Adobe Distiller

{{short description|Software application}}

{{Infobox software

|name= Adobe Distiller

|logo= File:Adobe Distiller logo 2020.svg

|latest release version=17.9

|operating system=Windows, Mac OS, Solaris, Unix

|license=Same as Adobe Acrobat

|website=

}}

Adobe Acrobat Distiller is a software application for converting documents from PostScript format to Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format), the native format of the Adobe Acrobat family of products.{{citation|publisher=Planet PDF |url=http://www.planetpdf.com/creative/article.asp?ContentID=6651 |title=PDF Workflow: Doing It Your Way |first=Bernd |last=Zipper |date=March 5, 2003 |quote=The primary application for PDF generation is Adobe Systems' Acrobat Distiller, the heart of the $249 Acrobat product family |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224181145/http://www.planetpdf.com/creative/article.asp?ContentID=6651 |archivedate=February 24, 2014 }}. It was first shipped as a component of Acrobat in 1993.{{citation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/16/business/company-news-adobe-ships-acrobat-amid-high-hopes.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 16, 1993|title=Company News: Adobe Ships Acrobat Amid High Hopes|first=John|last=Markoff|authorlink=John Markoff}}. Acrobat 4, in 1999, added preset configuration files to Distiller, and Acrobat 5, in 2001, added improved color management.{{citation|url=http://www.prepressure.com/pdf/basics/history|title=The history of PDF|date=August 9, 2013|publisher=prepressure.com}}. Originally a separate application, Distiller eventually became incorporated into a printer driver for creating PDF files that preserved the printed appearance of documents from other applications.{{citation|journal=PCPro|title=Adobe Acrobat 7 review|first=Tom|last=Arah|date=January 20, 2005|url=http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/developer-tools/68246/adobe-acrobat-7|quote=Key to this, though usually working in the background behind the convenient Adobe PDF print driver, is Acrobat Distiller. It's this essential utility that takes a PostScript-based print-to-disk file from any application and converts it to PDF as an exact electronic replica.|access-date=August 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228234514/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/developer-tools/68246/adobe-acrobat-7|archive-date=February 28, 2014|url-status=dead}}

A related Adobe product, Acrobat Distiller Server was released in 2000 and provided the ability to perform high-volume conversion of PostScript to PDF formats through a centralized client-server architecture.[http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2000061901906PRSVSW Adobe Announces Availability of Acrobat Distiller Server] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005317/https://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2000061901906PRSVSW |date=2017-11-10 }}, LinuxToday, June 19, 2000. In 2013, Distiller Server was discontinued in favor of the PDF Generator component of Adobe LiveCycle.[http://www.adobe.com/products/distiller-server/faq.html Adobe Distiller Server 8 / FAQ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822042005/http://www.adobe.com/products/distiller-server/faq.html |date=August 22, 2013 }}, retrieved 2013-08-17.