clawPDF Andrew Hess // clawSoft

clawPDF is an Open Source virtual PDF printer for Windows that can convert any printable file to PDF, PDF/A, PDF/X, PNG, JPEG, TIF or Text.

README

clawPDF - Virtual PDF/OCR/Image (Network) Printer

ClawPDF may seem like yet another Virtual PDF/OCR/Image Printer, but it actually comes packed with features that are typically found in enterprise solutions. With clawPDF, you can create documents in various formats, including PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-3b, PDF/X, PDF/Image, OCR, SVG, PNG, JPEG, TIF, and TXT. You also have easy access to metadata and can remove it before sharing a document. In addition, you can protect your documents with a password and encrypt them with up to 256-bit AES.

ClawPDF offers a scripting interface that lets you automate processes and integrate it into your application. Moreover, you can install clawPDF on a print server and print documents over the network, not just locally.

ClawPDF is open-source and compatible with all major Windows client and server operating systems (x86/x64/ARM64), and it even supports multi-user environments!

Download

https://github.com/clawsoftware/clawPDF/releases/download/0.9.3/clawPDF_0.9.3_setup.msi

Features

• Print to PDF, PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-3b, PDF/X, PDF/Image, OCR, SVG, PNG, JPEG, TIF and TXT
• Print 100% valid PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2b and PDF/A-3b
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
• Scripting Interface (Python, Powershell, VBScript...)
• Shared Network Printing
• SVG Export
• Drag and Drop Support
• Merge Files
• Command Line Support
• Silent Printing
• Custom Paper Sizes / Standard Paper Sizes
• 256-bit AES encryption
• Light/Dark Theme
• ARM64 Support
• Full Unicode Support
• Multiple Profiles
• Post Actions
• Create additional printers with assigned profile
• 24 translations. Add yours!
• Easy to deploy (MSI-Installer & Config)
• Many settings
• Easy to use
• No adware, spyware and nagware

Demo

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

Scripting Interface

Print a PDF and protect it with a password

Merge multiple documents

Tested under

• Windows Server 2022 RDS
• Windows Server 2019 RDS
• Windows Server 2016 RDS
• Windows 11 x64/ARM64
• Windows 10 x86/x64/ARM64
• Windows 8 x86/x64
• Windows 7 x86/x64

Command Line

Batch Printing

The GUID for the Profile parameter is located under: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\clawSoft\clawPDF\Settings\ConversionProfiles\[id]\Guid

clawPDF.exe /PrintFile=D:\example.docx /profile=f81ea998-3a76-4104-a574-9a66d6f3039b
clawPDF.exe /PrintFile=D:\example.pdf /profile=JpegGuid
clawPDF.exe /PrintFile=D:\example.pdf /profile=JpegGuid /OutputPath=D:\batchjob

clawPDF.exe /PrintFile=D:\example.txt /printerName=clawPDF2
clawPDF.exe /PrintFile=D:\example.docx /printerName=clawJPG

Overwrite Config

- To deploy a default configuration in an enterprise environment.
- To export a configuration select "Application Settings -> Debug -> Save settings to file".

clawPDF.exe /Config=D:\clawPDF.ini

Printer Managment

SetupHelper.exe /Printer=Add /Name=ExamplePrinter
SetupHelper.exe /Printer=Remove /Name=ExamplePrinter

ManagePrintJobs

clawPDF.exe /ManagePrintJobs

Changelog

v0.9.3 (2023.05.16)

• [bugfix] Fixed a bug where in some cases only administrators could use the shared network printer function
• [bugfix] Fixed Windows 7 issues caused since version 0.9.1

more

Requirements

• .Net Framework 4.6.2+
• Visual C++ Redistributable 14 (Download: x86/x64)

Build

• Visual Studio 2022

more

Third-party

clawPDF uses the following licensed software or parts of the source code:

• PDFCreator (https://github.com/pdfforge/PDFCreator), licensed under AGPL v3 license.
• Pdftosvg.net (https://github.com/dmester/pdftosvg.net), licensed under MIT license.
• iText7 (https://github.com/itext/itext7-dotnet), licensed under AGPL v3 license.
• Nlog (https://github.com/NLog/NLog), licensed under BSD 3-Clause.
• PdfScribe (https://github.com/stchan/PdfScribe), licensed under AGPL v3 license.
• clawmon (https://github.com/clawsoftware/clawPDF/tree/master/src/clawmon), licensed under GPL v2 license.
• Microsoft Postscript Printer Driver (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/print/microsoft-postscript-printer-driver), copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
• Ghostscript (https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html), licensed under AGPL v3 license.
• SystemWrapper (https://github.com/jozefizso/SystemWrapper), licensed under Microsoft Public license.
• Ftplib (https://archive.codeplex.com/?p=ftplib), licensed under MIT license.
• DataStorage.dll, licensed under pdfforge Freeware License.
• DynamicTranslator.dll, licensed under pdfforge Freeware License.
• Appbar_save (http://modernuiicons.com/), licensed under Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
• Appbar_cogs (http://modernuiicons.com/), licensed under Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
• Appbar_page_file_pdf (http://modernuiicons.com/), licensed under Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

License

clawPDF is licensed under AGPL v3 license Copyright (C) 2023 // Andrew Hess // clawSoft