document

Portable Document Formats (PDFs) are one of those file formats that can cause quite a headache. Sometimes, you want to convert them to a Word file. Other times, you want to convert the Word file to a PDF. But doing so isn't always easy.

Luckily for you, there are a variety of online tools that can modify PDF files quickly and easily. Here are some of my favorites that work right in your browser:

Create Adobe PDF Online does a number of things well. It can convert a variety of file formats to PDF including applications and Web pages. It can also combine multiple PDFs into a single file. When you choose to convert a file, you have the option of getting it e-mailed to you in an attachment, or simply have it load up in your browser. In either case, it takes a couple of minutes for it to deliver the finished product, making it a little slower than some of the other tools in this roundup. If you can wait though, it works quite well.

Document Converter eXPress from Neevia is a feature-packed app that lets you convert files from any number of formats into a PDF. You can choose from image files like JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and BMP. You're also able to roll back the file's compatibility to be able to work with previous versions of Adobe Acrobat, dating back to version 3.0. There's also a tool to add encryption and a watermark.

Loop PDF is one of the simplest PDF conversion tools in this roundup. You have to create an account to use it, but after you do, the free tool lets you add PDFs from your computer or URLs, and combine them into a single document. You can also convert other file types into PDFs. Loop PDF easily converted files in just a few seconds for me.… Read more

My Notes Keeper promises to help users stay organized by collecting the little bits of information we need to keep around but have a tendency to misplace. This program combines several useful tools, but offers nothing new.

My Notes Keeper has a very basic interface that, while cluttered with buttons and options, should not be a difficult to learn. It looks like a version of Microsoft Word, with some added options that most users will immediately recognize. The center holds a word-processing screen with familiar icons for saving, editing, and customizing the text. The biggest change is a file tree … Read more

Converting Word documents to PDFs was once a daunting task that has recently become easy thanks to conversion software. However, Quick Word to PDF is not one of those programs, thanks to its defective operation.

The program's interface looks promising, with a simple screen, professional layout with well-drawn green command icons at the top, and a simple white action screen with large blue buttons to browse files for conversion. The program's trial is supposed to allow up to 15 conversions, but we were not able to select a single file to convert. We were given an error message … Read more

This program will convert PDFs to a wide variety of file formats, but we found it lacking some conveniences found in similar programs. We also had to spend a considerable amount of time reformatting and editing the converted text.

ABC Amber PDF Converter has a crowded user interface. The process of converting the PDF was a little confusing because the commands seemed to be out of order. But once we found our bearings, we were able to open our PDF. Unlike similar PDF conversion programs, ABC does not include the ability to select specific text. Instead, you can only select … Read more

The ancient city of Babylon was a crossroads of cultures and languages, and the program Babylon makes good on its linguistic heritage. It can translate 31 languages from your desktop, offers a huge gallery of glossary add-ons, and gives direct access to Wikipedia results in 20 languages. In addition to deeper language libraries, the latest version introduces a new, streamlined interface, single-click document and Web site translation, and a new language detection-feature that recognizes languages without user input.

Babylon translates individual words and phrases on the fly by highlighting and right-clicking or using a hot-key combination that can be adjusted … Read more

Everyone knows they should back up their data, but a surprisingly small percentage of people actually do. Unfortunately, when the big crash finally comes or you experience a hard-drive failure, that's usually the time you realize you should have been backing up all along. There are a number of programs that make it easier to regularly back up your hard drive, but in my experience, many require several steps to get the job done.

Nero's BackItUp and Burn ($39.99), released yesterday, attempts to make the whole process easier for everyone. Using an intuitive tabbed interface and simple … Read more

Microsoft has come under fire for spreadsheet interoperability issues in its recent release of Office 2007 Service Pack 2, but the company says it is an issue inherent in OpenDocument Format 1.1.

The software giant released last week the second service pack for Office 2007, which provides support for documents saved in the ODF 1.1 format.

However, Rob Weir, chief ODF architect at IBM, posted a report on his blog saying SP2 had problems reading some ODF spreadsheets saved by OpenOffice.org and lost data by "silently stripping out formulas" from cells. The resulting spreadsheet displays &… Read more

Cool Tabs wants to make your desktop obsolete. This unique program allows for an easy way to condense the clutter from your computer's desktop into a small window that claims to help users get better organized.

This freeware program is presented as a simple bar that pops up on your screen. From there, you'll find tabs for Applications, Documents, and Favorites. Each tab is a different color and an unlimited number of tabs can be added. Within these tabs is where the program shines. Users can simply drag and drop shortcuts, folders, and files into the appropriate tab … Read more

Instead of backing up to an internal or external device, this program backs up important files and folders to an online storage facility. But thanks to a trial limitation and a painfully long backup process, we were left unimpressed by its performance.

Allmydata requires that you create an account to access your backed up files online. The user interface is plain, but pretty self-explanatory. A tree menu lets you check off the folders you wish to include in the backup process. For our tests, we selected to back up our Documents files. Using the Status tab we were able to … Read more