CHM files are compiled HTML help files that were introduced by Microsoft at the beginning of the last decade. But soon, Microsoft switched to a different format of help files. Many applications still use these CHM files. Basically CHM files contain HTML documents packed inside a single file. Although you can view and open CHM files very easily in Windows, they do not produce very good results if you set about to print them on paper. If you want to print a large portion of a CHM file, then you should consider converting the CHM file into a PDF document first. The freeware CHM to PDF application lets you easily convert your CHM help files into a single PDF document.
You can download the CHM to PDF from their dedicated website. The downloaded file is a setup installer of about 10 megabytes in file size. This application is coded using the .NET 4.0 framework and as such you are required to install .NET 4.0 redistributable in Windows beforehand.
The user interface of CHM to PDF is very easy to follow. You can select your source CHM file and it would automatically fill the destination PDF file section for you, though you can choose to save the PDF file somewhere else. In the options, you can select to generate a gray-scale file, remove the background color/images from the HTML files, create a low quality file to reduce file size and more.
After you have selected the options to your liking, click on the Convert button and it would start the process. The process involves three steps – extraction of files and images from the CHM file, formatting them in proper manner and finally converting them into a single PDF file. If you select a larger CHM file, then it is going to take a very long time to complete the process. We selected the CHM format of the PHP Manual and it took over 25 minutes to finish the creation of the PDF file, but it did a marvelous job.
So if you do not like those CHM files and prefer PDF documents, then you can try your hands at CHM to PDF application. Most of the mobile devices are not capable of viewing the CHM files, but using this tool you can convert them into PDF documents and view them even in your mobile devices.
You can download CHM to PDF application from http://www.chmtopdf.com/.