CUPS-PDF Package for Mac OS X

Introduction

CUPS-PDF is a backend module for CUPS (Mac OS X’s printing system) by Volker C. Behr that, rather than printing to a device, prints straight to PDF files.

Why use this rather than a simple “Save as PDF” in the print dialog?

Pressing return is faster.
Batch-print through the writer to convert documents to PDF.
Common save location for all generated PDFs.

Download

Version 2.4.6.1 contains CUPS-PDF version 2.4.6 with updated permissions for Leopard.

If you wish to fix it without downloading a new package, simply run:
sudo chmod 4755 /usr/libexec/cups/backend/cups-pdf

Version 2.4.6 contains CUPS-PDF version 2.4.6.

Note that 2.4.6 has been updated. The original upload did not include a PPC version. If you’re on Intel, you’re fine with the previous version. If you have a PPC Mac and it wasn’t working, redownload and reinstall.

Version 2.4.0 contains CUPS-PDF version 2.4.0.

Version 2.0.5 contains CUPS-PDF version 2.0.5.

Version 1.0 contains CUPS-PDF version 2.0.0.

Installation

Install the package file
Open Printer Setup Utility
Click on Add Printer
Ensure “Default Browser” is selected in the toolbar
“Virtual Printer” should be in the list, select it.
Select “Postscript” from the “Print Using” menu and pick “Generic postscript color printer”
Click Add

If “Virtual Printer” does not show up:

Hold down Option as you click on “More Printers…”
Select “Advanced”
- Device: cups-pdf
- Give it a name, like “PDF Writer”
- Device URI: cups-pdf://localhost
- Printer Model: Postscript, Generic postscript color printer
Click Add

Now, print to the printer “PDF Writer” and your job will appear on your desktop in a folder called “cups-pdf”.

If this is not where you want your file stored, edit /etc/cups/cups-pdf.conf and set the correct location. You do not need to restart after any changes to this file.

Use

Print to the printer normally. The output will be on your desktop in a folder called “cups-pdf”.

Due to the nature of the program, the title of the document you print is the name of the file, so printing a document twice will overwrite the file. Be aware of this. (This only applies prior to the packaged version of 2.4.6. The configuration file for 2.4.6 is set to put a job number in front of each file to prevent this.)