PDF Software
Choose the right tool for your business
When it comes to viewing and editing PDF documents you have a variety of tools to select from, and determining the right tool is largely dependent on what features you need. Here are the most popular PDF software types to consider:
PDF Readers
Hundreds of millions of users download and install Adobe Reader because it is free, stable, and works across platforms (even many varieties of Linux®), in many languages. PDF Readers do just that – allow you to open and read PDFs. Some may allow minor mark-up capabilities and the ability to save and print files. Adobe Reader comes preinstalled as the default PDF viewer on many desktop and laptop computers.
PDF Creation
If you just want to create PDFs from electronic files (e.g. Microsoft Wed) then you can typically use the in-built software that comes with Windows or Microsoft Office. However most of these products do not offer fine control over file size or security settings (such as password protection and restricting users from printing). More comprehensive products such as Nuance PDF Create address these needs, and also offer robust tools to make searchable PDFs out of scanned paper documents.
PDF Editors
PDF Editors allow for adding and updating text and remixing of pages, as well as adding and subtracting pages and batch conversion. These are very powerful tools and ideal if you work with a lot of PDF documents. While other PDF editing programs exist, only Adobe Acrobat and Nuance eCopy® PDF Pro Office can view all the latest content that can be put into a PDF – such as XFA forms data, Flash, and video.
PDF Converters
PDF converters let you extract the content from a PDF and utilise it in other applications. For example, a PDF of a spreadsheet may need to be converted to Microsoft Excel to perform edits and re-calculate. Converting PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc can be difficult, as many products cannot maintain accuracy of layout and “remix” the PDF’s content when ported back into Excel, for example.
Online versus Desktop software
Beware of websites that claim to convert your PDF online but offer varying quality and some have security holes that may expose your document to security vulnerabilities. Instead we recommend you install software such as Nuance eCopy PDF Pro Office which is software dedicated to the task.