Easy HTML to PDF using Google Docs

There are a multitude of services available, online and otherwise, for turning a web page into a PDF. You can of course simply print the page to a virtual PDF printer device, or go via postscript then convert to PDF. However, I often find that the results are not very pleasing (<pre> tags anybody?) and there are times when you don’t want everything from the web page. Today I discovered yet another use for Google Docs – PDF creation from web pages.

Simply:

1. Save the web page (save as “web page, HTML only”)
2. Upload the HTML file to Google Docs
3. Do a little editing, either visually or source, to remove what you don’t need
4. Save, then download as PDF (or an editable format if required)

You’ll be seeing the results of this in my forthcoming Bio::Blogs post.

An anniversary of sorts

It’s one year today since I installed myself here at wordpress.com. Statistics as of now: 518 posts, 616 comments, 63 060 views. Oh yes, and 14 828 spams.

I’d tried a few blog solutions before moving here: I started with blosxom, then a horrible “WordPress inside Joomla” installation, both on an old work server. Neither of those were widely accessed or read. If you’re starting out, I highly recommend a free, hosted blogging solution. It instantly removes the stress of administration and lets you concentrate on what matters – posting and discussion.

So thanks to WordPress for their service and to you for visiting. I’m enjoying the experience a lot, here’s to another year of fruitful bioinformatics discussions.