Redistribution

Our PDF writer is often used by software developers to incorporate PDF capabilities in their own software products. If you are such a developer who wants to include the PDF Writer with your product then this page contains the basic information you need to do this.

Licensing

We offer a special redistribution license that allows software developers to include our software with their own products. With this license you can embed our installer within your own or include our setup program on your installation media.

Our software uses something called a distiller, which is essentially a tool that converts Postscript to PDF documents. The community version of our PDF Writer uses the Ghostscript distiller. The Ghostscript distiller is licensed under GPL and is not included with you buy a license for our software. Distributing GPL based software with your own commercial software will most likely be a problem.

As an alternative to the Ghostscript distiller we offer a version of the PDF Writer with a commercial distiller. This version of the PDF Writer contains the commercial distiller in the setup program, which means that there are no external dependencies or GPL licensing issues. Because of the embedded commercial distiller this version comes at an extra cost. Still, this seems to be the best and cheapest option when you want to include a PDF writer with your own software.

White Label, Branding, and OEM

When you install the PDF Writer you can specify the name of the installed printer by using the /PRINTERNAME switch on the installation program. However, the installed folders, files, printer drivers, COM objects, and assemblies will still reference the Biopdf brand.

As an extra service we can change the branding throughout the product. This means that you can supply us with your own name for the product, folder names, and company name. Even some of the installer graphics can be changed. In some instances we can also make the installer install some of your own files for you. A great deal of customization can be done if needed.

Downloading

Unless you need a PDF writer with a built in commercial distiller or a branded version then you can use the normal downloaded setup program. In case you need a custom built printer or the commercial distiller, you should contact our customer support.

Product Activation

There is no activation required when you include our installer with your own software. If you redistribute the standard installer then you need to install your license.xml file with your software and tell the printer where to find it when you print to PDF.

Branded versions do not require a license file. Therefore, you must note in your license conditions that the installed PDF printer can only be used as part of your software and not as a general purpose PDF creator.

Controlling the Printer

Just like the normal version you can control the redistributed printer through the COM or Microsoft.NET API. Your application can change all the settings and hide the normal printing dialogs.

Customized or Hidden User Interface

The user interface of the printer can be exchanged with your own. It is possible to write your own program with a customized user interface and use that instead of the one from the normal PDF writer. You can also very easily hide the user interface so that the PDF creation will happen in the background.

Limitations

A redistributed PDF Writer may not be the primary feature of your software product. It is important that your software and the redistributed printer does not create a head on competition to our normal market.

The redistribution license is tied to a specific product made by the licensee. Large organizations with many products can request a modified license, which will cover multiple products.

Maintenance and Support

Product maintenance and support is offered to your company the same way we offer maintenance to other license types. We do not support your end customers. All support must go through your company.

Unless otherwise specified the redistribution agreement is valid as long as the license is covered by the maintenance agreement.

Pricing

The following table shows the pricing structure used with redistribution.