Selecting the Best PDF Converter for Writers and Webmasters

In 1991, Adobe launched the Portable Document Format, commonly known as PDF. This format became an indispensable part of the internet world. Originally it was a proprietary standard, and it was in 2008 Adobe released PDF as an open standard. This move allowed other developers to work with it. Even today, PDF remains a critical tool for publishers, attorneys, and all those who want to exchange important information files in a standard and secure digital format. In certain countries, the judiciary only permits digital written evidence to be presented that’s been saved in PDF format.

PDF has an impressive list of capabilities and advantages. But it also has some limitations. The main advantage of the PDF format is that it cannot be altered without leaving a trail. The PDF format makes it easy to share files across different operating systems and devices. If someone sends you a file in PDF format to review and edit, you cannot do this unless you have invested in the full version of Adobe Acrobat or some cheaper third-party tools.

On the other hand, files saved in any of the popular formats can be shared, edited, saved, and uploaded quite easily. This is pretty simple as everyone has a text editor that lets you edit, change, and save documents. On the other hand, no webmaster would risk placing files on their website that can be easily tampered and altered without their approval. To edit and save files that are in PDF format requires learning how to use its editor, upload images, make changes, and save the file. Plus, the tool is not cheap to purchase.

The simpler solution to this problem is to use a PDF Converter to convert the PDF file into the format you want and edit it. Lengthy documents with images, charts, and data can be converted and edited to your heart’s content. Once you have finished making changes to it, you can send it back to its originator to convert and upload it on the website in PDF format.

PDF to Other Formats Converter

If you need to convert PDF files to other formats, no worries. Google for PDF converter and thousands of sites will be displayed that offer this facility. Now it depends on which format do you want to convert and save the PDF file? PDF to other format converters give a choice, and it’s up to you to decide in which format you want the converted file saved in.

You might want to save the text in Word format, a worksheet in Lotus, and a presentation in PowerPoint. Some of these converters provide this luxury, and some do not. They don’t give any choices and will just convert the PDF to txt format and save it. Now you have to unravel it and copy/paste portions of the converted file in the formats that you want.

The bottom line is that you have to pick and choose the converter that fulfills your requirements. Look around the internet; there are quite a few sites that offer a variety of conversion options.

Selecting a PDF converter

Remember, when you search for a PDF converter on the internet, you will get two choices. One, which converts PDF, files to other formats and the second, one which converts files from the popular formats to PDF format.

Depending on your work requirements, you might just need a one-way converter. There is a website for PDF to Word, text, rich text, and excel format converters available. Most of them are free and do a pretty decent job. For the more sophisticated versions, you need to pay.

Again, there are a number of free sites that convert files from popular formats to PDF and save them. You can try them out and decide which one you want to choose. Remember, you can convert and save your file in PDF format, but you cannot upload it on a website which you are not authorized to do. This is a job that only the site administrator can do except if the administrator rights have been shared among a select group. Any changes, updates made to a PDF file can be traced back to when and who made the changes. It’s this security feature that has made PDF the default standard for posting content on websites.

Wrap it up

Whether you want to spend money and purchase a PDF converter depends on you. If you are not a frequent user, then you don’t need to spend money on buying a converter. On the other hand, if it’s a part of your routine work, then do careful research before putting your money down.