Free Image Printer is an interesting tool which allows you to save just about any document as PDF, an image, spreadsheet, HTML or MHT file, and more.

Please note, though, it's also unusually sneaky when it comes to installing addons. Work through the setup program and you'll reach a page called "Select Additional Tasks", which includes an item "Billiger.de & Complitly". This is checked by default, and if you leave it that way you'll get a couple of browser addons installed as well - so clear the checkbox if that doesn't appeal.

And the program also displays an ad for another program of the author's, every time you try to print something. Which can be a little annoying.

That aside, though, Free Image Printer is straightforward and effective. To launch it, just choose the Print option from any application, and select "Free Image Printer".

Within a second or two Free Image Printer will pop up, displaying your document in a simple, multi-page viewer.

Various menu options allow you to save it as a PDF/ HTML/ MHT/ RTF/ XLS/ BMP/ GIF/ EMF/ WMF/ TIFF file, email it (as one of those document types), or just print it to an actual printer (perhaps useful if you want a PDF and printed copy, say).

And you even get some control over how the file is created. Export your document as a PDF, say, and you can set the quality of any images it contains, define a password and other security details, assign document metadata, and more. While if you save the document as HTML you can give it a page title, set your preferred character set, choose to remove carriage returns, and so on.

The marketing hassles are a pain, then. But Free Image Printer really is free, and if you've ever wanted a virtual printer which saved to more than just PDFs then it could be an interesting option.