PDF - how to go paperless

Ok, so we won't be getting rid of paper completely any time soon.  But making use of PDF files can greatly reduce the wear and tear on your printer, cut toner costs, and save a few trees as well.

Why PDF?

Since PDF is a virtually universally used format, there are no problems with anyone being able to open it in other offices, or seeing your file in a way other than the original format you intended.  I recommend this anytime you want to send a document that does not need any further editing by the recipients.

PDF files are not meant to be edited.  They are meant to be final documents.  If you plan to work on the document further or are sending it to others for further editing, please use a different format until the final document is complete.

Creating PDF files

There are several very easy ways to create a PDF.  If you are creating the document in WordPerfect.  There is an option to "publish to PDF" which will create a PDF file for you.  This is a great way to finalize a document, at the point where you don't want the recipient to make changes or look at your metadata.

If you are using Gmail, or Google Drive, you have an option to "save as PDF" as one of the printer options.  This will generate a PDF file saved to your computer.

There are times, however, when we want to create a PDF outside of WordPerfect or Google Apps.  For several years now, the firm has been deploying "BioPDF" on all new computers.  This shows up on your computer as a printer (look in Devices and Printers" in your Control Panel to see if it is there).   Any program that allows printing should allow you to "print" to this device.  Once BioPDF has received the print job, it generates a PDF file and asks you to name it and save it, creating a document that looks as if you had sent it to a traditional printer.  Just like that, you have your PDF.

If you do not have BioPDF installed, call the help desk.  We can help you get it installed.  This program will also generate files in PDF-A format, now required by some courts.  It will also let you generate files in other formats, such as TIFF, which is helpful for use in some other programs.

The last way to create a PDF is using your scanner.  Do not use this option if you already have an electronic version of the document.  Scanning is the worst way to create a PDF.  Unlike the other ways listed above, scanning essentially takes a picture of the document.  This means the file size will be several times larger than if created in other ways.  It also means the document will be much less useful in that one will not be able to search for words or cut and paste from the document.  Obviously, if you have paper, this may be the only way to go.  But if you have an electronic version, use BioPDF to create the file.

Editing PDF Files

The firm's preferred PDF document reader is PDF X-Change Viewer.  Unlike Adobe Reader, PDF-Xchange will let you do far more than look at a document.  You can do pretty much anything you would do with a paper document.  You can draw on it, stamp it with various markings, write notes on the paper, insert or remove pages, highlight, underline, or cross out certain words (assuming the document is not scanned), and many other things.  You can even add a virtual post-it to the document using the "notes" feature.

Perhaps you are reluctant to use PDF, or feel you need to scan because you need to sign a document with your hand written signature.  A better option might be to scan just your signature, then paste that into whatever document you need.  In PDF X-Change, I have my signature, as well as my initials, saved as a stamp.  I can simply stamp my signature on any PDF document, resize it to fit, and then email the signed document as an attachment to the necessary recipients.

There is also a typewriter feature in PDF-Xchange viewer.  Say you have a PDF form.  You can simply put your cursor on the part needed to be filled out, type in your answer, and save your changes.

Fixing PDF files

Let's say you love working with PDF but are being sent PDF documents from someone not as tech savvy as you.  They are scanning their files and emailing them to you.  But you want to have the actual words in the document, not just the pictures.  Not a problem.  PDF X-Change Viewer has an OCR feature (Ocular Character Recognition).  This will scan the images for recognizable words and convert them back into text that can be copied or searched.  This feature was added in a relatively recent version of X-Change.  So if you do not have the feature, call the help desk to get upgraded.

One thing you are not really supposed to do is edit a PDF document.  Once a document is in PDF format, it is considered a final product.  You can mark it up, but you cannot really go in an change the text or do other things you do with a normal word processing file.  With WordPerfect X5 or higher, you can import a PDF document into a new WordPerfect file.  You may lose images and formatting, but it will OCR imaged text.  Once you have the text, you can reformat it the way you like, make whatever changes you like, and then save it again, either as a WordPerfect file, or republish to PDF.  The most current version of WordPerfect (X7) has gotten rather good at this.  If you think you could use this feature, but have an older version of WP, contact the help desk about an update.