Tech Lounge 4u

Adobe PDF is the best format for sharing documents because they are compact, the formatting is preserved and most computers / mobile devices / ebook readers can easily handle PDF files.

Here you’ll learn how to do just about everything with PDF documents without buying Adobe Acrobat. You can edit PDF files, combine multiple files as one, add signature images to PDF pages, fill PDF forms online, add clickable hyperlinks to existing PDF documents and so much more.

Adobe PDF Guide and Tutorial

Q: First things first - How do I create PDF documents on my computer without Adobe Acrobat?

A: Get a copy of DoPDF - it installs as a virtual printer driver on your desktop just like Acrobat and lets you print PDF files from any Windows application including images, documents, emails, websites, etc.

Q: I don’t want to install software just for converting a bunch of documents to PDF. Do you know of any alternative?

A: Upload your documents to Google Docs via the browser and then export them as PDF files. Simple.

Q: A client just sent me a PowerPoint presentation by email. Since I am travelling without the laptop and my mobile phone cannot read PPT files, what should I do?

A: Forward that email message (with the PPT attachment) to pdf@koolwire.com - they’ll convert the presentation to PDF and email it back to you immediately. Most smartphones and web enabled mobile phones can read PDF files.

Q: How do I directly save a web page as PDF without having to save that page as an HTML file first?

A: Go to PrimoPDF, type the URL of the web page and they’ll send you a PDF version of that page via email.

Q: How can I convert PDF files into other formats like Word documents, images, HTML web pages, etc.

A: You can upload the PDF document to Zamzar and convert it any formats like doc, html, png, txt or rtf (rich text format).

Q: How do I create a single PDF package by merging files of different formats.

A: Try Loop PDF - it’s a free service that lets you combine multiple documents, images and even web pages into a single PDF file.

Q: How do I merge two or more PDF files into one? Can I also change the page order?

A: You can grab PDF Fill - it’s a versatility PDF editing tool that lets you combine PDFs from the desktop. PDF Fill can also help you rearrange pages in any order or for rotating pages inside a PDF.

Q: I want to extract some text from a PDF and use it in my Word document. What is the best option?

A: Go to PDFTextOnline and upload your PDF - it will extract text from the first 10 pages of your PDF document (to start) and will also show the PDF bookmarks, document properties, and form data (if available).

Q: I can’t get the above trick to work since I have a scanned PDF.

A: You can extract text from scanned PDF documents with Google Search. It’s not an instant process but probably the only free solution we know of.

Q: I have some restricted PDF documents on my computer in the sense that they neither allow printing nor can you select text with the mouse.

A: Get the PDF Unlocker - its a free Windows utility that will remove all common restrictions around a PDF file without requiring any passwords. Alternatively, you may use the online service at ensode.net that will remove all the printing or copying/pasting related restrictions from your PDF.

Q: Some PDF files on our company’s intranet are protected by a password that no one can remember anymore. Can we still open them?

A: There are sometimes genuine reasons to unlock or crack a password protected PDF file. You have the legal right to open the encrypted PDF document but forgot the password like in the case below.

Say one of your former colleague created some critical sales reports in PDF format but he is not working with the company anymore. In his absence, you have no option but to crack the PDF password in order to open, read or print these PDF files.

There are basically two types of PDF protection - the original PDF creator can either restrict opening the PDF file itself or he can restrict others from modifying, printing or copying text and graphics from the PDF file. Here are a few possible workarounds:

When there are Copying or Printing Restrictions..

Say you want to print a couple of pages from the PDF document but the document settings won't let you do that.

Open the document in Acrobat Reader or Foxit and capture the PDF page as an image using any free screen capture software. If there are multiple pages, you may try SnagIt since it can autoscroll and capture multiple pages of the document in one-go.

If you want to copy just a portion of text from some PDF page, use a screen capture tool with OCR features (like Kleptomania)

Alternatively, you can invest in commercial solutions like Advanced PDF Password Recovery from ElcomSoft and PDF Password Remover from Very PDF.

(These utilities may not recover the password for you - they'll just remove the restrictions from the password protected file)

When there are Document Opening Restrictions..

This is a very tricky case and there's no straight-forward solution to read PDF documents that are password-protected at the Open level.

The software will use methods like Brute Force, Key Search and Dictionary Attack to guess the password. They will try to use all possible character combinations as the password and so the process might take hours or even days and would really depend on your computer's processing power.


Advanced PDF Password Recovery Professional edition from ElcomSoft is a recommended option. When (if) the password is found, the program shows it, as well as the number of passwords which have been tested, and the program speed.

Legal Issues: - you maybe surprised to learn that these PDF password cracking software are absolutely legal and Microsoft even awarded ElcomSoft a Gold Certified Partner status.

Q: I am looking for a service that would let visitors download my articles as PDF files.

A: Add the Web2PDF button anywhere in your website - it converts web pages to PDF files on demand and also keeps a track of all PDF conversion related activities on your website.

Q: Someone sent me a PDF document in Chinese but I can read only English?

A: You can easily translate PDF files using Google Translate and Zoho Viewer.

Q: How can I add annotations or text notes to some of my PDF documents?

A: Get the PDF-X Viewer - it’s like Adobe Reader but with some extra features. You can add comments, annotations or even paste images to your PDF pages. You can also add annotations, call-outs and text to your PDFs online with PDF Escape.

Q: How do I read PDF files online without desktop software?

A: You can open PDF documents in the browser with PDFMeNot without requiring any software.

Q: Can I fill PDF forms online without Acrobat Reader?

A: Sure, go to PDF Filler, upload the PDF form and start typing. PDF typewriter works by converting PDF forms into images and allowing the user to type right on top of the images.

Q: How can I add watermarks or even my (real) signature to a PDF document?

A: First draw your signature in Paint (or other photo editing tool) and save it as an image. Make sure you crop all the blank portion that lies outside the signature. Now open the PDF document inside PDF-X Viewer and copy-paste that watermark / signature image. Simple.

Q: I have a PDF book that contains some 200 pages. Is there a way to extract selected pages from that book and save it as another PDF.

A: You can either PDF Merge or PDF SAM (split and merge) to extract pages from a PDF document.

Q: How can I protect my PDF documents with a password?

A: Upload your PDF file to PDF Hammer, set a security password and export it as PDF again.

Q: A PDF document has lot of links but I can’t click them as they are in plain text. How do I make them clickable?

A: Go to PDF Escape, upload the PDF and then place hyperlinks anywhere on the page.

Q: Which online service(s) would you recommend for uploading PDF files on the web?

A: My favorite is Issuu - they have built an excellent PDF viewer inside a beautiful interface. You can also use Issuu to embed PDF files in your own website. Next recommendation is Scribd - it’s a more popular service so your PDF document would get more eye balls.