Join and Split .pdfs, Part II
August 26, 2008
I think I touted PDFMerge too early. After working with it for a while, I find it is not that useful of a program. It is devoid of instructions, and I still can’t figure out how to split pdfs with it.
I would like to make amends and recommend a different program, PDFTK Builder. It is super-simple to work with, it’s free, and it does exactly what it is supposed to do.
Why would you want to split a pdf? Until this morning, I had no answer to that question, but I just found one. I wanted to scan some hand-written notes, written on both sides of the page. Our copier will scan documents and convert them into pdfs and e-mail them to you, but it doesn’t scan two-sided documents the way it does for copying. So I had to make a file of odd-numbered pages and then one of even-numbered pages. With PDFTK Builder, I was able to split them up into individual pages, re-order them, and then reintegrate them as one pdf file.
Link and Split .pdf files
August 12, 2008
Useful (and free) utility for Windows. Does just what it says. Why would you want it? Maybe you made a bunch of 1 page .pdfs for your class, and now you want to post them all for the exam. Instead of re-scanning them, or making a whole bunch of links on your blog, use this program and you can make one big .pdf for your class out of your multiple .pdfs.
Online .pdfs
July 6, 2008
As an addendum to the previous post, if you’re at a computer and don’t have PrimoPDF installed, you can go to the following address and create a pdf online and have it e-mailed to you.
Uploading .pdfs – The Final Frontier
July 1, 2008
In early posts we learned about Adobe Acrobat .pdf files – what they are and how to create them.
Today, we will practice inserting a link to a .pdf to your blog post for your students.
Watch the video tutorial, then practice on your own. Practice makes perfect.
Creating .pdf files
June 23, 2008
In our previous post, we discussed what an Adobe Acrobat .pdf was and how to read them. Today we’ll look at ways to create them.
Adobe’s own program is quite expensive, and I won’t discuss it here. If you can afford it, enjoy!
If you have Microsoft’s Word2007 or OpenOffice Writer, you can save any document you have created as a .pdf just by clicking a button. (Click here for a 10-second video of how to save a pdf in Word, and click here for a shot of the same thing in OpenOffice Writer.)
But what if you don’t have either of these programs? What if you’re using an older version of Word, or the free AbiWord program? No problemo.
PrimoPDF is a free program you can download and install that acts like a printer driver. Meaning, when you click Print, PrimoPDF appears as one of your choices for printers. Choose that over your regular printer, and it will save your document as a .pdf.
(Warning: PrimoPDF keeps trying to get you to register, and every ten saves or so it will annoy you with a pop-up registration form that has no X in the corner to close it. But if you click ALT+F4, it will go away. It’s a small price to pay for such a useful tool.)
Adobe Acrobat and You – Viewing a .pdf file
June 20, 2008
One of the best things to happen to internet communications was the invention of Adobe Acrobat (any document ending with .pdf). PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and basically it “takes a snapshot” of your page. Why? So you can share your work with anyone, with any type of computer (Mac or PC, etc) with any type of word-processor. So no more will a student say, “I couldn’t open the review sheet because we have a Mac, or we don’t have Word, or my computer can’t handle Hebrew, etc.”
All the receiving end requires is a free program to read the document. Most Internet browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) can also read .pdf files.
Adobe Reader is available for free download, and is compatible with all types of computers. Feel free to uncheck “Also Install: Adobe Media Player” if you want. You don’t need it to read .pdfs.
Another program that opens Acrobat files is Foxit. It is also free, much smaller and quicker to open than Adobe Reader, and I find myself turning to it more and more.
Foxit Reader can be downloaded here. [You want to download the file called Foxit Reader 2.3 (.exe)]
Click here for a shot of Adobe Reader and here for a shot of the same document opened in Foxit Reader.
