04-12-2012, 02:20 AM

I am having a really hard time figuring out how to print to PDF in my virtual machine. I am using a IMacOSX10.7.3, I have VMware fusion installed and am running a virtual machine with windows 7 in full screen mode.

I have recently switched from quickbooks to simply accounting and there is no option to save to PDF in simply. I have no problem printing to PDF when I am in the Mac desktop, however when I am in the Windows side of things there is no option to print to PDF. I have tried to download numerous third party print to PDF programs with no success. I am able to install the software and can see the virtual printer in the drop down list but no matter what program I am using, nothing happens. I can not find any new PDf files hidden anywhere, I have tried to set each printer to the default with no success. I have been trying for 3 days now to get this working and I have run out of options. If i buy Acrobat for the Mac will I be able to use the PDF printer in the windows side? I am able to print regularly from the windows side using the printer that is set up on the network and installed in Mac.

Sorry this is long winded, I havent been able to find any posts with a solution to my problem.

04-12-2012, 02:29 AM

Tell us what it is that you're trying to print to PDF from Windows 7? Perhaps we can suggest a work around.

04-12-2012, 02:35 AM

I am trying to print both invoices and quotes from within the Simply Accounting program. I have no problem printing to the actual printer on either Mac or Windows. I have tried to get around the fact that I can't print it by trying to email it to myself from within the program. My first obstacle was that there was no email client on Windows, so I downloaded Mozilla which is what I use on the Mac, I assume this email client is not compatible with Simply because I got some error about not reading a name correctly or something, with some research into that I confirmed my suspicions of incompatibility. Then I tried using the built in email client in Simply but it attached all kinds of advertisements for itself that can not be removed and I dont want to send emails like that to my customers. I worked my way around it by emailing the invoice to myself through the built in email and then downloading the PDF and sending it through my regular email client but this is a huge hassle and I need a better way around it!

04-12-2012, 12:46 PM

I worked my way around it by emailing the invoice to myself through the built in email and then downloading the PDF and sending it through my regular email client but this is a huge hassle and I need a better way around it!

I understand your frustration. It's too bad Thunderbird proved to be incompatible. The problem as you found out, is that the virtual print functions do not include a print to PDF as found in OS X or even in some Windows programs.

I realize you probably would not prefer to change your accounting program to a Mac one since that may incur even more work and may not fully meet your current needs. However, I think it's something you might want to consider for the future.

Here is another solution to consider: Instead of running Windows 7 in a virtual session (Fusion) you might want to create a dual boot using the Boot Camp Assistant and install Windows 7 native on your Mac. That would allow you to use all print services including PDF from Windows 7 running native. Of course that would mean each time you wish to run your accounting program you would have to reboot to Windows.

Perhaps someone else can chime in here and offer you a better solution, but for now that's all I can think of.

04-12-2012, 01:05 PM

When I worked in IT, we'd frequently install CutePDF as a simple way of giving people the ability to create PDFs. It works by simply settings up an additional "printer" - you open the print dialog from your favourite app, select the CutePDF option and you'll get a PDF. Thus, as long as your accounting software can print, CutePDF should do the job.

04-13-2012, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by vansmith

When I worked in IT, we'd frequently install CutePDF as a simple way of giving people the ability to create PDFs. It works by simply settings up an additional "printer" - you open the print dialog from your favourite app, select the CutePDF option and you'll get a PDF. Thus, as long as your accounting software can print, CutePDF should do the job.

I guess I wasn't clear in my first post. I have trien CutePDF, PDFfactory(which Im pretty sure had something malicious in it because I cant get rid of all the files) , PDFLight, CorelPDF Solution and Adobe Acrobat trial version. Not a single one worked for me. They all did outside of the program I am trying to print from but not within it. Thanks for the suggestion though!

04-13-2012, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by chscag

I understand your frustration. It's too bad Thunderbird proved to be incompatible. The problem as you found out, is that the virtual print functions do not include a print to PDF as found in OS X or even in some Windows programs.

I realize you probably would not prefer to change your accounting program to a Mac one since that may incur even more work and may not fully meet your current needs. However, I think it's something you might want to consider for the future.

Here is another solution to consider: Instead of running Windows 7 in a virtual session (Fusion) you might want to create a dual boot using the Boot Camp Assistant and install Windows 7 native on your Mac. That would allow you to use all print services including PDF from Windows 7 running native. Of course that would mean each time you wish to run your accounting program you would have to reboot to Windows.

Perhaps someone else can chime in here and offer you a better solution, but for now that's all I can think of.

Thank you for your input. I thought that maybe there was some setting that I didn't have right or something. I haven' heard of any accounting software for Mac that can do what I need it to do. So for now I will stick with my crazy list of steps to get a PDF. Thanks again!

04-13-2012, 01:23 PM

I think you should try PDF writer:
http://pdfwriterformac.sourceforge.net/

(it will appear as a separate printer - not just an add-on in the print dialog)

04-13-2012, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by gsahli

I think you should try PDF writer:
SourceForge.net: PDFwriter for Mac - Project Web Hosting - Open Source Software

(it will appear as a separate printer - not just an add-on in the print dialog)

I'm going to assume that if CutePDF didn't work (which does essentially the same thing), that won't either.

04-13-2012, 03:45 PM

CutePDF is for Windows,
PDFwriter is for Mac. (OP says has success printing to Mac-setup queues)

04-13-2012, 10:22 PM

@gsahli

The problem is that she wants to print from Windows not OS X. She's trying to print from a Fusion VM of Windows. And she also stated that she did try CutePDF from the Windows VM and it did not work.

04-14-2012, 12:41 AM

Please note:

Originally Posted by mandiemarie335

I am able to print regularly from the windows side using the printer that is set up on the network and installed in Mac.

04-14-2012, 02:12 AM

Read her entire first post.

I am having a really hard time figuring out how to print to PDF in my virtual machine. I am using a IMacOSX10.7.3, I have VMware fusion installed and am running a virtual machine with windows 7 in full screen mode.

04-14-2012, 09:43 AM

Sorry if it seems I'm obstinate... well, maybe I am :-)

Windows running in VMWare has access to Mac print queues. She states that this is successful for her. My suggestion provides a Mac print queue "PDFwriter." Not a queue or option specific to Windows.

05-03-2012, 11:59 AM

I thank you all for your posts, I remain unsuccessful in my attempts to print from this program. I have decided that if it is going to cause this much trouble perhaps I would be better off just using the program that worked for me in the beginning. Thanks again!