PDF Tricks
Inspired by Lifehacker‘s top 10 PDF Tricks, I too compiled a set of my own. The PDF file format, as we all know, is one of the best ways to publish, save and exchange well-formatted documents that will look exactly the same regardless of the device or computer you open them on. Whether it’s your résumé, a tax form, e-book, user guide or a web page, you can’t go wrong using a PDF. Chances are you’ve already got a free PDF reader installed on your computer, but you can do a lot more with your PDF files than you might think.
Listed here are technique for converting, exchanging, sharing, managing and editing PDF documents.
1. Save any file as a PDF
Windows users can’t do this out of the box, but freeware CutePDF installs a PDF printer which also outputs any document to PDF via the Print dialog.
An alternative to CutePDF is doPDF for Windows. Linux users can also print to PDF file.
With OpenOffice,you can make files & convert them to pdf too. Users with genuine MSOffice 2007 can download the “Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS” add-on for the same purpose.
2. Manage your PDF library in iTunes
One of the lesser-known features of iTunes is that it can manage PDF files as well as music. Here’s how to use iTunes’ tagging and Smart Playlist features to manage your PDF library.
3. Speed up your PDF reader
Acrobat Reader isn’t the snappiest application on the block, but it’s the most common PDF reader out there. You can speed up Acrobat’s startup by bypassing unnecessary application plugins (by removing the “%Program Files%\Adobe\Reader 8.0\reader\plug_ins\accessibility.api” file), or you can switch to another PDF reader like the FoxIt Reader or Sumatra pdf reader.
4. Edit PDF’s with PDF Tools
Want to reorder, encrypt, crop, watermark or edit form fields in your PDF? Check out the free PDFill PDF Editor or pdftk (command line interface+GUI).
5. Password protect PDFs
To just add a password, encrypt or disable PDF printing and copying (superficially anyway) you can use PDFCreator for Windows.
6. Convert files to PDF online
If you don’t have access to the right desktop software, a few webapps will convert files to PDF and email you the result. Doc2PDF can convert a nice selection of filetypes, from images to office documents. And for reading a feed on the go as a PDF, check out RSS 2 PDF. Zamzar is an online file conversion utility site for converting any file! Use it to do pdf too. Online Offices like Zoho, ThinkFree or Google Docs too do it by file export. BTW, Adobe itself has a facility for online conversion.
7. Make custom PDF notepaper
Design your own DIY notepaper with Michael Botsko’s PDF notepaper generator. Check off your note-taking template options – with your name, project name, and optional hole-punch – and download a printable PDF of the result.
