Adobe Reader is the regular program for looking at PDF files. In fact, the PDF file format was created by Adobe. The problem with Adobe Reader is that its a large program for what it performs. It also has a high memory use, along with very sluggish start up, there’s also unnecessary and complicated features.

Luckily, alternatives exist.

Foxit PDF Reader, also a free reader, is the most long-familiar contender to Adobe Reader. Now here we have another better and lighter reader, Sumatra PDF. Another attraction is that it’s open source.

Sumatra PDF is a stripped-down application, with very few buttons, only: open, back, forward, zoom in, and zoom out. You can also choose to alter the view (zoom, page layout etc.) in the toolbar. Viewing the same document as the other two, Sumatra consumes just 7MB of memory, and opens nearly instantly.

The Sumatra PDF installation file weighs in at under 1MB, in comparison to Foxit’s under 2 MB, and Adobe Reader’s oversized 20MB.

The program takes up less than 1mb of space after its installation (only one .exe and an uninstaller). Also, registry entries are not needed, so it has portability too. Worth trying out if you are sick of waiting on Adobe Reader to finally open and like small, lightweight yet useful software.

Check it out here

Many full filing cabinets and full wastepaper baskets later, and it looks like an entirely “paperless” office is not as easy as it seems.

I’m sure you’ve probably had the experience of printing things out and ending up having to throw unnecessary pages in the trash immediately. Usually this is due to your mindless printer insisting on printing ever page you don’t need along with the single one you do need, these are usually the ones filled with legal smallprint, etc.

GreenPrint World is an interesting (and free) program that can help you reduce some of the wasted paper in your business or home. It views what you’re printing out and tries to work out if there’s a way to print less.

It’ll show you what’s about to be printed, with the choice of not printing those useless pages, saving you from wasting paper and trees! Get rid of images if all you really need is the text, or vice versa.

A cool feature is how it keeps track of how much paper and ink you’ve saved! Alternatively, it gives you the choice to simply PDF the output, and save all the paper that would have been needed!

You can download this freeware for both pc and mac by visiting the Greenprint website.

Although they may not be the best thing in the entire universe, PDF files are surely allowed to be included in amongst some of the most practical things ever in the computer universe. They are a neat cross-platform file type for letting you have all-in-one text and image files.

As you’re probably aware of by now if you’ve spent any time at a computer, this comes in very useful for many different document types such as ebooks, instruction manuals, etc. Alas, producing those files can be somewhat bothersome, particularly in terms of how costly it can work out.

The full version of Adobe’s PDF creation software will cost you a pretty penny, and in reality you might not require all the features and functions that you’re purchasing with such a pricey package. So how about if you were capable of creating PDFs for a much more attractive price—nothing!

PDFCreator is a freeware program that permits you to produce PDF files on your own pc. It installs as a “virtual printer”, if your able to print a file, you will be able to make a PDF document. One feature is that you’re able to encrypt your files and then when you share them, they can be read, for instance, but no one will be able to copy the content from them or print them. The ability to mix multiple PDFs into one file lets it become simpler to keep track of your info. Additionally, PDFCreator is also able to convert your document files into a few other image formats.

Basically, this is handy and free program for creating PDF files, without all the unncessasary bells and whistles of the costly Adobe alternative. Check out the PDFCreator Homepage.

PDF files have really become the lifeblood of a lot of people. Whether you’re in online business and interested in making some money from viral e-books or alternatively whether you happen to just be a person looking to move some of your word files into formats that are harder to tamper with, PDF files are going to be what you turn to. Adobe perhaps did not know just how powerful and all-encompassing their concept was when they initially came up with it, but nevertheless it has and many different files have been created in PDF format to the betterment of the creator.

One thing that has really held back the PDF market in a lot of areas however is the lack of a really good free PDF converter. There is of course the very expensive Adobe software and then a lot of really ineffective trials or freeware, but the doPDF 5.2.230 software is quite different. It installs itself as a virtual printer, meaning that you can actually access it by looking at your list of printers in Windows. Furthermore, in order to convert your documents to PDF all you have to do is print to that printer and it will handle the rest. It can convert MS Word documents to PDF documents quite easily.

The best thing is that it’s free! More info can be found at http://www.dopdf.com/