Scansoft PDF Converter

Create and edit pdf files in a jiffy.

PDF Converter Professional 2 from Scansoft addresses the two most common tasks faced by those working with Adobe's portable document format (pdf) files - creating pdfs from scratch and extracting content from existing files.

Installation provides two quite separate applications and activation is required before either becomes functional. The first, PDF Create 2, allows you to output pdf files in any print-capable Windows application. Or you can drag and drop files into PDF Create 2's own application window. The latter allows more than one file to be processed at a time and multiple document types can be merged into a single pdf.

PDF Converter 2 is essentially a plug-in for Microsoft Word and has been blessed with a number of new features since we looked at its predecessor in January. Notable among these are an easier to use front end and improved form handling.

The obvious test for such a package is to convert a Word document into a pdf and back again. We did just this with a reasonably complex form and the resultant pdf was perfect. The conversion back to Word format was almost as impressive with just a few minor bullet point and box anomalies that were easy to correct.

In other tests it fared well, with multi-column and picture-heavy documents. For general office document and form use, both elements of the package impressed us greatly with their ease of use and accuracy.

Contact: Scansoft 0870 870 8085
www.scansoft.co.uk

System requirements:

• Windows 98 SE or greater
• Pentium-class processor
• 64MB of Ram
• 80MB hard disk space
• Microsoft Word 97 or greater