Some things ARE free.

Artists will do anything to ensure that their work arrives in front of you exactly as they sent it. This is a problem in an age of Apple, Windows, Linux, and 473 incompatible mobile phones. This is compounded when we don’t use the same software on our myriad platforms. There is almost no common format. Or is there?

That’s the reason for this article. My email to you is going to be massaged, manipulated, and otherwise molested on its digital journey to your desktop. Your anti-spam software is going to peek up its skirt, while your anti-virus software is almost as all-seeing as a MRI scanner. And then what is finally displayed may or may not have the images, and may or may not have the right font or font size.

My links might not work because your configuration does not allow them.

The ideal format is PDF. This format allows you to produce a document that you can email, or offer for download, knowing that the viewer will see exactly what you want them to see. This includes the images, the links, the fonts, the layout, the colours, the background, and everything else.

This is possible because the viewer – the program that interprets these PDF files on your PC, mobile phone, Sony eBook reader, etc – comes from the same firm, and runs on every platform in the known universe.

This guarantee that it will look the same doesn’t stop those of us who are, to be kind, graphically challenged, from producing work that is astoundingly awful. I say this as someone who knows what looks good only after seeing it, rather than as one who can visualise it from inception

The traditional way to produce a great PDF – at least for us unwashed masses – was to buy a copy of Microsoft Office to do the layout and buy a copy of Adobe Acrobat to create the PDF. (Both firms are paranoid, and licensing their software is a bit like a day at Home Affairs.

And Lord forbid you’ve done something you should not have, like thrown the packaging away!) If you cannot afford the R10,000 bill and have an unlicensed copy of either of these the BSA will do their best to inter you for the duration.

Those of us who have loyally upgraded to the latest rendition of MS Office are a little lost as Microsoft have inexplicably hidden most of the features we use daily. Their latest software is clean and airy, with nary a useful feature in sight.

And that’s why I beg you, before parting with them hard earned bucks, before approaching your friendly banker for a loan, especially in these troubled times, take a look at the latest version of Open Office, released on Monday.

It’s practically identical to the MS Word, MS Excel, and MS Powerpoint you have come to know this past decade. Everything is where you expect it to be. It works with, and produces, files compatible with MS Office. And it is pretty to work with.

But, and here’s the part which I think adds real value – it produces incredible PDFs. This gives you amazing freedom in producing all sorts of stuff for your prospects and clients. And since it runs on Apple, Windows and Linux – your upgrade path is not confined to just Windows. (Which I continue to use, and continue to like, but which does not do everything I need done.)

And finally, the fun part. It is absolutely free. That means you never have to worry about a midnight raid from those gentle government people who have received a report from a disaffected employee that you’re using pirate software.