Create and convert PDF files

Most computer users have, at one time or another, come across the PDF file format.

The PDF format was designed by Adobe as a universal way for people to exchange documents over the internet or on disc while preserving all the original fonts, images, layout and so on.

The trouble is that the PDF format can often prove to be anything but universal. Most computers don’t come with any built-in software that’s able to view files of this type and you’ll usually have to download a special PDF reader in order to do so.

Not only that, but when you do eventually get to open your PDF you’re likely to find that it doesn’t work like most documents you’re used to. You can’t click on the page and start editing like you do with a Word document, for example, and it’s not always obvious how to extract raw text or images.

Adobe’s own program for creating and editing PDF documents, Acrobat, costs £327, so it’s tempting to assume that only the rich can actually work with PDF files properly. In this issue, though, we’ll explain how to edit, create and convert PDFs using only free software.

What’s the story?
Since the early 1990s, Adobe’s PDF – or Portable Document Format – has been a highly popular way to distribute documents online and on CDs, and it’s not difficult to see why.

If you’ve ever sent a carefully constructed Word document to a friend only to find that on their PC all the original fonts have come out wrong and the layout looks like a horrific mess, then you’ll understand why PDFs are so useful.

Manufacturers can distribute cheap, digital versions of printed instruction manuals, safe in the knowledge that anyone with a PDF reader program will be able to view the document exactly as it was initially intended.

PDFs can also be useful for brochures, forms, legal documents, ebooks, digital magazines and more. At home, PDFs are great for newsletters, party invites and just about any other type of document that you want to share with others, either online or attached to an email.

For many years, Adobe kept the details of how PDF files work to itself, so in order to read or write PDFs you had to use software made by Adobe or one of its partners.

This made creating PDF files expensive, although Acrobat Reader, the software needed to view PDFs, was always free. In 2008, however, the PDF officially became an open standard, meaning that anyone is now free to create software for reading, writing and editing PDFs.

As far as opening and viewing PDFs goes, there are several alternatives to Adobe’s free Reader. Foxit Reader 4, for example, is just as competent as Adobe Reader but runs more quickly and puts less strain on your PC.

Similarly, Sumatra PDF is another fast, lightweight PDF reader and Xpdf is a basic (and basic-looking) open-source alternative. All are free and many come with useful editing tools.

Foxit Reader allows you to highlight, copy and paste text into another document, while Nitro PDF Reader allows you to add sticky notes so that other readers can view your annotations.