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PDF Converter
PDF Converter is available free to students and staff at Sussex and is a powerful tool for creating and manipulating PDF files. It can be borrowed from the Library and licenced using the key codes available on the ITS website.
The descriptions below give an introduction to using PDF Converter to accomplish some common tasks.
Turn a file (such as a word document) into a PDF
You can turn a variety of files (including images, Word, Excel and Powerpoint files) into PDF files using PDF Converter.
To turn an existing file into a PDF, first choose File next New PDF and then From File. Choose the file you wish to convert and click open. PDF Converter will then open the file you have chosen and in the process, convert it to a PDF. To complete the process just choose File and then Save As.
Merge files together into a single PDF
The software allows you to easily merge several files together into a single PDF document.
From the File menu, choose New PDF and this time choose Combine Multiple Files. In the Create PDF window, click on Add to choose the files which you want to incorporate into the new PDF. You can change the order in which the files will appear by highlighting a file and using the Up and Down buttons to move it the right position.
When you have all the files in the right order, click on the Play button at the bottom of the window and you will be asked to choose a name and file location for the combined document. When you click on Save, the new PDF will be created.
Edit a PDF file
You cannot simply edit PDF files in the same way as you would a Word document. This is because a PDF is designed to produce a consistent and reliable result whether viewed electronically or printed out. As a result, many of the properties of the text, such as the size of the lettering or the points at which new lines occur, are fixed when the PDF is created.
However, PDF Converter does include a number of tools which enable you to make certain kinds of changes.
Touch up. You can make minor amendments to the text using the Touchup tool. Select this tool by going to Tools, then Touchup and Touchup text. You can then click into the document and make minor changes. This is suitable for correcting spelling mistakes or updating information.
Typewriter. If you have a lot of new text to add, choose Tools, then Typewriter, then Typewriter Tool and then click onto the document at the point where you would like to insert it. This enables you to add a new block of text over the top of the existing document. Because you are not allowed to change the position of the existing text, you will have to position it in such a way that it does not hide information you want to keep. If you want to make the new text stand out more, you can use the Text box tool (choose Tools, Typewriter and then Text box tool) to add new text in a separate box of its own.
These are useful functions if you want to add annotations or comments to an existing document. If there isn't enough room on the page you want to annotate, you can also insert a new page - choose Document, Pages and then New and specify where in the PDF you would like it to be added.
Note. Notes are similar to text boxes except you can pinpoint exactly which part of the existing document you are referring to. When you choose Comments and then Note and then click into a document, an icon is inserted into the text with a line connecting to a box where you can enter your comments which are marked with your name and the date/time. Readers of the document will be able to choose whether or not to display and read notes added by other users.
Split a PDF into two or more documents
Just as you can combine files into a single PDF, you can split a large file back into smaller sections. Choose Document on the main menu and then Split Document. Next choose Split by pages and put in the page numbers which should come after each split. For example if you have a ten page document which you want to chop into two equal sections, enter "6" into this field. You will get two new documents - one made up of pages 1-5 and another with pages 6-10.
created on 2010-01-01 by Chris Limb
last updated on 2010-09-03 by Chris Limb