I am a lifelong fan of Adobe PDF files but I am unwilling to pay a minimum $300 for Adobe Acrobat. I would much rather look around for free open-source alternatives and today I found a nice little software tool that allows you to take a PDF file and split it up into lots of little PDF files as well as merge lots of PDF files together. It’s called PDF Split and Merge. Just what I was looking for!
Plus if you’re willing to donate a minimum of $1 to the developer, he’ll throw in the enhanced version of the software which will give you the ability to encrypt your files as well.
Everything that isn’t already online is going online these days. Even our banks, government sectors, health clubs, universities, grocery stores, you name it, have websites.
What’s the one thing they have in common?
They all have downloadable PDF forms.
You want to join the gym? Here’s a PDF form for you to fill and you’re all set to go!
Would you like to study in our university? Fill in this PDF form and send it back to us.
You have to renew your passport? Here’s an application form for you.
PDF is the standard format for transferring documents online. Microsoft’s Office Open XML and Open Document formats are rather irrelevant. It’s a software developer’s dream come true.
But as we all know, Adobe is not the only company offering PDF readers and writers. There is no question that better, free alternatives to the ever so (un)popular Adobe Acrobat Reader exist. One example is the Foxit Reader.
I’m a big fan of ebooks and have a huge collection of ebooks on various topics. Although I don’t read them on my cellphone now but later in this year when I plan to travel extensively, I’d definitely like to have the access to my ebooks collection on my phone and read them on the go.
While I was searching for ebook reading softwares online, I came across Mobipocket which is a free ebook reader provided by the Mobipocket.com ebook store. It works only on Windows PC and also works on mobile phones like Smartphones, Blackberry and on devices like PDA.
There might be several reasons why a reader would want to be able to convert a web page to PDF, such as: to share with a non-online friend, to be able to email it or to put it into a PDF device to read later; while still retaining the original form of the page. That’s why web to PDF conversion tools are gaining popularity.
But if we look it from the perspective of the site owner, giving the readers the ability to ‘PDF-print’ your pages will improve your site likeability by several points, and increase the site’s exposure to new readers.
As editor of Make Use Of, I can easily testify that there are not enough hours in the day to do everything that I want to do. So there are often lots of posts in my RSS reader (1000+), easily several days worth at a time, and I’m sure you’re the same. You have to go to work or to school, you have children to look after…..basically everyday life gets in the way of things.
Acrobat.com is a collection of web applications from Adobe which includes lots of cool features.
Acrobat.com claims to offer the first real online word processor, web based file sharing and storage, ability to create PDF’s, online screen sharing and web conferencing.
Lets take a look at all of these one by one, shall we?
1. Adobe Buzzword
Adobe claims Buzzword to be the only real online word processor. They are justified in their claims as it turns out. For starters Buzzword supports the docx format, but that’s not all as it has a host of cool features that takes it closer to the desktop experience.
Adobe Creative Suite is a collection of applications for people who are, lets see….creative? Yes. Its a whole suite of applications that can be used to edit, enhance, beautify photos, create vector art, create vector animation, desktop publishing, website design, video editing, DVD menu designs and so on.
Sounds like tasks you can or want to do? Go ahead, the Adobe Creative Suite is for you.
Did I hear you asking about the cost? Well it can be a couple of thousand dollars or so depending upon the version you choose.
A label originally introduced in Great Britain to mark foreign products thought to be of inferior quality when compared to British products, Made in Germany has now become one of the most popular labels. Today it stands for reliability and quality.
Each of you is using German technology and tools. Most of you will know that, among many other things, the automobile, the Aspirin, the computer and the mp3 were invented (at least in part) by German engineers.
Undeniably RSS is one of the best things that has happened to the web after email. Not only has it made browsing a lot more productive, convenient, fun … you name it, but it has also introduced a number of new ways to interact with content that we could never have imagined before. While you’re most probably already familiar with the idea of RSS feeds and Feedreader (No? See this video) , there are several other ways you can make use of feeds.
Bunch of unusual ways to make use of of your dusty printer. If you have a printer in the office, it’s even better: not only do you get free ink but also something to keep you occupied and make office hours fly. Well, and some actually to get things done.
Pocketmod - Create all-purpose, wallet-sized, booklets out of plain A4 sheets in just 1-2 minutes. As it says on the website, “it is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It’s best that you just dive in and create one“.
Back in April we published about cool PDF Tools, artice listed online ‘from XYZ to PDF’ converters, couple of Adobe Acrobat alternatives, and a number of PDF printers. Although this time there are only 3 tools, each of them offers some useful features that were not addressed earlier. Defnitely check them out.
PDFHammer is a web-based application that allows you to merge and rearrange PDF documents online. It’s extremely easy-to-use and runs directly from the browser. Just upload your PDF files and start arranging the pages in any order you want. You can also delete any page you want. Once done, use the “Export Final PDF” button to download ready PDF to your PC.
Got a blog ? If so this post is for you: 12 truly useful tools and widgets that can make your blog better. All listed services work on any blog, whether it’s a Wordpress, Typepad, or a hosted Blogger blog. Enjoy!
1. Amung.us - Amung.us is a tiny real-time traffic analytics widget for your blog. It tells you (and your readers) how many people are currently on the website, what pages they’re reading, where in the world they’re coming from, and more. See our Amung.us widget below:
A bunch of really useful email contacts: PDF converter, invisible personal assistant, scanner (for real), quick document sharing, and an excellent group conversation starter.
(1) PDF@koolwire.com
Koolwire is a simple, no-login required PDF conversion service. Simply send the document (DOC, PPT, XLS, JPEG, GIF, RTF, and TXT.) to ‘PDF@koolwire.com’ and shortly after get it back as PDF.
(2) WHATEVER@drop.io
Drop.io lets you create so called drops and use them as private file storage boxes. Drops can be shared with others on a variety of access levels (viewer, contributor, etc.). Best of all, each drop gets its own email address, so everything emailed to that email will be added to the drop.
Once in a while we all need some kind of document, it may be a business plan presentation, rental contract, non-disclosure agreement, or even a name change request form. In most cases, Googling the document may ultimately get you what you need, but it’s both time consuming and frustrating. Below, I want to go through 3 excellent resources that can provide you with any professional document or form template for free.
Finally my hunt is over. Aibek, the main author of MakeUseOf told me when I first started being a guest writer that there is a “free version for everything”. So I sought out to replace any of the desktop applications that I used with free (and preferably open source) desktop only programs.
I don’t feel ashamed that I had paid for these programs since they did provide useful services to me until recently. Now I know better. Here are the results (please note I tried several other options before deciding on these applications):
(1) Office Software
Use your mobile phone’s campera as a sanner where ever you go. ScanR is a service that helps you easily capture information from paper documents or whiteboards and quickly digitalize it.
How does it work?
