The Nitro Blog » Tips & Knowledge

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

Our Top 5 Keyboard Shortcuts for Nitro Pro & Nitro Reader

Nick Chandler — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:34:43 +0000

The Keyboard: Your new best friend

Take a (Keyboard) Shortcut

Regular users of any application tend to rely on a handful of keyboard shortcuts, and most of us are familiar with at least a couple. They’re are a great way to shave time off the tasks you perform most frequently—sidestepping the mouse, menu, and anything else that gets in the way.

Today, we’re listing five of our favorite keyboard shortcuts in Nitro Pro 7 and Nitro Reader 2 for those of you with nimble fingers that never leave the keyboard…

1. Quick-launch Nitro

Bypass the Start Menu or Desktop and launch Nitro Pro or Nitro Reader in nanoseconds using the Windows ‘Run’ command prompt.

Win+R to launch the ‘Run’ dialog
Type nitropdf (Nitro Pro) or nitropdfreader (Nitro Reader)
Hit Enter

2. Close Active Tab (Document)

Finished up with that PDF file? Close a single open tab without even looking at your mouse by hitting Ctrl+W

3. Enter Fullscreen View

Need to maximize your onscreen real estate and kill the clutter? Launch Fullscreen View with a single key: F11

4. Print Document

Sure, they’re digital documents—but most of us still make occasional use of the printer. Turn PDF to paper with Ctrl+P

5. View Document Properties

Want to know more about that PDF file, like where it came from? Check the author, initial view settings, security permissions, embedded fonts, and more. Just hit Ctrl+D

New Year, New Job: Make your resume pop with PDF

Spencer Jenkins — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:03:42 +0000

We think it’s pretty awesome to work here at Nitro and we try to make it about as much fun as work can be without working at an amusement park. That said, at times the office can resemble a zoo—as seen recently at our Melbourne Christmas party with a real live Milo the Wombat!

2012 is here and we’re looking to hire 14 new Nitronauts across the business. We’re on the lookout for rockstar engineers, top gun account executives, creative geniuses, and just about everything in between. Got your head in the cloud all day? You might be a fit for our Senior SaaS Engineer . Brand enforcer with a keen eye for design? We need a Creative Director to make us look good.

Check these (and more!) out and get your application in here!

Want to make sure that we get your resume the way you want it to be seen? Then, submit it as a PDF file. Aside from the obvious fact (it probably makes sense to submit a PDF-based resume to a PDF software company), there are some real-world benefits worth paying attention to, regardless of where you’re applying.

When sending your resume as a PDF file instead of a typical Word document, it will look the same on every machine, every time—and anyone can open it. Plus, you can preserve your hyperlinks for your email address, Linkedin, and personal website. You might want to leave that video showcasing your breakdancing skills out though (unless it’s really, really good).

Ring in the New Year with smaller PDFs

Spencer Jenkins — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:42:45 +0000

As 2011 comes to a close and we gear up for 2012, our New Year’s resolution is to make working with PDF files even easier for our users. Nitro has already taken a step in the right direction by producing simple and easy-to-use PDF software like the all-new Nitro Pro 7 and our free Nitro Reader.

However, once you’ve created a PDF file, it can still be a strain on your hard drive or a headache to email if it’s too large. Here are some handy tips from our blog archives to reduce the size of your PDF file and hopefully reduce the number of headaches you have in 2012!

1. re-create the pdf to reduce pdf file size

A handy trick for reducing PDF file size is to re-create or ‘re-fry’ your PDF. By creating the PDF again you can strip out plenty of unwanted objects, remove tags, and compress images further. You can do this with any tool that supports ‘print to PDF’ functionality. For this trick you can use our free Nitro Reader.

-Open the PDF file

-Click Fileà Print

-Select Nitro PDF Creator 2 from the list of printers

-Click the Properties button and select Web-ready Conversion Quality

-Click OK.

2. reduce pdf file size with ‘save as’

If you use a PDF editor like Nitro Pro you can make use of the ‘Save As’ functionality to trim some fat off your PDF files. Chris Dahl, our VP of Desktop explained it succinctly:

PDF files have something that is called incremental updates, where any changes that you make to a document is appended to the end of the file without doing a complete rewrite. This is why the Save feature is much faster than a Save As, and also why PDF files saved this way can be large. The Save As feature will rewrite the entire file and provide you with a smaller file size.

So, to shrink the PDF, do the following:

-Open the PDF in Nitro Pro

-Click File à Save As.

3. remove unwanted objects

PDF files can contain a bunch of different objects, including bookmarks, links, annotations, form fields, JavaScript, Named Destinations and embedded fonts — all of which can be removed from an existing PDF file. Like tip two it requires a PDF editing tool such as Nitro Pro.

-Open the PDF in Nitro Pro

-Click File > Optimize PDF > Select the Remove Objects tab.

-Choose the objects to remove

-Click Optimize

4. shrink all images in pdf files

For PDF files that contain many images, downsampling all of them can make a noticeable difference.

-Open the PDF in Nitro Pro

-Click File > Optimize PDF

-Pick from one of the 5 preset image quality options or select Custom for further compression choices

-Click OK, then Optimize

The last thing you want is to put in the effort to make a large PDF document only to find out it’s too large to send to anyone. Luckily, you can save time and headaches with these simple, easy-to-use tips as well as working more efficiently with Nitro. You can download a free 14-day trial of Nitro Pro here: www.nitropdf.com/try/.

Convert your snail mail to email with PDF

Spencer Jenkins — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:13:42 +0000

In 1860, the first riders of the Pony Express traveled 11 days and 12 hours from Sacramento, California to St. Joseph Missouri (just north of Kansas City) to deliver bags of mail across the 2000-mile trail. Today, we can send an email to someone on the other side of the globe within seconds yet we still use old-fashioned “snail mail.” Unfortunately, traditional mail is not as instantaneous as someone might need it nowadays. You can’t send a contract around the world via snail mail and expect to have it approved within an expedited time frame (not to mention the enormous cost of sending something like that!).

So the obvious solution would be to resort to emailing your documents, right? But, how can anyone guarantee that the document they sent appears exactly how it was meant to look? With varying email hosts and Word applications, the formatting can’t always be accurate…unless you use PDF! The universal nature of the Portable Document Format (PDF) allows your file to appear as an electronic substitute for paper. With the added features of Nitro Reader, you can also edit a document fully with collaboration features like sticky notes, highlight, cross-out, and underline text as well as in-text paragraph substitution seamlessly within your documents.

If you create a PDF in Nitro and send it to someone else, it will show up exactly how it’s intended. And since the recipient can only view the PDF in its original form, you also control what they are able to edit and view. The ease of Nitro’s plugins for Microsoft Office also make PDF creation, collaboration and emailing simple and efficient while saving paper at the same time!

Nitro Reader cuts shipping costs as well as software costs by being 100% free. You can create, edit, collaborate, sign, send, and secure PDF files quickly while maintaining a small download footprint on your hard drive. Plus, by reducing paper consumption in your office, you not only cut the cost and hassle of mailing letters and buying stamps completely but do your part to save the planet at the same time. And you don’t have to endure riding a horse for over almost 2 weeks just to wish someone a happy birthday! You can download Nitro Reader for free at www.nitroreader.com.

Faster, easier redaction: Using the ‘Search & Redact’ tool

Spencer Jenkins — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:14:48 +0000

Nitro Pro 7 introduces Redaction, a tool you can use to permanently delete sensitive information – like text, images, vector objects, and document metadata – while ensuring that the underlying and associated trace data is also deleted. You select the objects or area in question, mark it for redaction, and apply the redaction – pretty simple, but serious stuff.

But what about a document where you’ve got tens (or hundreds) of instances of text you want to redact – like the name, address, or sale price in a real estate contract? Finding and redacting every single occurrence is time-consuming, not to mention risky.

That’s where Search & Redact comes in, allowing you to identify multiple instances automatically, then easily go through each and apply the redactions individually, or all in one go.

In this example, we’ll look at hypothetical company balance sheet. Imagine, if you will, that it wasn’t actually hypothetical (trust us, it is!) and we wanted to remove every instance of the company’s name that appears in order to use it in these screenshots.

Go to the Protect ribbon and look for Redaction.
Select Search and Redact.
Enter the text you want to redact (in this case, “XYZ COMPANY LIMITED”) in the search field.
The search results will display total number of occurrences first.
1. Click to expand and show each individual instance.
Click on the individual instances to see them as they appear in the document, and select the check-box to mark them for redaction.
1. Or, select the check-box at the top to mark all instances for redaction.
Click Redact All Marks to apply redactions to every selected occurrence of the phrase you searched for.

In the image below, you can see that the company name at the top of each page in the Pages panel has been redacted, indicated by the black mark – it’s that easy!

Nitro Pro 7’s Redaction tools allow you to share documents that contain sensitive information, easily and securely – regardless of where they end up after you send them.

If you’re already using Nitro Pro 7, why not try some of the more advanced Redaction tools today?

If you’re using an older version, or one of our free products, download the free, fully functional trial and find out for yourself just how easy it is.

Converting PDF into the best Word file every time with Nitro Pro

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 05:19:58 +0000

If you’ve not yet tried the PDF to Word conversion tool in Nitro PDF Professional, or only tried it using the default settings, today’s tip is a great way to quickly learn the key setting that can greatly improve the quality of the Word files you create. (Grab the free 14-day trial here.)

Choosing the right page layout setting is the key. The three different layout modes are designed to create Microsoft Word files that suit your needs every time. Believe it or not your need can vary quite a bit!

Page layout modes explained

The page layout conversion modes provide you with options to choose the right balance between the output file’s editability as well as its visual accuracy when compared to the original PDF. The best choice comes down to what you intend to do to the Microsoft Word (or rich text) files you create.

Highly editable (with layout). This option produces a file that is quite editable, while still retaining the look-and-feel of the original PDF. Text formatting, graphics, and paragraphs are all recovered, and the output file is laid out in columns to maintain visual accuracy. We set this as the default PDF-to-Word conversion mode in Nitro Pro as it is likely to be the best mode for most people.
Highly editable (single column). This option produces a file that is ideal for making major structural or layout changes to the Word document. Text formatting, graphics and paragraphs are all recovered, but no columns are used in laying out the content.
Precisely laid out. This option produces a file that accurately reproduces the look of the PDF, and uses text boxes to precisely layout all the content. When producing a Word/DOC/RTF file that must closely resemble the PDF, then this is the mode to use. Of course, because it uses text boxes and focuses on the precise layout of page content, the outputted Microsoft Word file is not as easy to edit.

Changing the output mode

When you have opened the PDF to Word tool in Nitro Pro and would like change the mode, just click on the Options button and make your selection.

Do you prefer a one of the conversion modes? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Nitro Reader 2: Introducing … QuickSign™ (Video)

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:03:29 +0000

Possibly one of the coolest features in Nitro Reader 2 is QuickSign – just about everything in Nitro HQ gets signed using it, and we’ve had some great feedback from our user community. For those who aren’t familiar, it allows you to easily stamp your signature (or your initials, company logo, or any other image) onto a PDF file with just a couple of clicks. That means never having to go through that tedious print-sign-scan-email process again!

Here’s a quick video we put together to show just how easy it is:

Like what you see? Why not download Nitro Reader 2 and find out for yourself?

Essential PDF survival plans from Red Cross

admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:09:16 +0000

Families and businesses need to have a plan of action to secure themselves when natural disasters strike. It is a common and dangerous practice to assume catastrophes will not hit a given location, but those unlucky enough to have experienced nature’s force will confirm that being prepared can be the difference between survival or tragedy.

Red Cross: learn from their experience

The Red Cross organization is the world’s leader in emergency response, and since its founding in 1881 the group has documented invaluable plans and procedures resulting from first-hand experience with natural disasters. The assistance provided by Red Cross personnel has saved thousands of lives in conditions which many of us don’t even know about — and that’s a good thing — however we have all seen situations which chilled our blood just by watching the aftermath on the news. A perfect example is the recent earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that hit Japan earlier on this year, with consequences that still plague the Japanese people till today.

When considering how effective the Red Cross interventions are, we should all be responsible enough to read what they recommend to families and businesses for being prepared in dire situations. Among their many documents, I highly recommend the following two disaster plans which can be downloaded as PDF files from the Red Cross website.

The Family Disaster Plan

This PDF document provides essential information to put together a family disaster plan and what to include in a disaster supplies kit.

Click the image to download the family disaster plan

The Business Disaster Plan

This PDF document provides valuable advice to businesses who want to protect their employees and customers during dangerous and life-threatening situations.

Click the image to download the business disaster plan

Now all you need is a great PDF reader

Remember, if you need an awesome + free + fully featured PDF reader to view all those ebooks, Nitro PDF Reader is only one-click away!

Planning for unexpected cash

Mousing about with Nitro PDF Reader

admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 07:00:25 +0000

This blog is full of articles explaining all the different ways you can work with PDF files, as well as the right tools that enable you to perform every task. The tools included in Nitro PDF Reader can be used to create PDF files, extract and edit PDF content, convert PDF to other formats, annotate PDF files, stamp your own signature, and the list goes on. Since they’re often forgotten, I thought I’d write a brief piece on those unsung heroes hanging out on the tip of your mouse pointers, although they don’t seem to get much recognition.

Your mouse’s favorite tools

[table id=4 /]

All the above mentioned tools are conveniently positioned in the Tools group, which is accessible on any tab of Nitro Reader’s ribbon. This gives you easy access to your essential tools regardless of which ribbon tab you’re using, allowing them to be always present throughout the many different editing features of Nitro Reader.

fig.01 - Reader's Tools

Easier access for smaller screens

When working on computers with smaller displays — such as notebooks and tablets — it becomes important to gain as much screen real-estate as possible, leaving the majority of your workspace free for your PDF documents. For that reason Nitro Reader allows you to minimize the ribbon, thereby increasing the size of the document pane.

So how does one access all the useful tools when the ribbon is minimized? The answer is simple: say hello to the Quick Access Toolbar (or QAT).

fig.02 - Adding to the QAT

Any tool in Nitro Reader’s ribbon can be easily added to the QAT. Simply right-click on any button, and select Add to Quick Access Toolbar. Similarly, the above screenshot also illustrates how to minimize the ribbon. Once again, right-click on any button and select Minimize the Ribbon.

Once your favorite tools have been added to the QAT, they will be instantly accessible at all times in a convenient and customizable ‘speed dial’ which will always be available even when the ribbon is minimized.

Wrap up

We often receive requests from Nitro users to create tutorials on how to use advanced tools, or to explain technologies in more ‘human readable’ terms. The more I dig deep into advanced features, settings, technologies, and PDF concepts, the more I realize how important it is to tie all these features into a simple and clean user experience.

This is why I’ve gone back to basics with this article, but I also want to invite you to send in your feedback about usability and the overall experience of working with Nitro Reader. How would you simplify a complex task? Do you feel that a feature or button would be more useful if it were moved to a different area?

Send in your comments, and help us shape the future of our free and feature-complete PDF reader.