Love Nitro PDF Software? Become an affiliate and put our software to work for you

If you haven’t already heard, Nitro PDF Software has an easy–to-use and rewarding Affiliate Program, open to anyone who’d like to sell our award-winning software. It’s completely free to join, and affiliates earn a minimum of 30% of the revenue generated from the products they sell. 

When you register as an affiliate, Nitro will supply you with all the support and marketing materials you need to get started.  Simply advertise our products on your site, start selling, and start earning.

Once your application is approved, you’ll have access to everything you’ll need to launch, promote, and successfully sell our products on your site, including datasheets, logos, competitive comparisons, and much more.  You’ll also be provided with one-on-one support from Nitro, so you can confidently sell our software with the resources you need.

Nitro’s affiliate program is in partnership with the trusted e-commerce provider, cleverbridge. Through our combined efforts, the program is designed to be easy to use, monitor, and report on, so there‘s never a question of what you’ve earned. By setting this program up in conjunction with cleverbridge, we’re giving you access to the same online platform that Nitro uses everyday for all of our online sales. You can trust that your transactions through cleverbridge will be handled safely, smoothly, and professionally — just like any direct transaction with Nitro would be.

Just select the currency you’d like to be paid in, and receive your commission via PayPal®, check, ACH, or wire transfer. All products are sold via cleverbridge’s e-commerce platform, and delivered online – you don’t even have to leave your desk.

Affiliates come in all shapes and sizes, including yours — why not sign up today?

Click here to become an affiliate

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Now Available: Nitro PDF Express v2

In December, we released the long-awaited, major update for Nitro PDF Express – the streamlined, lightweight, and low-cost way to create and convert PDF files. With all the creation and conversion features of the award-winning Nitro PDF Professional, Nitro Express utilizes all-new interface, and contains a host of improvements and additions to make the PDF essentials even easier, faster, and more inexpensive than ever before.

Nitro Express provides the power of PDF creation from 300+ file-types, full control over document security, and is the only product in its class with the capability to quickly combine multiple files into one PDF document, or extract individual PDF pages.

With an array of exciting new features, Nitro Express v2.0 includes all-new, industry-leading PDF-to-Word conversion; improved PDF creation technology that performs up to 50% faster; a completely revised user interface; and major improvements to the underlying PDF library for faster processing of all files.

The first thing you’ll notice when opening Nitro Express is the revised main menu, giving you access to all of Nitro Express’ features — with one click of the mouse.

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Nitro Express v2 utilizes the same, class-leading PDF-to-Word conversion engine of Nitro Pro, and today, we’re going to take a quick overview of how it works, and highlight the accuracy of the conversion.

To demonstrate how accurate the conversion in Nitro Express is, we’re going to use a test document, comprising images, a table and graph from Excel®, and some text.

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In the example above, you can see that it’s a relatively complex document, containing a range of different objects – the biggest challenge most of us face when converting PDF-to-Word, is the loss or incorrect conversion of different elements within our original PDF. This adds an element of frustration to the process, resulting in Word files that are editable, but perhaps not as much as you might have hoped.

Note that the nature of PDF files can often prevent conversion with 100% accuracy, not due to the conversion process, but as a result of the way in which the original PDF was created.

For example: images in a PDF will be converted to images in your Word document, so scanned text will require Optical Character Recognition (released with Nitro Pro this month!) if you wish to edit it upon conversion.

To convert the PDF to Word, simply open Nitro Express and select the ‘Convert PDF to Word’ feature.

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  1. Click the ‘Add Files’ button and when the window appears, simply select the document you wish to convert.
  2. Once you’ve selected the PDF file, you’ll see it in the list – you can proceed to add as many documents as you’d like to convert – Nitro Express is the only product in its class to offer batch-processing functionality across a range of features, making working with multiple documents easier than ever before.
  3. Click the ‘Next’ button.
  4. Select the output location (where you’d like your completed Word document to be saved)
  5. Click ‘Convert’.

The end result is a Word document that retains the look and feel of your original PDF file, but can be edited completely.

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As you can see in the above screenshot (taken in Word), Nitro Express has retained the exact formatting of the original file, converted the table perfectly (preserving the original layout and formatting), and retained the chart as an editable object – now, you can even change the colors or formatting used.

Find out more about Nitro PDF Express.

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Using Nitro Pro to review, annotate, and collaborate on web-based content

Nitro PDF Professional offers a range of ways with which to capture information – from nearly any source – and convert it to PDF for annotation and distribution. Recently, we covered how to share charts from Microsoft® Excel. Now, we’re going to show you how to get your web-based content into a PDF file.

Nitro Pro’s ‘Create from Clipboard’ feature allows you to remove one step from the process, and create a PDF directly from your screen, removing the need to first save a separate HTML- or image-based file.

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This feature can be particularly useful when, for example, reviewing your company’s website – updating a form or revising layouts – but it can also be used for capturing the information in a pop-up window from any program, or absolutely anything on your screen at any given time. I use it all the time – often, when writing for this blog! Today, we’re going to focus on using Nitro Pro to capture web-based content.

There are two ways to use Microsoft® Windows’® inbuilt screenshot capture function, which will copy your screenshot to the clipboard:

  1. Alt-Printscreen. Holding the ‘Alt’ key and pressing the ‘Printscreen’ key (PrtScn, PrtScr, etc.) will capture the active window – that is, just the window you currently have open.
  2. Printscreen. Using ‘Printscreen’ will capture everything on your screen.

In this example, we’ll be looking at a form on the Nitro website.

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In the above image, we can see a screenshot captured and the resultant PDF created from it. As you can see, we’ve captured an image of this particular webpage in Nitro Pro, but we may want to exclude some superfluous information, such as the address bar, or perhaps include only the form itself.

We can do this using our original image, in Nitro Pro, using the ‘Snapshot’ feature.

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Simply select ‘Snapshot’ and use it to highlight the area you want to capture – in this case, we’re just looking at the form itself.

Once you’ve selected the area you want to include, you can comment, highlight, and mark-up the document for collaboration and distribution. Use a broad range of tools under the ‘Review’ tab.

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You may want to rearrange the form’s layout, suggest inserting something new, or draw attention to a particular item. In the example below, we can see the form, with comments, and the Drawing Tool has been used to draw attention to a couple of areas.

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Once you’ve finished your review of the document, simply save it, and you’ve instantly got a visual reference, with your mark-up and comments, for the recipient of your PDF file. Using Nitro Pro for this task ensures that the web-based content remains static – unlike, for example, using word processing software – and, your document is clearly marked up for the end recipient.

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Creating indexable, searchable files with PrimoPDF

As we showed in our last tip, you can easily control the way in which your document is accessed, viewed, and edited by utilizing PrimoPDF’s security settings. Now, we’re going to quickly demonstrate how you can add key information in the form of metadata – such as title, author, and keywords

Many document management systems that support PDF archiving utilize information such as the document author, or keywords. This information can then be used to help filter and narrow searches so the document can be easily retrieved again.

In the Primo Settings screen, you’ll notice a Change button in the Document Properties tab. Click it and you’ll be presented with the four different fields of document information you can add to your PDF file.

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In this window, you can enter information in as many (or as few) fields as you want – and, for future use, save these settings. For example; you might want to add your or your company’s name to the Author field, so every time you create a PDF file with PrimoPDF, the name is attached.

Keywords ensure your document can be easily indexed by search engines – for example, in Google:

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In the above example, you can see the two PDF-based results, displaying their respective titles. The lower result, having been titled appropriately, is displayed in a more logical fashion,and is much easier to identify.

Next time you use PrimoPDF to create your document, think about where it will be displayed, and how you can help the process – particularly when working with document management systems, or online PDF files.

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Securing PDF files with PrimoPDF

PrimoPDF is a great free way to convert nearly any file to PDF for safe, secure, and easy distribution. Many people don’t realize that you can do much more than simply create the PDF file, including adding passwords and restricting permissions to edit, view, print and more…

When you open PrimoPDF, there are two options you can select regardless of the type of output (Screen, eBook, Print, Prepress, or Custom)– Document Properties and PDF Security – for this tip, we’ll be focusing on PDF Security.

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Once you’ve selected a desired output type, click the Change button in the PDF Security tab.In this window (pictured below), you have a number of options that provide varying levels of security, depending on the intended use and distribution of your PDF file.

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  1. Password. One of the most basic forms of security, you can set your document to require a password of your selection,upon opening. This comes in handy for an internal document — issue a password to members of your department, or entire company; they can then open it and access the contents in full.
  2. Permissions. The permissions settings allow you to select varying levels of access, depending on the type of document.
    1. Password. You can set a separate password (in addition to one required for opening the document) for editing or extracting information from the document.  You may wish to circulate your PDF file amongst a wider audience, allowing them to simply open and view the file, but also allow people within your organization greater access to edit, copy, or print.
    2. Printing.You can control whether or not the document can be printed; and even restrict printing to low-resolution – handy when circulating, for example, architectural plans or design documents.
    3. Changes. Control the level of editing access – ensure documents retain their original order and integrity by preventing the reader from extracting or deleting pages; allow form-filling and signatures; and allow commenting.

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  3. Copying/text access. Check the box next to ‘Enable copying…’ to allow the reader to extract text from the document, or enable text access for screen-reader software so your PDF files are fully-accessible for the visually-impaired.

As you can see, PrimoPDF can do much, much more than just create PDF files. Be sure to check out our next tip on how to add document information to your completed PDF file.

If you’d like complete PDF security capabilities, you might like to check out Nitro PDF Professional’s capabilities.

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Sharing charts and graphs from Microsoft® Excel

Most of us, in some way or another, tend to use Excel for data collation and visualization. Why do we want to visualize data? Aside from a desire to present it in a meaningful fashion, we generally graph or chart a series of data with a view to distributing it to a wider audience – making it easier for others to comprehend. Nitro PDF Professional can help you do this.

In this post, we’re going to demonstrate how to use Nitro Pro to easily and securely collate your graphs and data – making them smaller in file-size and more practical to distribute.

Often, users will simply create the chart in Excel, and then copy and paste it into a Word document. Many people don’t realize that in Word, you can simply right-click the chart, select ‘Edit Data’, and proceed to open the underlying data, in full, in Excel.

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This is not ideal if you want to restrict the ability to edit or access your data!

Creating a PDF file from Excel

Once you have your graph in Excel, there are two ways to get your Excel data or chart into a PDF.

  • ‘Create PDF’ With Nitro Pro’s inbuilt Microsoft Office functionality, you can easily create a PDF straight from Excel’s menu bar.
  • From the Clipboard. For quick and easy creation, you can just copy your chart and/or data, and use Nitro Pro’s ‘Create from Clipboard’ function.

Using the ‘Create PDF’ function

With Nitro Pro’s Office integration – it’s just a click of a button – plus, you get added security and creation functionality, giving you greater control over the type of PDF file you end up with.

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This method is particularly handy should you want to create a secure PDF.  With Nitro Pro’s security settings, you can set the resultant PDF file to require a password, restrict access privileges – editing, printing, and extraction – and even encrypt the document.

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Creating your PDF file from the Clipboard

When time is a factor, and you simply want to get your chart or data into a PDF file, as quickly and simply as possible, using Nitro Pro’s ‘Create from Clipboard’ function is an easy solution.

  1. In Excel, simply click on the chart itself – or, select the cells containing the chart and data if you want both– and copy them.
  2. Switch from Excel to Nitro Pro, and select the ‘From Clipboard’ button in the ‘Create and Convert’ tab.

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The end result is a single, static PDF file containing the data and chart – or just the chart, depending on what you copied to the clipboard.

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If you want to distribute multiple charts in PDF using this method, you can quickly combine them with these additional steps:

  1. In Nitro Pro, on the Create and Combine ribbon, click Combine Files
  2. Click the Include all open PDF documents checkbox
  3. Click Create.
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PDF as a green technology

PDF is often touted as what’s increasingly known as ‘green technology’ – one that helps us reduce our carbon footprint, and – in the case of the ‘paperless office’ – reduce a financial burden. For most businesses, going completely paperless is definitely a challenge, but with desktop PDF software, we can certainly work towards it.

It’s estimated that the ‘average person’ consumes 123 pounds of paper per annum, or; nearly 25 reams of paper.

Of these 25 reams, nearly thirty per cent comes out of our office or home printers – with 500 pages to a ream, the average person is printing somewhere around 3,500-4,000 pages, every year.  That’s 90 pounds of carbon dioxide, for the more scientifically inclined.

Aside from the obvious environmental impact of paper consumption, there’s a fairly substantial business case for trying to reduce it. A ream of standard copy or print paper costs around $5, depending on the quality and quantity purchased. If you have 200 employees, a 35% reduction in printing represents a saving of over $2,500. That’s not even taking into account the reduction in printer cartridge/toner use, reduced storage/archiving requirements, electricity, reduced postal costs, and all that time spent walking back-and-forth to the printer.

It’s estimated that a 10% reduction in global paper consumption would save companies $3.5 billion.

So, next time you decide to print a report for someone, why not use Nitro Pro to create a PDF file and email it? There’s a button for that.

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Using too many paper-based forms? Make them faster and easier, to fill and process, by using Nitro Pro’s form-filling capabilities.

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Using PDF as a paper-substitute isn’t just good for the environment – it’s good for your bank account. Think about that every time you click ‘print’, or run another stack of paper through the shredder.

Thanks to GreenPDF.com for help with the statistics.

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New PrimoPDF API – Print to PDF from Your Application, Seamlessly

PDF API

Our new PrimoPDF Application Programmatic Interface (API) allows you to harness the power of Primo in your applications, without the need for a separate installation or any form of manual user-intervention.

  • Silent installer. Bundle PrimoPDF with your application, seamlessly and silently.
  • Font support. The API offers full support for double-byte character and non-TrueType fonts.
  • Full access. You get it all. The API offers complete programmatic access to developers.

You can find out more about it and check out code samples by visiting the new PrimoPDF API page.

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PrimoPDF Has an All-New Home

PrimoPDF website

As you’ve likely noticed, we gave the world’s #1 free PDF creator an all-new home last week. We like it, and we hope you do too! The interface has changed dramatically, but the simple, powerful usability of PrimoPDF remains.

Connect, contribute, and get the help you need with PrimoPDF

Connect with PrimoPDF and Nitro

When we built the new site, we wanted to give you even more ways to shape the development of PrimoPDF, get the help you need to make the most of it, and keep completely up-to-date with the latest news, tips, and tricks.

  • Connect with Nitro. We’ve made it even easier to stay in touch. Just look to the bottom of the page at any time, and you can check out the PDF Blog, for the latest in everything PDF; subscribe through Feedburner, so you don’t miss a thing; and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter!
  • Contribute to PrimoPDF. Just look for the ‘Tell us what you think’ button, to… you guessed it — tell us what you think! Head to the CustomerConnect Feedback Forum to see what others want in Primo, make your own suggestions, and vote on popular requests to help us make Primo even better!
  • Sign up to the Newsletter. If you’re reading this in your inbox right now, you can skip this part, but if you’re on the PDF Blog, or reading this somewhere else, you can subscribe to our newsletter to make sure you’re always ahead.
  • Get the help you need. The all-new home for Primo help presents the user manual, online, in a functional, easy-to-use fashion – you can also download the printable PDF user guide.

If you’re a business user or developer, you might also like to check out the new PDF enterprise and PDF API sections of the Primo site for a more complete enterprise-level solution.

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Summarizing and Printing PDF Comments, While Saving Paper

Nitro PDF Professional 6 includes a powerful new way to quickly summarize all of the comments in your PDF documents. The resultant summary allows you to easily view all of the comments alongside the document’s contents – and, if you’re so inclined, print out the summaries for paper-based viewing.

Today we’ll take a first-look at this feature, including a quick demo video of it in action. If you’re not familiar with all our tools to annotate and highlight PDF files, then you might like to check out our full summary of features.

When comments are summarized using the new feature, each comment is displayed as a callout alongside the original PDF page, allowing you to quickly view the contents of each comment side-by-side with the original document. Each callout is also assigned an ID, and an accompanying summary table lists each comment by ID, along with the comment’s contents and other details. This makes it very convenient to view all of the comments at once, as well as flip back and forth between pages of the document to view comments individually.

You can select whether to summarize comments for viewing onscreen (as PDF) or on paper and can also customize how you would like the summarized comments to be presented. Some of the key things you can control when summarizing are:

  • Grouping. Sort and group the comments by author, time added, type, and so on.
  • Formatting. Control how comments are presented with font, text size, page margins and more.
  • Smart (paper-saving) summaries. Only summarize the pages containing comments and exclude the rest – a great way to minimize paper use if you like to print out your summaries.

How to summarize PDF comments

If you have Nitro Pro installed and would like to try out this feature, just add some comments to a PDF and then follow the instructions below:

To summarize comments as PDF:

  1. On the Review tab, in the Review group, click Summarize Comments.
  2. Select the desired page range.
  3. Optionally, click Settings to configure settings.
  4. Click OK.

To summarize comments for printing:

  1. On the Review tab, in the Review group, click the arrow below Summarize Comments, then choose Summarize Comments and Print.
  2. Select the desired page range.
  3. Optionally, click Settings to configure settings.
  4. Click OK.

We’d love to hear what you think about the new feature. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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