PDFs are among the most popular document formats, with over 250 billion generated through Adobe in 2019 alone. For many people the world over, PDF files are part of their everyday work.
PDFs were initially designed to make it easy for people to share and save documents between computers. Most computers today come with PDF reader programs.
If you’re still new to PDFs, chances are there’s still a lot that you are yet to learn about them. In this comprehensive guide, we outline a few pro PDF tips to help you manage this popular document format.
But first…
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What Does PDF Mean?
The letters PDF stand for portable document format. Generally, this format is used for saving, viewing, sharing, and printing documents.
Once you’ve saved documents as Adobe PDF files, you need specialized software to edit them.
Creative PDF Tips to Get You Started
As we hinted earlier, it’s possible to create PDF files or convert existing MS Word files into PDF. There’s a ton of other ways you can manage PDF files.
Let’s look at some of them now.
Creating PDF Files
There are several tools you can use to create PDF files. Arguably the best one is Adobe Acrobat, which provides professional, paid services. You can opt between the standard version and the Pro version, depending on your needs.
There are, of course, other tools that allow you to create and view PDFs for free. You can, for instance, use Google Chrome or even MS Word.
If you’d like to use MS Word, simply double click the MS Word tool, click Open, then select Browse to upload a PDF file. Go to File to save the document.
Converting PDFs to Other Formats
We’ve already mentioned that there are different PDF creators and converters that can help you convert documents from and to PDF file formats. Many people opt for online services, such as EasePDF, which are easy to use.
Many online tools enable the user to upload a file from Google Drive and Dropbox. The tool then converts the document and allows you to save the file to the cloud.
While most of these tools are straightforward, there are some that require some complex manipulations such as PNG to PDF or JPG to PDF. With these online tools, you can upload images, delete pages, and so on.
Merging PDF Files
You can combine PDF files into one using a PDF Merger. Doing so makes it easier to read and share more than one PDF files at the same time.
Users can opt to merge files online using the online PDF Merge tool. It’s also possible to merge documents via the PDFsam Basic on your desktop.
PDFsam Basic allows you to compress PDF files by choosing Compress Output Files. This method is convenient when you want to compress a file after you’ve combined PDF documents.
Splitting PDF Files
You can also break down a PDF into multiple files. Doing so helps you keep the essential parts of your PDF file and can save you time when reading the document.
The good news is that there are different online PDF splitters such as EasePDF and DF2GO that can help you do this.
The tools display all the pages of your PDF file and allow you to choose to split it. Many of these tools provide different modes, so you can choose the mode you want. You can then split the pages using a few easy clicks.
Saving a Web Page as a PDF File
It’s also possible to convert a web page into a PDF file via your browser.
If you use Google Chrome and want to save a specific web page as a PDF file, press Ctrl + P and enter the Print mode. Once you’re done, select Save as PDF.
Editing Texts in PDF Document
Most people know how to search in a PDF but find it challenging to edit PDFs.
How do you add text or an image to a PDF file? Many PDF converters allow you to add new content. However, these tools do not let you modify the original contents of the PDF document.
Look for a PDF editor that supports users to edit text. Some good online options include the Sejda Online PDF Editor. If you’d like to edit the PDF offline, check out the Nitro Pro PDF Editor.
Converting a Scanned PDF File to a Word Document
Usually, scanned PDFs are saved in image formats. You can, however, convert these files into Word documents. All you need is a PDF converter that comes with the optical character recognition (OCR) function.
One practical tool that makes it easy for you to convert scanned files is OnlineOCR. You can also check out Sejda.
If you’d like to convert the document online, start by uploading the PDF file. Choose the source language as this process works better once you’ve specified the language. The entire process should take a minute or two.
The online tool should do the rest. Sometimes, the software doesn’t guarantee total accuracy. In case there’s any missing text, you can make up once the conversion process is over.
Locking PDF Files to Make Them Safe
Sometimes, you want to encrypt a PDF file for security reasons. You may want to keep other people from viewing content or editing your files, for instance. There’s software for encrypting files, such as Adobe Acrobat, Wondershare, and EasePDF.
Using these tools, you can create a password to keep your files safe. Remember to create a strong password.
You can try coming lower case and uppercase letters to make it more difficult for anyone to crack your passwords. You can also mix letters with numbers to make the password extra strong.
Managing Your PDF Files Doesn’t Have to Be Challenging
PDF documents are very helpful when it comes to sharing content electronically. These document formats are especially helpful when you’re trying to go paperless.
With the easy PDF tips we’ve shared above, you can get the most out of your future PDF documents.
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