PDF Authoring
Al Gore, Compulatelist
PDF authoring programs historically have been expensive. Adobe’s Acrobat Pro costs $449 (upgrade $229). However, there are several free programs readily available that provide simple PDF creation capability. These are PDF Creator, an open source program from www.sourceforge.net and CutePDF from CutePDF at www.cutePDF.com. Neither program includes any annoying watermarks or pop up ads.
From a standard application, generating a PDF is the same process as printing to a regular printer. These programs install a special printer driver so you select the PDF printer rather than the normal printer when you want to create a PDF.
Once created, PDF files can still be modified. You can add, delete, or rearrange pages. You can add bookmarks to facilitate navigation, perform OCR as mentioned earlier, and include hyperlinks for internal or external (computer or Internet).
Software 995
Software995, www.pdf995.com offers a collection of three free programs, if you accept an ad that appears briefly when the program starts, that includes the printer driver but also a utilities that can perform most of the tasks above, no OCR, plus other features. However, since you use this program like an external utility (not executed while the file is viewed) some tasks like adding links is not very user friendly. You can eliminate the ads for $9.95 for each module or $19.95 for the entire suite.
Also, some programs such as OpenOffice and scanner utility software (like my Epson) include a save to PDF feature as well.
Adobe Acrobat, www.adobe.com, as one would expect from a program that costs $299, packs a lot of function and ease of use features. In addition to the printer driver with numerous options to control PDF file size, Acrobat can create and modify PDF’s real time. You see the results instantly such as adding or deleted pages. One of my favorite features is the ability to save multiple web pages.
For example, if there is a Web article that would span multiple web pages, you can open these from within Acrobat rather than the browser and and then follow the links to add the subsequent pages very quickly. The links on the Web page can be easily activated to allow navigation either internal to the document or to the Web.
The other advantage is the entire Web page is captured since Acrobat will shrink the Web page to the desired format like 8.5-in by 11-in or A4. If you wanted to print a Web page using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) and the web page exceeds the 8.5-in page/A4 width, IE will just let it run off the side of the page. Mozilla’s free Firefox, www.getfirefox.com, can shrink to fit that eliminates this problem as well.
Acrobat also supports converting scanned documents to text using a built-in OCR tool. This allows you to search for text in these files after the OCR process. PDF’s can be combined to have a number of documents from different sources in a single PDF. This would be handy for someone doing a research project since the information would be easier to find.
If you are serious about using the PDF particularly for digitizing printed documents, consider Nuance’s (formerly ScanSoft) PaperPort 10, www.nuance.com. This program has been around for some time but it recently adopted PDF as its primary storage format instead of its original proprietary format so the product is much more useful. The program’s primary mission is to capture hard copy documents using a scanner in PDF format and then organize them along with other digital documents on your hard drive in a single unified view using a built-in document management function. Documents are displayed by thumbnail images. The PDF creation aspects can be used independently for purposes stated earlier.
The program costs $99 for the basic version. If you were looking for a program to all your digitize documents, online or hardcopy, this could be applied to philatelic uses, this could be one worthy of consideration.
In summary, the PDF file has come of age. It is an essential tool in reducing the need for printing documents and archiving hard copy and digital documents. Many features can now be obtained without having to purchase any software. 
