Quick Tech Updates

You are probably familiar with the universal document format called PDF (portable document format).  It is a document format that has gained in acceptance because of its ability to be read by virtually any computer running a free program from Adobe called Acrobat Reader.  You may also know that you can create documents on your computer and use a freeware program to convert or "print" them to PDF.  The one we use here at school is called PDF995 and is very easy to use.  It simply takes your existing document and converts into a pdf file that you can post on your blog or web page. 

If you have ever tried to tweak a PDF document, you realize that it certainly has some limitations, such as editing or copying / pasting.  Maybe you found a document or form on the web and you want to be able to edit it and use it.  I found a program that will allow you to convert that pdf document back into a Word format, so that it can be edited.  It is called "PDF to Word Doc Converter" and it is a free download at http://www.hellopdf.com/   Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on download free pdf to word converter.  On the next page, simply scroll to the bottom and download free PDF from one of the Sites listed.  It is an executable file called pdf2wordsetup.exe.  Double click on the downloaded program and it will walk you through the install. 

In order to use the software, you must first have the pdf file saved on your computer.  Browse the web to find the document you are looking for.  Go to File and down to save as.  For ease of use, you need to save your pdf file on your desktop.  Then open the coversion software and browse to your pdf document you just saved.  It will automatically name the file the same thing with .doc at the end and save it in the same location.  The process is very simple.  Does it always work?  It has so far for me.  Is it perfect?  No, there are times that my font is changed and the margins are different, but the text is always there - and then I can edit the document, cut and paste, save - whatever I need to do.  It sure seems like a handy little desktop tool that I will use frequently.