How to convert a PRN file to PDF

conversionpdf

I got a PRN file but I would to convert to PDF so that it will be easier for other people to access. How do I do that?

Best Answer

Typically, .prn is the suggested file extension on Windows when you use the "print to file" option in any program that can print its content. Which printer driver is used to generate the .prn file depends on the printer you selected when printing (or on your default printer).

Typically, the real content behind that .prn extension may therefore vary as wildly as there are printer driver types available: PostScript (Levels 1, 2, 3), PCL (half a dozen types), ESC/P, ESC/P2, HP/GL, Prescribe, RPCS,.... you name it.

If your *.prn really is a PostScript, you can easily convert it with Ghostscript (or Acrobat Distiller) to PDF.

If your *.prn really is a PCL, you can also convert it, using another program from out of the Ghostscript stable, named GhostPCL.

Here are two example commandlines:

gswin32c.exe ^
    -dBATCH ^
    -dNOPAUSE ^
    -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
    -sOutputFile=output.pdf ^
    [...more Ghostscript CLI options as needed...] ^
    c:/path/to/input-which-is-postscript.prn

pspcl6.exe ^
    -dBATCH ^
    -dNOPAUSE ^
    -sDEVICE=pdfwrite ^
    -sOutputFile=output.pdf ^
    [...more Ghostscript CLI options as needed...] ^
    c:/path/to/input-which-is-pcl.prn

For downloading GhostPCL, see here: https://www.ghostscript.com/download/gpcldnld.html.

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