PDFCreator Creator & Producer
Understanding PDF metadata that shows PDFCreator as the Creator or Producer — learn how this popular open-source virtual printer creates professional-quality PDF documents from any Windows application.
📄 About This PDF Metadata
When you examine a PDF file's properties and see PDFCreator or GPL Ghostscript as the Producer, it indicates that the document was created using PDFCreator — an open-source virtual printer for Windows developed by pdfforge that converts any printable document to PDF format.
Sample PDF Metadata from PDFCreator:
Title: Annual Budget Report
Author: Finance Team
Subject: Q4 Financial Analysis
Creator: Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365
Producer: GPL Ghostscript 10.02.1
Creation Date: 2025-01-27 10:15:00
PDF Version: 1.4
PDFCreator uses Ghostscript as its PDF generation engine, which is bundled with the installation package. The Producer field typically shows "GPL Ghostscript" followed by the version number, while the Creator field shows the original application (like Microsoft Word or Excel) that generated the print job.
PDF Creator
Shows the originating application (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel, browser) that sent the print job to PDFCreator.
PDF Producer
Shows GPL Ghostscript [version] — the open-source PostScript interpreter bundled with PDFCreator that converts print data to PDF.
📚 What is PDFCreator?
PDFCreator is an open-source application for converting documents into PDF format on Microsoft Windows. Developed by pdfforge (now Avanquest pdfforge GmbH), it was first released in Germany in 2004. The company pdfforge was founded in 2009 by Philip Chinery and Frank Heindörfer, growing from the popular SourceForge project. In 2022, pdfforge joined forces with Avanquest, a global leader in software development.
Company Information
| Developer: | Avanquest pdfforge GmbH |
| Founded: | 2009 (pdfforge GbR) |
| Headquarters: | Hamburg, Germany |
| Managing Directors: | Philip Chinery, Frank Heindörfer |
| Website: | pdfforge.org |
Product Details
| First Released: | 2004 |
| Current Version: | 6.2.x |
| Platforms: | Windows only (64-bit since v6.0) |
| License: | Open Source (AGPL) |
| Languages: | 20+ languages |
| Written In: | C# (.NET) |
Key Features:
Open Source
Free and open source — download, modify, and create your own applications
Multiple Formats
Convert to PDF, PDF/A, PDF/X, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and TXT
Security Features
Password protection, digital signatures, and encryption (up to 256-bit AES)
💡 Ghostscript Included
Unlike some other PDF virtual printers, PDFCreator bundles Ghostscript in its setup package. You don't need to download and install Ghostscript separately — it's automatically included during installation.
⚙️ How PDFCreator Creates PDFs
PDFCreator operates as a virtual printer in Windows, intercepting print jobs and converting them to PDF or other formats:
PDF Creation Workflow:
1. Print
Select File → Print in any application
2. Select Printer
Choose PDFCreator as the printer
3. Configure
Set format, metadata, and options
4. Save
Choose filename and location
Supported Output Formats:
🛠️ PDFCreator Editions
pdfforge offers four editions of PDFCreator to meet different needs:
PDFCreator Free
Free / Open SourceFree virtual printer for personal and business use.
- Create PDF, PDF/A, PDF/X, images
- Merge documents, reorder pages
- 128-bit AES encryption
- Digital signatures
- 20+ language support
- Open source (AGPL license)
PDFCreator Professional
Paid LicenseFull-featured edition for workstations with advanced automation.
- All Free features included
- 256-bit AES encryption
- User tokens for automation
- C# script support
- COM interface access
- Silent installation, ad-free
- Priority support
PDFCreator Terminal Server
EnterpriseOptimized for RDS and Citrix multi-user environments.
- All Professional features
- Windows Server with RDS support
- Citrix server compatible
- Secure user session assignment
- Single license per server
- Unlimited users per server
PDFCreator Server
EnterpriseCentralized server-side solution for high-volume automated conversion.
- Runs as Windows service
- Shared network printer
- Multi-threaded processing
- Automated batch workflows
- Centralized administration
- No user interaction required
⚠️ 64-bit Requirement
Starting with PDFCreator version 6.0 (released 2024), the software runs exclusively on 64-bit Windows systems. Users with 32-bit systems should contact pdfforge for assistance or use an older version.
📤 How to Use PDFCreator
Create PDFs using PDFCreator from any Windows application:
Installation Steps:
Download PDFCreator from pdfforge.org. Ghostscript is bundled with the installer — no separate download required. After installation, verify "PDFCreator" appears in Settings → Printers & Scanners.
Creating a PDF:
In any application, go to File → Print. Select "PDFCreator" as the printer and click Print. The PDFCreator dialog appears where you can set the filename, output format, metadata, and other options before saving.
Using Profiles:
PDFCreator supports multiple profiles for different conversion scenarios:
- Open PDFCreator application → Go to Profiles
- Click Add to create a new profile (copies from selected profile)
- Configure Save settings (filename, target directory)
- Set Output Format (PDF, PDF/A, images, etc.)
- Configure Metadata (Title, Author, Subject, Keywords)
- Add Actions (encryption, signatures, email, FTP upload)
Automatic/Silent Saving:
PDFCreator can automatically save PDFs without user interaction:
- Enable Auto-Save in profile settings
- Define target directory and filename pattern
- Use tokens for dynamic values (date, username, print job name)
- Available in all editions, enhanced in Professional/Server
🔍 Understanding PDF Metadata
PDFCreator allows you to customize document metadata through profile settings:
| Metadata Field | Value | Editable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Document title or <PrintJobName> | ✅ Yes | Default uses print job name token |
| Author | Custom or <Username> | ✅ Yes | Can use Windows username token |
| Subject | Custom text | ✅ Yes | Describe the document content |
| Keywords | Custom keywords | ✅ Yes | Searchable keywords |
| Creator | Source application name | ❌ No | Set by printing application |
| Producer | GPL Ghostscript [version] |
❌ No | Set by Ghostscript engine |
| CreationDate | Conversion timestamp | ❌ No | When the PDF was created |
Using Tokens in Metadata:
PDFCreator supports tokens (placeholders) for dynamic metadata values:
| Token | Description | Example Output |
|---|---|---|
<PrintJobName> | Original print job title | Annual Report.docx |
<Username> | Windows username | JohnDoe |
<ComputerName> | Computer name | DESKTOP-ABC123 |
<DateTime> | Current date and time | 2025-01-27_10-30-45 |
<Counter> | Incrementing counter | 00001 |
<Environment:VAR> | Environment variable | (varies) |
Note: Full token support including custom tokens requires PDFCreator Professional or higher editions.
Sample Producer Values:
| PDFCreator Version | Bundled Ghostscript | Producer Value |
|---|---|---|
| PDFCreator 6.x | Ghostscript 10.x | GPL Ghostscript 10.02.1 |
| PDFCreator 5.x | Ghostscript 10.x | GPL Ghostscript 10.0.0 |
| PDFCreator 4.x | Ghostscript 9.x | GPL Ghostscript 9.56.1 |
| PDFCreator 3.x | Ghostscript 9.x | GPL Ghostscript 9.27 |
🛠️ Troubleshooting
Common issues when using PDFCreator:
PDFCreator Printer Not Appearing
Cause: Installation incomplete or printer driver not registered properly.
Solution: Reinstall PDFCreator with administrator privileges. Ensure no antivirus is blocking the installation. Check Windows Services to verify the "PDFCreator" service is running. If using version 6.0+, ensure you have a 64-bit Windows system.
Print Jobs Not Processing / Stuck in Queue
Cause: PDFCreator application not running or in standby mode.
Solution: Open PDFCreator from the Start menu to wake it from standby. Check if PDFCreator is running in the system tray. If the issue persists, restart the PDFCreator service from Windows Services or reinstall the application.
PDF File Size Too Large
Cause: High-resolution images or no compression applied.
Solution: In profile settings, go to Output Format → PDF → Compression. Enable JPEG compression for color/grayscale images and set an appropriate compression level. Enable resampling to reduce image DPI. Consider using PDF/A-2b or PDF/A-3b instead of PDF/A-1b for better compression.
Fonts Not Embedding Correctly
Cause: Font embedding settings or licensed fonts that cannot be embedded.
Solution: Check the source application's print settings for font options. Some fonts have licensing restrictions that prevent embedding. Try using "Download as Softfont" in printer properties. For critical documents, use common fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or embed fonts from the source application before printing.
Auto-Save Not Working
Cause: Auto-save not enabled or target directory permissions issue.
Solution: Verify Auto-Save is enabled in the profile settings. Check that the target directory exists and PDFCreator has write permissions. Ensure filename tokens are valid and don't produce invalid characters. Test with a simple fixed filename first to isolate the issue.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
When a PDF shows "GPL Ghostscript" as the Producer, it typically means the PDF was created using PDFCreator or another Ghostscript-based tool. PDFCreator is an open-source virtual printer for Windows that uses the bundled Ghostscript engine to convert any printable document to PDF format. The Producer field shows the Ghostscript version, not "PDFCreator" directly.
PDFCreator Free is completely free and open source under the AGPL license. You can use it for personal and commercial purposes. There are also paid editions — Professional, Terminal Server, and Server — with additional features like 256-bit AES encryption, user tokens, C# scripting, silent installation, and enterprise deployment capabilities.
PDFCreator was first released in Germany in 2004. The company pdfforge was founded in 2009 by Philip Chinery and Frank Heindörfer, who developed the project from the popular SourceForge repository. In 2022, pdfforge joined forces with Avanquest, a global software development company, and is now known as Avanquest pdfforge GmbH, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.
Yes, PDFCreator uses Ghostscript as its PDF generation engine. However, unlike some other virtual PDF printers, PDFCreator bundles Ghostscript in its installation package. You don't need to download or install Ghostscript separately — it's automatically included when you install PDFCreator.
PDFCreator is Windows only. PDFCreator Free and Professional support Windows 8, 10, and 11. PDFCreator Terminal Server and Server support Windows Server 2012, 2016, and 2022. Important: Starting with version 6.0 (2024), PDFCreator runs exclusively on 64-bit systems. There is no support for macOS, Linux, or mobile platforms.
PDFCreator can convert to multiple formats: PDF (standard), PDF/A (PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-3b for archival), PDF/X (X-3:2002, X-3:2003, X-4 for print production), PNG (lossless images), JPEG (compressed images), TIFF (multi-page images), and TXT (plain text extraction).
PDFCreator Free is for personal/business desktops with basic features. Professional adds 256-bit AES, user tokens, C# scripts, COM interface, and silent install. Terminal Server is optimized for RDS/Citrix multi-user environments with one license per server. Server is a Windows service for centralized automated conversion with multi-threaded processing, requiring no user interaction.
🛠️ Related Tools
PDF Metadata Viewer
Free tool to view PDF metadata including Creator, Producer, and version information.
View PDF Metadata →
📝 Summary: PDFCreator PDF Metadata
- pdfforge founded 2009 in Germany
- PDFCreator first released 2004
- Producer shows GPL Ghostscript [version]
- Open source under AGPL license
- Windows only (64-bit since v6.0)
- Headquarters in Hamburg, Germany
- Ghostscript bundled with installer
- Virtual printer — works from any app
- Supports PDF, PDF/A, PDF/X, images
- Joined Avanquest in 2022