Adobe Reader is monstrously large, slow to load, and includes many features most users will hardly ever need. Foxit PDF Reader pares down its PDF-reading code and comes up with some neat features, like annotation tools, to give you a PDF reader that’s far more appropriate for the average PDF user.

PDFs open from the Internet in their own Foxit window, instead of sucking browser resources, and the interface mimics Adobe’s so you won’t have to change your reading habits. In our test, the text readability wasn’t much inferior to Acrobat’s. The 1.6MB program starts surprisingly fast. Foxit’s biggest flaw in the old version was hogging memory and that has been corrected. We did find it incredibly irritating that URL hyperlinks were unclickable, and that some features were secretly blocked in the freeware copy.

Source

Labels: Free Download, Pdf

Those people who use Google Calendar sometimes want to send their schedule to others. Google Calendar itself provides this facility with print option, but many people ignore this option.

Following are the simple steps to Convert your Google Calendar to PDF

1. Just Login to Your Google Calendar Account
2. Go to the view you wish to share, whether it is a given day, week or full month.
3. Click the Print link (on the left side of the top, see the screenshot above)
4. When the Calendar Print Preview window appears, use the dropdowns to adjust the Font Size and Orientation. If you want the calendar to not be in color, check the Black & White checkbox. When you are finished, click the Save As button.

5. Save the created file to your computer and email the file to those you wish to share the calendar with.
Thanks to Digital Streets for unveiling this Save Google Calendar to PDF trick.

Labels: GMail, Pdf

Have you ever wondered that RSS feeds can be converted into PDF files?

There are many cases where you felt need for that. You want to redistribute to users or friends who are not having any access to the Internet by providing them with full ability to see RSS feed content and Web pages linked to it. The resulted file can be integrated with other content already distributed in PDF format. You can even use it in distribution of editorial revision process and for archival purposes.

RSS 2 PDF is a free online service that lets you to convert an RSS or OPML news feed into a PDF. It’s very fast and creates a formatted PDF for your offline reading and distribution.

Labels: Convert, Pdf

Your weblife will be somewhat less strainful after reading this post. Undoubtedly acrobat is known to everybody but due to its slow performance on web its popularity will become low in due course of time. When you click any pdf file online then it takes a lot of time and I must say that it is very annoying and time consuming if the file appears to be very large.A new service from the creators of BugMeNot called PDFMeNot has been launched on Valentines Day.PDFMeNot is an online PDF to Flash converter that will instantly convert any PDF file into a Flash (SWF) movie. The beauty of this application is that it preserves the original layout and image graphics. It offers everything one need for viewing PDF documents online hassle-free. You can embed PDF files in your web pages and even users who do not have acrobat reader installed on their PC can easily read those files online without installing adobe’s acrobat reader. This is really a deadly sign for Adobe I must say.

There are many ways to create Flash movies from PDF documents as suggested by PDFMeNot:

1) Go To Go to PDFMeNot.com and enter username/password.
Use the username "stateless" and password "systems" when prompted (no quotation marks either). Note that both are case sensitive. Type the URL of the PDF file or select any of pdf file from your local drive of your computer.

2) Webmasters/bloggers can automatically convert any pdfs they link to.
You need to place the following javascript include before the tag</head> of your pages:

<script type="text/javascript" src=http://pdfmenot.com/convert.js>
</script>

3) Firfox user may download the firefox extension pdfmenot 0.1.2 .It Will automatically fix links to pdfs as your browse. Also adds a little icon next to each converted link.

Visit PDFMeNot to learn more about online PDF to Flash converter.

Labels: Online Tools, Pdf

I really haven’t gotten around checking new freeware for the past few months so oblige me as I sneak in a post or two. In all honesty, I could just go on and on featuring all sorts of freeware here but I usually go for the top-ranked ones. Call me prejudiced, but if it’s not in my PC, I rarely recommend it to people.

Anyway, I’m quite glad that someone has finally come up with a free PDF to Word converter. Commercial software asks for somwhere between $50 to $100 for this functionality but we just have to thank HelloPDF for creating Free PDF to Word Doc Converter.

A word of warning though, for a free converter, this is probably the best thing that you can get. It’s great for those straight up conversion like if the PDF document looks to have been created from a Word document and if it doesn’t include fancy formatting. I tried one that’s of that nature and it works like a charm.

Feed it something that has more fanciful layout like tables and whatnot and you might have a wee-bit of a problem. What’s nice about it is that it has a Uses Text-box option that tries to replicate layout by converting chunks of text from PDF to text-boxed paragraphs in Word. It can capture the layout quite well but editing might be a bitch.

But as far as I have experienced, this is a great tool to have in your archiving arsenal. I’m a PDF fan and I know the hassles of having to copy text from PDF and pasting them to Word. This converter works for me.

Download PDF to Word DOC Converter here.

Via Lifehacker

Labels: Pdf, Word

Microsoft Office 2007 will hit corporate desktops this month while consumers like you and me will be able to buy the full retail version of Office Vista starting January 2007.

It's just a matter of few weeks before we start exchanging documents written in Word 2007, spreadsheets charted in Excel 2007 or presentations prepared with PowerPoint 2007. Is your Microsoft Office version ready to handle this ?

A new version of Microsoft Office means new [or better] file formats and file extensions - therefore documents written with Office 2007 programs won't open directly on computers running Office 2003, XP, 2000 or Office 97.

What's the alternative for users who won't immediately migrate to Office 2007 ? Well, there's absolutely no reason to worry about such issues. The good guys from the Microsoft Office team at Redmond have created some wonderful document converters, viewers and other useful add-ons that won't let old Office users feel paralyzed in any form.

Let's look at some of the possible scenarios and the workarounds.

How do I Open Office 2007 Documents in Office 2003 ?

Get the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. The Compatibility Pack will let you read Office 2007 documents in Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or Office 2003. So you can open a .docx file with Word 2003 or .pptx with PowerPoint 2003.

Download Office 2007 Compatibility Pack

How do I create and save documents in Office 2007 XML format using Office 2003 or earlier versions ?

It's very easy to create a Word 2007 document using Word 2003 or even Word XP. Just download the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack outlined above.

This pack allows you to create 2007 versions of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files by opening a blank file and using the Save As command in your version of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

I don't have any version of Microsoft Office, can I still open Office 2007 documents ?

Sure. Microsoft has released free document viewers for all popular Office programs that let you read or view Office files without having to install the corresponding program.

For example, you can open and read a Word 2007 document on a machine that doesn't have Word 2007 or any of the other Microsoft Office programs.

Download Visio 2007 Viewer - The Visio 2007 Viewer allows anyone to view Visio drawings and diagrams created with Visio 2007 or earlier versions. The Visio 2007 Viewer is implemented as an ActiveX control that loads and renders Visio drawings inside Internet Explorer.

Download PowerPoint Viewer 2007 - View presentations created in PowerPoint 97 and later versions. Supports password-protected PPT files but not macros. You can view and print presentations, but you cannot edit them in the PowerPoint Viewer 2007.

Similarly, there will be a Word 2007 viewer and Excel 2007 viewer program that will be shipped before Office 2007 hits the retail shelves. Check the Office Download center for updates.

Until then, you can use the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack with your Office Word Viewer 2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003 to view files saved in the new Office 2007 formats.

What are other important Microsoft addons for Office 2007 and Office 2003 users ?

Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office 2007 - an add-on to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 that enables you to build application-level add-ins for applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system and the Microsoft Office 2003 System. Also supports InfoPath 2007.

Word 2007 Redaction - Word 2007 Redaction Add-in makes it easy for you to mark sections of a document for redaction. You can then redact the document so that the sections you specified are blacked out and cannot be converted back to text or retrieved.

Office 97 File Converter Pack - provides file converters and image filters for Microsoft Office programs, from Office 97 to Office 2003.

Office 2007 Save As PDF - free add-on for Office 2007 to export Word 2007 documents or Excel 2007 Spreadsheets to PDF files without requiring Acrobat Writer.

Update: You do not require Windows Vista to run Office 2007. It will work perfect with Windows XP SP2.

Labels: MS Office, Pdf

Enjoy a new interface, new tools, and more options
View information more precisely and efficiently with the redesigned, easier to use Adobe® Reader® 8 interface. Choose the reading mode to fit more content on the screen or the two-up mode to view page spreads without excess space in the middle. Zoom in, pan over, or leverage the loupe feature in Reader 8 to take a closer look.

Launch an online, real-time meeting in seconds
Instantly collaborate with virtually anyone, anywhere, at any time. Use the Start Meeting button in Reader 8 to access Adobe Acrobat® Connect™ software and deliver online training and support or communicate with remote audiences in real time. Accelerate approvals with new Reader 8 features that include shared document reviews, a streamlined review tracker, and a simple RSS reader.

Realize more secure document workflows
Better protect documents, forms, and drawings by leveraging Adobe LiveCycle® Policy Server and the new Adobe Online Services Document Center. For the first time, use Reader 8 to digitally sign Adobe PDF documents, allowing recipients to more confidently view and verify the authenticity of PDF files.

Save valuable time working with Adobe PDF files
View, print, search, sign, and collaborate on PDF files. Leverage new timesaving markup and review tools in Reader 8, as well as customizable toolbars and combined search and find.

Work with 2D GPU acceleration
Work faster with Reader 8 using the most popular graphics processing units (GPUs), which enhance scrolling and zooming for the rendering of 2D graphics.

Use improved accessibility features
Reader 8 helps you meet the accessibility requirements mandated by Section 508 of the amended U.S. Rehabilitation Act. Try the improved read out loud capabilities in Reader 8 or change the reading order of pages or columns after PDF files are tagged to accommodate preferences.

Save trees and time
For large volumes of information, such as technical manuals, use Reader 8 to condense any type of PDF file into a single booklet for printing. Print only the desired pages on two sides of paper or in a smaller type size to save time and natural resources.

Access new learning resources
Immediately access help and product information. Use the new Beyond Adobe Reader start center in Reader 8 to review information, on demand, about how to use Adobe Reader more effectively. Also view regularly updated information about other Adobe products and services.

Lower your total cost of ownership
Quickly manage and control Reader 8 deployments using the Adobe Customization Wizard 8, IBM Tivoli, Microsoft Systems Management Server, Windows Group Policy Objects, or Active Directory. Centrally host Reader 8 using Citrix Metaframe Presentation Server or Microsoft Windows Terminal Server.

Get expanded platform support
Deliver a reliable experience across computing platforms. Reader 8 will support Microsoft® Windows Vista™*; Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4; Windows XP Professional, Home Edition, and Tablet PC Edition; Mac OS X v.10.4.3; Solaris™ 9 and 10; AIX® 5.3; HP-UX 11i v1 and v2; Debian and LSB 3.1 Red Hat®; SUSE™, Turbolinux; and Asianux.

Also Acrobat Reader 8 has been tested with a beta version of Windows Vista, and Adobe expects a subsequent version of Reader to support the shipping version of Windows Vista.

Download Acrobat Reader 8

Labels: Adobe, Pdf, Software