Acarolinensis, I use PDF Creator v 1.9.3, from 2014, and it doesn't create searchable PDFs so it isn't something new. I use Word 2010 and it does create searchable PDFs. If I want to create a searchable PDF from a browser, the only thing I've found that works is Save as PDF in Chrome.

Robert G:

Just a FYI for those folks that read comments. Any browser built using the Blink engine should create/save searchable PDFs. I use the Brave browser and it will create and save searchable PDFs. I do not have a copy of Opera on my PCs but Opera is built using Blink and should save searchable PDFs. Vivaldi is another, there are more.

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Acarolinensis,
I never noticed this as I usually use pdf printers to print graphics. For office documents or for web pages I use sw/browser´s built-in pdf export - much better results then any "lite"/free pdf printer. But e.g. bullzip creates searchable results...

Acarolinensis, using Nitro PDF creator(reader 5) prints ths web page mostly ok some fonts do not work, and the text is selectable normally. I just went over to WIn10 machine and used Nitro PDF creator (Pro 11) and it too printed a web page I visited earlier today and the text within the page was selectable in the normal manner... URL's on the pages do not survive though.
I do note that in Nitro Reader if you do not select the text with the cursor properly alligned with the text in the PDF it will switch to box selection mode and when you release it will select the encompassed text which may mess things up but if I select the text properly it selects and coppies just fine if you have permitted select and copy

Ooops this was meant as a reply not a post sorry
GOTD team when are you finally at the VERY least going to let us delete our own posts

J.Post, Quite right and in addition WIndows 10 frequently has tens and sometimes a hundred or more critical vulnerabilities patched in any given month, often having multiple patch issue days in a month... you don't get to see the number of vulnerabilites patched by microsoft update nowadays since they have migrated to monthly rollup patches and you have to really dig deep to find out what vulnerabilites are being patched in what parts of windows and what their importance was... When I apply Vista monthly rollups and dig down to the vulnerabilites patched invaribly I find the same vulnerabilites I am installing patches for in Vista are the same vulnerabilites in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 and the same importance or severity. The only problem with running XP on a LAN or windows server 2003 is if a worm infiltrates the LAN via a remote dialup VPN worker if you have not found suitable patches for those older systems your network will likely get owned or held to ransom. If I HAD to manage a LAN with XP or older versions of windows that could not be patched I would be inclined to put them on their own LAN segment isolated from the internet and any internet connected machine and any inbound pptp or other type of VPN.

jo, Windows 10 does the same thing without any added software.

Richard Johnson,

However, aside from just printing, it looks like novaPDF can do quite a bit more (especially the Pro version vs. the Lite version offered today):

https://www.novapdf.com/compare-editions.html

Robert, notepad cannot create PDF even in WIndows 10 unless you use the Microsoft print to PDF virtual printer but that's not a function of the text editor is it. Most text editors do not create PDF files on their own which is where these print to PDF virtual printers are required. Though the least capable "Lite" edition is not worth installing given all the excellent free ones some of which allow managing permissions and encryption and digitally signing the printed PDF files which requires Pro edition of todays vendors products to do.

TK, Who is talking about notepad, I am talking about textmaker from Softmaker Free Office and all the free text processors on the market.
And they can create PDF files.

Robert,
>"Any text editor, free of charge, can create PDF. What is today offered now has no benefit."

Not true.

I have been working on a project comparing features of many text/code editors that run on the Windows Platform. I have so far tested 89 of my list of intended 158 PC Windows-based text editors.

Wikipedia lists approximately 72 editors in their comparison charts, but some are not available for the Windows platforms. The texteditors.org website lists over 1000 text editors (regardless of platform) from historic to current, however, they are still missing some of the earlier text editors that were on UNIX or Mainframe/Superminis that were popular before PCs became common.

Several of the remaining to be tested I am familiar with, but need to re-install to get the precise data I need for my final report.

Of all that I have tested and of the others that I am familiar with, I am not aware of any that can produce PDF files on their own. They all require a PDF Printer app, such as the novaPDF featured here today. The text editor's purpose is plain text and source code, not how the text will look on the printed page. Office Suites do care, and therefore, they often can produce a PDF file on their own.

To the best of my knowledge, Sun's StarOffice and the open-source variant, OpenOffice, were the first "office suites" that could produce a PDF without any external software installed (without a separate Distiller process). The descendants of those have followed suit, and many of the other similar office suites do the same. Finally, MS Office also can create PDF files as well.

Wikipedia does not have a column or include in the feature list the ability for the text editor to create a PDF file. Likewise, I do not have a column for whether the editor can produce a PDF file on its own. It is possible that a text editor could have the feature of creating a PDF file on its own, but I have not spent any time investigating that possibility. If anyone is aware of any text editors that do, I could incorporate that feature into my comparison table.

>"What is today offered now has no benefit."
Even if a text editor could produce a PDF file on its own, it would not be an ideal choice to use as a PDF Printer app. It could not be used as a PDF Printer. the user would need to copy text to the clipboard, then paste it into the text editor, then print. Any formatting characters would be lost.

A PDF Printer app has the advantage of working as a regular printer. Any print operation would allow the user to choose a paper printer or a PDF Printer. Better yet, set the default printer to be your favorite PDF Printer, then pressing Ctrl+P (or any other print initiation) will start the print dialog with the PDF Printer already selected. No accidental printing of paper and using up your expensive ink.

Robert, YOU included notepad by stating catagorically "Any text editor, free of charge, can create PDF. " you did NOT mention any specific product!

Robert,

>"I am talking about textmaker from Softmaker Free Office and all the free text processors on the market. And they can create PDF files."

Textmaker is not considered a "true" text editor. Textmaker from Softmaker Free Office is intended to be functionally equivalent to MS Word in MS Office. That makes it a Word Processor, not a Text Editor. Notepad is a text editor.

Your original comment used the terms "Any text editor, free of charge, ..." You used the wrong term. A "text editor" is considered to be an editor that works(edits) plain text only. Plain text files do not have the ability to contain images/graphics/media the way that word processor files do.

Text editors are not the same as word processors/document editors, such as MS Word, Softmake Office TextMaker, Ability Office Write, Open Office Write, Libre Office Writer, and several others from their "office suites." Those are not text editors.

The editors that edit plain text are "text editors." The text editor files are plain text (no embedded codes), and used in programming, HTML, and other users. Computer programs are compiled from plain text; the compiler would not be able to compile the text from a word processor.

To create a PDF file as output, text editors need a PDF Printer, such as novaPDF, or one of many others.

Since most "office suites" are concerned about how the output looks when printed, their programs have the ability to produce PDF files. True text editors do not have this ability normally.

Here are some office suite programs that edit text, but are not considered text editors:
Writer - Open Office
Writer - Libre Office
Writer - Kingsoft/WPS
Ability Write - Ability Office
Words - KDE Calligra
EasyWord - EasyOffice
Textmaker - SoftmakerOffice and FreeOffice

If you look at the Wikipedia article on "text editors," you will not see any of these "word processors."
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_text_editors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_text_editors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_office_suites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_office_suites

Boris,
>"What is this software advantage?"
There might not be any advantage for Windows 10 users. The software is for users that want to install it on operating systems other than Windows 10. I have all recent Windows operating systems including Windows 10, and other users have a range of recent operating systems they use (or wish to test software on), so even though we might not need it on Windows 10, we might wish to install it on one of the other operating systems. For novaPDF lite, I have already tested it, but others may wish to test it.

Gary, ok how about what is the advantage of this software over CutePDF or free NitroPDF printer or any of the other free virtual PDF printers out there that are not "Lite"

TK,
>"what is the advantage of this software over CutePDF or free NitroPDF printer or any of the other free virtual PDF printers out there that are not "Lite""

Thanks; this is a much better question. Personally, I do not think it has any significant advantages over CutePDF or the free NitroPDF, or any of the other many PDF printers out there (unless you like limited software that encourages you to purchase the full version). CutePDF and NitroPDF are not bad for what they do.

I have depended on PDF Printers for years. My default printer has been to create a PDF rather than print paper that I need to do something with. I have several paper printers, but none of them are hooked up. I have an OfficeJet nearby in case I need to scan something.

I personally went through many other PDF printers over the years, until I finally purchased a license for Tracker Software's PDF-XChange Editor Plus. Then at that point I gave up on the others I had tried as they were no longer needed. The best ones were often from one-person shops, open-source, or at least generally freebies. Probably some were school projects that slowly died. Most eventually disappeared when the developer went on to bigger projects.

I had a good collection of PDF Printers but my old disk of downloads and its backups were stolen; insurance does not do justice for missing files (no amount of money can). As a result, I no longer have any of the earlier PDF Printer software programs, but they were not a great loss, however a lot of the other downloads were valuable, most were purchased licenses.

I do still have Acethinker PDF Writer, Bullzip, doPDF, and PDF Saver, but I never installed any of them after PDF-XChange Editor, since I no longer need them. Before I bought a license for PDF-XChange Editor, I think I used doPDF longer than any others, because it was small and didn't bug me as much at first; it is the free converter by novaPDF, which eventually turned into an advertisement for novaPDF. I gave up on doPDF and novaPDF many moons ago.