may not be possible to email it.

In any case, anyone with a PC (or a MAC that can run these or similar utilities) can do it themselves with about 30-40 minutes worth of effort.

Andy

Andy;

I don't know if AOL will allow a file that big or not but it's worth a shot. I've never even heard of those programs before.
Once I've got it, I think I'll burn it to a CD/DVD as a backup.
If the file is too big, I guess I'll try those utilities you mentioned. Of course, I'll probably inundate you with questions along the way.
BTW, my e-mail address is in my profile.
Thanks in advance for your efforts, too.

P.S. Andy, since I use Firefox, I can save files as pdfs. Does that Adolix work with any pdf files or just certain ones?

quote:

would it be possible for you to compress all the pages into a single downloadable file?

There is no way to do that.

Use the Firefox SAVE PAGE AS or the PDF solutions mentioned above.

quote:

Originally posted by TrainPop:
Does that Adolix work with any pdf files or just certain ones?

As far as I've been able to tell, it works with any PDF. It can split as well as merge PDF's.

Andy

Rich;
Thanks anyway. I figured no harm in asking.

Andy;
Thanks for all the tips. I guess I'll to play with those programs later on today and see how much of a learning curve there is. I used to be pretty good at picking up new things but, the older I get, the better I was.

To add on to the above note - I downloaded the files that Andy referenced and, at first, it seemed somewhat complicated. In actuality, I probably was over-thinking it and made it more difficult than it actually was. So, I emailed Andy Hummell and asked him to explain it to me. It took him all of 2 paragraphs and I was off to the races. It seemed like it took no time at all to create the pdf files of the first 22 pages.
Thank you, Andy.
If you make it down here for the distribution on the 22nd, the first beverage of your choice is on me.

As much as I'd like to make the pick-up party, I have family obligations on Sunday that weekend and I don't think I want to drive 4 hours, pick up the cars, party and then drive 4 hours home. Just buy Paul a beverage-of-choice and thank him again for me.

Andy

I would hope that OGR would see the value in doing a magazine article on this topic!

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by TrainPop:
So, I emailed Andy Hummell and asked him to explain it to me. It took him all of 2 paragraphs and I was off to the races.

Andy - could you post that here so us mere mortals can figure it out too...

quote:

There is no way to do that.

Never say never.

The freeware program PDFCreator allows you to collect up items into one big .pdf file. You could open each webpage, print to the PDFCreator, then at the end save the file.

I tried it - the pictures didn't come out that good. Perhaps there is an option in PDF Creator I missed.

http://trijective.com/trains/OGR/Natty-Bo-Reefer.pdf

The file is 10 Megs and I have a 30 Gig/month limit, so please only download if you really want it.

It may be easier to get a smaller file yet with good pics by copy and paste into in MS Word or OpenOffice. That way the duplicated pictures and forum pics could be removed.

As I mentioned above, Andy Hummell was a tremendous help to me in learning how to use Cute PDF to save the pages of the Natty Bo thread. What follows is his set of instructions to me on how to use it, reprinted with his permission:


"Once installed, CutePDF is treated like a printer by the PC. Basically, you select the "Print" option under the "File" menu of the browser (if your browser has a print button in the tool bar, don't use this button, since this usually just sends a printout to the default printer).

When you select the "Print" option under the "File" menu, it should bring up a printer dialog box that gives you options (like print ranges, number of copies to print, etc.). One of the options should be something like "Printer Name" and have the name of your default printer in a pull-down list box. Click on the little arrow and you should see a list of all installed printers, and one of them should be "CutePDF Writer". Select "CutePDF Writer" and the click the "OK" button. After you click the "OK" button, a Windows save-file dialog box should pop up to ask you for a file name and location to save the file.

That is all there is to it.

I use this utility so much that I don't even remember the last time I had to buy paper for my regular printer. Best of all, it works with any program that can send output to a printer.

If you have any other questions, just ask."

Hope this helps.

Thanks again to Andy Hummell.