New Features
Here we summarize the new features in version 7 of PDF Converter Professional in three sub-topics: editing, creating and unlocking PDF files. See also Key Features.
Editing PDF files
Swift start in Windows 7
PDF Converter Professional 7 can appear in a Windows 7 jump-list, letting you quick launch the program or choose to open recent PDF files; other choices are to create PDF files from scanner or other documents and to convert PDF files to editable formats. See: Starting the Program.
Scan to PDF
One-touch scanning is now possible using pre-defined settings, avoiding the scanner’s own interface. Multi-page scanning was previously available only from ADF, now it can be done also from flatbed. Scanning to image-only PDF is supplemented with new choices: searchable PDF and Normal PDF. Multiple scanner support is introduced, including those using ISIS drivers. You can scan to a new file, to an existing file, and also automatically apply mark-ups to pre-defined words. In PDF Converter Enterprise 7, scan inboxes can be set up with prompting when a new PDF enters the inbox from a network scanner or MFP. See: Creating PDF files from a Scanner.
Broader Internet browser support
The subset of PDF Professional tools available in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are extended to Google Chrome and Apple Safari, allowing hosted or linked PDF files to be viewed, modified, saved to a local folder or converted to editable formats. See: PDF handling in Internet Browsers.
Display pages from non-PDF files
Previously, only PDF pages were viewable in the Portfolio viewer, now pages from Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and a wide range of image files can be viewed in a pop-up window, giving a much more complete overview of portfolio contents. See PDF Portfolios.
Improved document assembly
A full-width number bar makes drag-and-drop operations easier. Importing pages is also improved: a new window displays all pages from all documents chosen as possible import sources, so the desired pages can be identified and drag-and-dropped into the target document. Previously pages had to be chosen without the ability to view them. See Document Assembly.
Searching multiple strings
A more user-friendly interface is provided for searching multiple words or strings; these strings are searched in an OR operation, meaning all occurrences of any of the strings is reported. Boolean searches remain available to perform AND searches, along with further possibilities. See: About Searching.
Searching by patterns and masks
Predefined patterns are offered: social security numbers, telephone numbers, dates etc, so all items in a document with a standard structure will be found. A mask is a custom-defined pattern, telling how many characters must be searched and whether they must be letters, numbers or either. This allows, for example, all license plates in a document to be searched. In PDF Converter Enterprise 7, found texts can also be marked for redaction. See Searching by patterns and masks.
Layers
Layers can now be displayed in PDF files and new layers can be created. Layers separate different elements on a page. This can be useful in working with architectural plans and in preparing documents for a printing house. See Layers.
Silverlight support
Microsoft Silverlight multimedia, graphic, animated and interactive content in PDF files can be played in the program, and new content can be embedded, if Silverlight is installed on the computer. See: Adding Movies.
Document flattening
A new method of preparing documents for public distribution offered – document flattening. This allows selected categories of annotations to be saved as real PDF content, so they are no longer editable as comments, but only as document objects. See: Flatten Document.
Saving to image files
Support is introduced for saving to multi-page TIFF files.
PDF Conversions
Language Auto-detection
It is no longer compulsory to specify one or more languages when OCR is used to unlock PDF files to provide editable output. The option Auto-detect can be set; this is provided mainly to allow unattended processing when the language of the input documents is not known in advance. It works for all Latin-alphabet languages with dictionary support. See Language Selection.
Improved Excel output
Converting PDF files with tables to Excel yields better layout accuracy. A new conversion option allows all tables to enter a single Excel sheet; this is designed to better handle tables that run over several pages. See: Spreadsheet.
PDF Creation
Transfer document information from MS Office
Metadata such as Subject, Author and Keywords can be imported from Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, so there is no longer the need to rekey existing data. See Creating PDF Files from Microsoft Word.
Create grayscale PDF files
A new option allows colored source documents to become grayscale PDF files, thus reducing the file size. See: PDF Create Properties.
Auto-bookmark pages when merging files
When multiple input documents are merged into one PDF file, a set of bookmarks can be created, one for each input document. The bookmark texts are the input file names. See: Combining Files into one PDF.