timgallant.org » utilities and applications http://timgallant.org web home of Tim Gallant Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:40:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 gRaphael http://timgallant.org/2009/11/16/graphael/ http://timgallant.org/2009/11/16/graphael/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:21:37 +0000 Tim http://timgallant.org/?p=282 Interesting application for adding pie graphs to your web page without building your own graphic.

]]> http://timgallant.org/2009/11/16/graphael/feed/ 0 Handy utility http://timgallant.org/2008/11/29/handy-utility/ http://timgallant.org/2008/11/29/handy-utility/#comments Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:53:25 +0000 Tim http://timgallant.org/?p=63 Someday, I’ll have to create a list of the handiest free utilities I’ve used. One of these definitely has to be CutePDF. While there is a Pro version (49.95), since I have Acrobat Professional, I just use the freeware. What’s great about it is that you simply use it like an alternative printer, and instead of printing on paper, it saves a .pdf file. (It’s much simpler than Acrobat’s Distiller.)

This convenience came into play again for me today. One of my clients was attempting to send me floorplans. Trouble was, the only image file type their floorplan app would save to was .bmp… and it was doing something to the .bmp file so that, while the bitmap would open nicely in the program itself, the image was just a black box everywhere else.

So I had my client download CutePDF and print from the floorplan app. Bingo. Nicely optimized to send me via email (all the files saved at between 25kb and 70kb each). I opened them up in Acrobat, saved them as PNG files, and presto! I can display them as is.

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