The Nitro Blog » News

Announcing a new face on Nitro’s Board of Directors… Welcome, Anthony Glenning!

Nick Chandler — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:49:45 +0000

We’re excited to welcome Anthony Glenning, Investment Director of Starfish Ventures and Founder and CEO of Tonic Systems (the guys behind the online presentation software acquired by Google and incorporated into Google Docs), as the newest member of our Board. You can read the “official” press release here.

His appointment coincides with Starfish Ventures’ recent $3.5m investment in Nitro.

Anthony (Tony) brings 14 years’ experience in building, growing, and investing in growth-oriented technology companies, and we’re positively chuffed to have him on the team.

Welcome, Tony!

To 2012, and beyond: big news and big plans

Nick Chandler — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:30:16 +0000

It’s been one hell of a journey from 2005 to here. In fact, it’s been such a journey that we needed an infographic (yes, another) just to condense everything that’s happened into a vaguely digestible format.

You can download it here, or scroll down to view it in its glorious entirety.

The news

Back to the news — the big news: We just closed our first round of major institutional financing.

We’re now what those in this part of the world would call “venture-backed”. Our good friends and fellow Aussies at Starfish Ventures have supported our plans for 2012 and beyond to the tune of $3.5m.

This is big news for us, because we’ve basically been bootstrapped and profitable since day one – so it’s not a decision we took lightly. It’s big news for you guys, because it means more people, more quickly, to build more kickass products. Our values remain the same, and they will not change.

I'm Milo, and that's how I roll (now).

The plan

What are these plans we speak of?

Well, you might have to wait — at least a little, until mid-year or thereabouts — but we’ll tell you this: they involve the cloud, a logical extension of what we’re already doing on the desktop, and fixing a bunch of rather frustrating document problems just about everyone experiences (a lot).

They involve putting the seventy-odd, ass-kicking Nitronauts we already have (and plenty more to come!) to task on the stuff that happens to documents after they disappear into that series of tubes we call the Internet.

Stay tuned, and expect awesome.

This many people used Nitro Reader last month.

The important stuff

Thank you. Thanks to all of our customers, who backed us with their own money from day one. Thanks to each and every one of the free product users for getting behind and supporting what a few people suggested was, “not a smart idea.” (Turns out three-plus million monthly users of Nitro Reader think otherwise.)

And finally, thanks to the Nitro team – past, present, and future. You earned it.

~ Milo.

A short, illustrated history of all things Nitro.

Health: 25 amazing facts from Natural News

Dilbert may finally be fed up with office inefficiency

Spencer Jenkins — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:15:35 +0000

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, the well-known comic about everyday office life, recently blogged about simplicity, efficiency, and intuitive office methods—or lack-there-of. The primary example Adams used involved an ordeal of printing and signing a document for his accountant. Although the post was very tongue-in-cheek, the underlying frustration of Adams was certainly prevalent.

The gist of Adams’ rant was something that anyone can relate to: wasted time on a tedious process could be much better served doing something productive. More explicitly, according to Adams, “Can’t we figure out how to accept a digital signature? And when was the last time you were in court defending your actual penned signature anyway?” At Nitro, we definitely agree! Want to make your tax season headaches go away? Check out a brief video of how easy it is to use QuickSign for digital signatures:

You can download a free 14-day trial of Nitro Pro here.

Nitro Melbourne makes a big move

Spencer Jenkins — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:13:17 +0000

This week our Melbourne team moved offices after nearly 9 years in our previous one on Little Bourke St. This new office will have much more space for new Nitronauts and first impressions apparently include a fairly emphatic pan flute player next door to serenade the guys as they work!

Chris Dahl, our VP of Desktop had this to say: “It’s such a great feeling moving into this new space with the team. Nitro has grown up and changed a lot since we moved into our last home (on Little Bourke Street), and I feel this new home is a great representation of that. It’s really nice to be able to reward the team of people who’ve made Nitro a success with a bright, fun new space to continue their Nitro journey.”

Check out some of the pictures of our new digs!

Think you’d be a good fit as a Nitronaut? We’d love to have you! Check out our open positions here.

Nitro Pro 7.2 is out and better than ever!

Spencer Jenkins — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:35:14 +0000

We just launched Nitro Pro 7.2! We’ve got some sweet new features, key updates to existing ones, and some bug fixes so we can give you the best possible PDF software. Here are some of the key features of Nitro Pro 7.2:

New Features

Print from right-click context menu in Windows Explorer. When Nitro is your default PDF viewer, clicking Print in the right-click context menu will open the PDF and automatically send it to your printer.

doc.spawnPagesFromTemplate JavaScript function at runtime. This JavaScript function is used to add new pages to the active PDF document (based on a hidden template created at time of form design).

Keyboard input language detection. Text insertion tools (Type Text, Form Fields, etc.) will automatically load a font based on the user’s preferred input language set on the operating system. E.g. Japanese characters will be automatically available when using text insertion tools if Japanese is set as the default input language.

Disable line width when rendering path objects. Enabling this preference (from the Page View preferences section) will ensure line widths are ignored when path objects are rendered. This is useful when working with very complex and line-heavy architectural or engineering documents.

Rich text annotation / form field support. Annotations or form fields using rich text (bold, italics) will be rendered accordingly.

Updates

Edit Tool no longer switches the view-mode back to Single Page when selected

Keyboard shortcuts are no longer overwritten. Improved storage management of shortcuts preserves

JPEG2000 image rendering. Color rendering accuracy for some JPEG2000 encoded images has been greatly improved.

Many bug fixes and improvements. Many improvements in PDF rendering, printing and general application quality have been included in this version

If you already have Nitro Pro, the software manager will start on its own but if you want the update immediately, you can get it here.

Summer Down Under: Nitro Melbourne Gets Creative

Spencer Jenkins — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:15:22 +0000

When you work at Nitro, you’ll see just about everything. This past month our Melbourne office had a day that included about anything you could think of: graffiti, live wombats, stuffed wombats, superheroes, and more!

Best Dressed Milo

Starting out the day, all of Nitro took part in the first annual “Best Dressed Milo” Competition. With 16 entries ranging from the likes of “Occupy Milo” to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Milo” the creativity was certainly flowing. The winning entry came from our Technical Support Representative, Fred Rizardo, who made Wombatman, a not-so-undercover superhero fighting against the evils of other PDF software.

Graffiti Day

The Melbourne Nitronauts then moved outside and teamed up to create two awesome graffiti murals depicting our values. Despite being mostly indoors all day, the guys threw some really cool ideas down on the canvas and they came out looking great! You can check them out below.

After finishing their spray-painting, the team was surprised by an actual wombat and a semi-real Wombatman! The guys got to hang out with Chloe the wombat, a big softy who ended up being very cuddly.

Then Andrew Holmes, our QA Manager, showed up donning a black cape and mask as the infamous Wombatman! Although he’s not quite as soft and cuddly (depending on who you ask!) Andrew was able to get a few laughs and even managed to join a dance contest at the restaurant where the team ended the day with good food and great drinks.

Like the sound of life as a Nitronaut? We’re hiring rockstars every day and have some great positions open on our careers page. Check them out here.

Download Nitro Reader 2.2!

Spencer Jenkins — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:29:35 +0000

We just launched Nitro Reader 2.2! We’ve got some sweet new features, key updates to existing ones, and some bug fixes so we can give you the best possible PDF software. Here are some of the key features of Nitro Reader 2.2:

New Features

Print from right-click context menu in Windows Explorer. When Nitro is your default PDF viewer, clicking Print in the right-click context menu will open the PDF and automatically send it to your printer.

doc.spawnPagesFromTemplate JavaScript function at runtime. This JavaScript function is used to add new pages to the active PDF document (based on a hidden template created at time of form design).

Keyboard input language detection. Text insertion tools (Type Text, Form Fields, etc.) will automatically load a font based on the user’s preferred input language set on the operating system. E.g. Japanese characters will be automatically available when using text insertion tools if Japanese is set as the default input language.

Disable line width when rendering path objects. Enabling this preference (from the Page View preferences section) will ensure line widths are ignored when path objects are rendered. This is useful when working with very complex and line-heavy architectural or engineering documents.

Rich text annotation / form field support. Annotations or form fields using rich text (bold, italics) will be rendered accordingly.

Updates

Keyboard shortcuts are no longer overwritten. Improved storage management of shortcuts preserves custom settings across application sessions.

JPEG2000 image rendering. Color rendering accuracy for some JPEG2000 encoded images has been greatly improved.

Many bug fixes and improvements. Many improvements in PDF rendering, printing and general application quality have been included in this version.

If you already have Nitro Reader, the update will be available through the application later this week. If you want it immediately though, you can download it here.

The Paperless Office: Why It Hasn’t Happened (And Why It’s Going To)

Nick Chandler — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:03:53 +0000

In our ongoing endeavors to better understand how the world uses and perceives digital documents, we conducted a survey. We thought about asking around the Nitro offices, before realizing that doing so would have produced a less-than-impartial (and probably biased) data sample; so we decided to go to the pros.

We contracted TNS, a global, independent market research firm to go out and quiz 1,000 adult Americans on our behalf, in a survey all about PDF files, digital documents, and paperless practices.

Needless to say, the results were shocking — both in the conventional (literal) context as well as in the “passing out from the sheer quantity of data sense.”

So, we brought in the awesomely talented guys at Column Five to distill all that data into one easily digested and conveniently shared infographic. Major props. It’s the first of a series we’re working on with them, and we’re pretty stoked with how it came out – watch this space…

Click on the image below to view it in all its glory. After some bedtime reading? Click here to download your very own hi-resolution PDF.

Survey Methodology (AKA, required legal stuff)

This survey was conducted online, within the United States by TNS via its Express Online omnibus product on behalf of Nitro. The survey took place from September 29-October 2, 2011, among 1,000 adults ages 18 and older, using individual methodology.

PDF: Welcome to the paperless office

Declare your PDF Independence

Spencer Jenkins — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:53:36 +0000

It’s time to stand up and declare your independence—your PDF independence.

Portable Document Format (PDF) has been an ISO Open Standard since 2008, with an ever-increasing availability of alternative applications—many of which don’t allow their users to make the most of their PDF files. With annoying updates, deliberately restricted functionality, in-application advertising, bundled third party toolbars, and so much more, free PDF readers seem all but freeing.

The Pledge

Here at Nitro, we’ve had enough. For the month of February, we’re running a Facebook sweepstakes contest to spread the word and help our users declare their PDF independence. All you need to do is join the cause and you’ll be eligible to win a brand new Sony Vaio E Series Laptop valued at $806.99!

We also have an autographed photo of NBA legend, Michael Jordan, and a bunch of Nitro swag packs loaded with sweatshirts, wombat stuffed animals, USB stick/bottle opener, and a free copy of the all-new Nitro Pro7!

How to enter

Step 1: Fill out the sweepstakes entry form on our Facebook page

Step 2: Download the Declaration of PDF Independence file here

Step 3: Using Nitro Reader, sign with QuickSign™ and Save your file

Step 4: Submit your PDF to community@nitropdf.com.

So what are you waiting for?! Join us and assert your right to PDF independence! This contest is only open to residents of the United States and Australia but we’re hoping to expand to the rest of the world for future contests.

Don’t have Nitro Reader with QuickSign yet? No problem! You can download it for free at www.nitroreader.com.

Congratulations, Adobe!

Florida lawyers to adopt OCR capability in 2012

Spencer Jenkins — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:35:59 +0000

As of January 1^st, 2012, PDF software with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capability will be required of all lawyers who file documents with the Southern District of Florida courts according to an administrative procedures document published here (Section 3G, Article 5). Text searchable documents are now commonplace for court filings and the growing trend of using less paper can make a law firm not only environmentally friendly but also more efficient.

Nitro offers an industry-leading OCR solution in Nitro Pro 7 with a partnership from I.R.I.S. I.R.I.S. is one of the foremost companies in OCR technology that allows written text to be converted and recognized electronically. Want to search for that typo in your 100 page brief? You just found the section in the legal reporter that corresponds directly to your case but don’t want to scan and send the whole manuscript? Or you simply want to email certain parts of your handwritten notes to a coworker? Nitro Pro 7 allows you to not only use OCR quickly and easily but you can also highlight, add sticky notes, and insert text directly into your PDF document.

Although it is certainly a big step, the ability to reference court filings in text searchable formats like PDF with OCR will not only reduce the cost of buying paper, ink, and courier services but will minimize the headache of maintaining the massive file rooms for clerks and paralegals. Nitro Pro 7 is available with OCR automatically included for a free 14-day trial here: www.nitropdf.com/try/.