Are you wasting time on PDF work?

"The materials to send to the client are separated into 3 PDFs, which is uncool... I want to combine them into one." "This 100-page report, I only need P.10 to P.15..." "I was told to submit the photo of the receipt taken with smartphone in PDF format..."

There are many opportunities to handle PDF in business scenes, but subscribing to paid software (such as Adobe Acrobat Pro) just for a little editing incurs costs. However, simply installing free software is often difficult due to the company's security policy.

Useful at such times are Web version PDF tools that can be used from the browser without installation. This time, we introduce techniques to dramatically improve business efficiency using these.

PDF ToolsMerge, split, extract, and delete PDF pages securely in your browser.

Why is PDF "Standard"? (History and PDF/A)

In the first place, why do we use PDF instead of Word or Excel? PDF (Portable Document Format) was developed by Adobe in 1993. Its greatest feature is "It can be displayed and printed in the same way in any environment".

Layouts collapse or fonts change when Word files created on Windows are opened on Mac, right? Since PDF can embed fonts and image information in the file, whether the other party is a smartphone or a tablet, the design intended by the creator can be reproduced.

"PDF/A" for Long-term Preservation

For documents that need to be preserved for 10 or 20 years such as invoices and contracts, the international standard "PDF/A" format is recommended. This is a format with enhanced preservation by restricting embedding of videos etc. so that it can be opened reliably even if specific fonts are abolished or software does not support it in the future. When archiving important documents, it is good to be conscious of conversion to PDF/A.

4 Useful Features Surprisingly Unknown

Do you think "PDF is for viewing only"? Actually, you can process it quite freely if you use tools.

1. "Merge" Multiple PDFs neatly

Combine related multiple files into one, such as meeting materials, estimates and terms, resumes and curriculum vitae. The recipient is also released from the stress of "I don't know which one to look at because there are many files". If it is a tool where you can change the order by drag and drop, the composition of the page order is also at your will.

2. "Split / Delete" Unnecessary Pages

Convenient when blank pages are mixed in scanned data, or when you want to share excluding only confidential pages. Specification such as "Extract pages 1-5 and page 10" is possible. File size also becomes lighter, so it becomes easier to attach to email.

3. Convert PDF to "Image (JPG/PNG)"

"I want to paste the content of PDF to Web site" "I want to paste to PowerPoint" "I want to share on SNS" In scenes where it is difficult to handle as PDF, converting to image is the correct answer. It is higher quality than taking a screenshot, and characters are converted clearly.

4. Convert Image to "PDF"

Conversely, it is a function to combine scattered image files into one PDF document. It is ideal for self-scanning of books, organizing receipts, making portfolios of design drafts, etc.

"OCR" Technology to Make Analog Data Searchable

Scanned PDF is just a lump of "images". Therefore, you cannot search for characters inside or copy and paste. It is OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology that solves this.

Recent high-performance PDF tools and scanners are equipped with OCR functions. AI analyzes characters in the image and overlays them as transparent text data on PDF, so you can create "PDF that allows full-text search" with the appearance as it is. When digitizing old paper documents, we strongly recommend applying OCR processing. Just with this, the time to search for materials becomes zero.

What is Most Important in Tool Selection is "Security"

Just because it is convenient, do not use tools that come up in search appropriately. Especially when handling files containing "Contracts", "Invoices", and "Personal Information", it is necessary to understand the mechanism of the tool.

Risk of "Server Processing Type"

Many free online tools are mechanisms where files uploaded by you are sent to the operator's server once, processed on the server side, and then downloaded.

Information Leakage Risk: Since data is saved on the server even temporarily, the risk of browsing by hacking or operators is not zero.
Processing Time: Since communication time for upload/download occurs, it becomes slow with large files.

Jenee is Safe because of "Local Processing Type"

PDF tools provided by Jenee use the latest Web technology (WebAssembly etc.) and perform all processing within your browser (inside PC or smartphone). Files are never sent to an external server. Even documents containing confidential information can be processed without crossing the Internet line, so security risks can be minimized to the limit.

Common PDF Troubles and Solutions

Q. I cannot edit because it is password protected

A. First, it is necessary to perform password cancellation (security cancellation). If you have legitimate authority (know the password), remove protection using a cancellation tool, and then perform merging or splitting.

Q. File size is too large to send by email

A. Many of the causes are "high-resolution images" included in PDF. It may become dramatically lighter by using PDF compression tool or converting to image once, resizing, and then converting to PDF again.

Q. Characters are garbled or layout collapses

A. When trying to convert PDF to Word or Excel, it often collapses due to difference in fonts etc. If you want to edit while keeping the layout, there are many cases where you handle it as an image or require high-performance paid software. Operations such as merging, splitting, and rotation can be processed without collapsing even with free tools.

Summary: Let's make the browser "Ally of Office Work"

Even without dedicated software, PDF processing can be done freely so far if there is a browser.

Combine proposals into one (Merge)
Extract only necessary pages (Split)
Convert to image for presentation (Convert)

If these tasks are finished in "seconds", you should be able to concentrate on the original work (brush up of contents etc.) with the floating time. Please bookmark Jenee's tools and try using them from tomorrow's work.