Mac Forum / Applications / Excel / September 2006

I don't know of a way to do so using the standard [read as: basic]
capability in OS X. Acrobat Pro (and perhaps others) offer a setting to
include entire workbook in a single PDF.

Otherwise, you can output each sheet independently of the others in the wkbk
& use one of the 'stitcher' apps available to tie them up into a neat little
bundle... check on VersionTracker.com for pdf stitchers.

I have a solution for Tiger that works well for me.

I use the freeware virtual printer, "cups-pdf", which can be downloaded
from VersionTracker at
<http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/29368>.  I could use
the "Print to PDF" option but the virtual printer requires fewer steps
when printing.  

Step 0: Download and install the PDF virtual printer.

Step 1: Create a launchd plist file (example below) in directory
"~/Library/LaunchAgents".  I named mine "rename_pdf"

Step 2: create an _executable_ perl script (example below) to do the
work.  I named mine "rename_pdf".  You can put the script file anywhee,
so ling as you specify the complete path in the launchd plist.

What all this does is to watch the folder ~/Desktop/cups-pdf for any
change in contents.  When a change is detected, any file whose name
begins with the "_" character will have that character stripped.  The
virtual printer produces a fine named "_test.pdf" when the file "Test"
is printed.  As soon as the name is created, the daemon strips the "_"
and so subsequent worksheets will not overwrite the prior ones.

Note: If you don't use the virtual printer, you must remember to prefix
the filename with the "_" character, and specify the correct path to the
"watched" folder.  

Note: Examine the scripts carefully, changing any pathnames to suit your
installation.

Example plist:
------------------------  cut here -----------------------
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
"http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>renamepdf</string>
  <key>OnDemand</key>
  <true/>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
     <string>/Users/username/bin/rename_pdf.sh</string>
  </array>
  <key>ServiceDescription</key>
  <string>Rename PDF files as they are created in the directory</string>
  <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
  <string>/dev/null</string>
  <key>StandardOutPath</key>
  <string>/dev/null</string>
  <key>WatchPaths</key>
  <array>
     <string>/Users/username/Desktop/cups-pdf</string>
  </array>
</dict>
</plist>
------------------------  cut here -----------------------

Example script:
------------------------  cut here -----------------------
#!/usr/bin/perl

@list = `ls /Users/username/Desktop/cups-pdf/_*`;

foreach $was (@list) {
  chop($was);
  $is = $was;
  $is =~ s/_//;
  rename($was, $is) unless $was eq $is;
}
------------------------  cut here -----------------------