PDF

There are any number of utilities out there that can quickly and easily convert a variety of file formats into PDFs, so there's no reason to settle for one that doesn't quite meet your needs. DeskPDF Pro combines an efficient drag-and-drop interface with some useful features, but the limitations of the trial version are significant, and there are free programs with many of the same features.

Once installed, DeskPDF Pro appears as an icon in the Windows system tray; clicking it brings up a small interface onto which users can drag files for conversion. This launches a window … Read more

Converting PDF documents to easily editable formats requires passing the PDF file through a converter. There are quite a few PDF Converters on the market, some better than others, but there are few very good free applications for this purpose. Wondershare Software's PDF Converter Free is a stand-alone app that allows a PDF file to be converted to a Microsoft PowerPoint file that is fully editable.

PDF Converter Free only works with PowerPoint-formatted PPTX files (or fully compatible file formats from non-Microsoft presentation applications) that have been saved as PDFs. During the conversion from PDF to PPTX almost all … Read more

Adobe Systems has kicked off a new version of its industry-standard Reader with several notable improvements.

Debuting this past weekend, Adobe Reader XI strengthens the commenting feature, so you can now add stamps, file attachments, audio recordings, and other items to a PDF. New markup symbols include text boxes, lines, arrows, circles, and other shapes. Further, you can fill out, sign, save, and send a marked up PDF without having to print it first.

Many of these features were formerly found only in Adobe Acrobat, so their addition to the free Reader is a nice bonus.

Adobe Reader has been … Read more

Printer-based freeware PDF utilities like Softland's doPDF Free are unobtrusive yet flexible and a great choice for the home office, small business, and individual user. You just have to click the Print command in any application, and then select the program from your list of installed printers. Instead of printing out your converted document, the program saves it as a PDF. You can set basic output options like document size and resolution, but doPDF is designed to be as simple and lightweight as possible.

Although doPDF works like a print driver, it installs normally like any Windows program. During … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week readers wrote in with questions on PDF files appearing black in Safari, whether one can copy the password tools from the OS X installer drives to a working OS X volume, iTunes not reading discs it just burned, and how to tackle a system always going into hibernation instead of sleep mode. We welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Black PDF files in Safari MacFixIt reader … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week readers wrote in with questions about whether or not the Maps app from iOS 5 could be installed and used on iOS 6, how best to use an Apple ID for business purchases, if you can back up multiple internal hard drives to Time Machine, and how to tackle PDF files appearing black in Web browsers. We welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Using Maps from … Read more

Office Convert PDF to JPG JPEG TIFF Free is the freeware version of a program for converting your PDF files into a number or image formats to fit your needs.

The functional interface is simple and easy to understand, with buttons that even novice users will recognize. Our tests took less than a minute to complete for each conversion. There were no complicated or confusing steps and there weren't any errors. Office Convert PDF to JPG JPEG TIFF Free offers four different output file types: JPEG, BMP, GIF, and TIF. There isn't much to the features and functions … Read more

Mac PDF Converter for Mac is a tool for everyday use, especially for those who need to work with PDF and text files, and its easy-to-use interface and speed help you save time.

The easy-to-handle interface makes using Mac PDF Converter a no-brainer, and it works straight out of the box: users can convert any PDF file to Word, text, image, HTML, or EPUB formats using the application. Although we missed having a convenient drag-and-drop function when adding files, we can live without it, if necessary. The trial version is limited to a conversion of five pages, which is adequate.… Read more

If you're not a fan of relying on browser add-ons and plug-ins, you'll probably want to enable a feature that can help you ditch at least one of them. Firefox now has a built-in PDF reader, and while it doesn't offer all of the same features that Adobe's version does, it's more than sufficient for most uses.

Before you get started enabling the PDF viewer, make sure you have the latest version of Firefox and you've disabled the Adobe PDF viewer.

To check the version: click the menu at the top left-hand corner and … Read more