PDF Splice

Text documents come in all kinds of shapes and formats, since all are in a continuous struggle to provide extensive support, flexibility and management. A popular and secure type is PDF that requires different specialized tools for editing. One such utility is PDF Splice and gives you the possibility to perform various operations on one or more files.

A major advantage is that you don't have to go through a setup process because the application is portable. What's more, little to no visible pressure is put on system resources, which makes it suitable to carry around on a USB Flash drive to manage PDF files on the go. The one thing you need to keep an eye out for is whether or not the target PC is equipped with Java Runtime Environment.

Upon launch, a compact and simple interface is brought on your desktop, with all functions in plain sight. The upper part lets you pick and arrange multiple PDF files, but you need to use the built-in open dialog to load files, because drag and drop is not supported. Depending on your intentions, you might also want to arrange them in the order you need them to be.

The lower half of the main window is populated with a drop-down menu that holds all operations you can perform. Truth be told, the number is pretty impressive, with entries like join, split, sign, crop, divide, multiply, attach, and extract at your disposal. However, editing is rather difficult, with most effort requiring numerical value input, with no preview area for more accuracy and comfort.

Last but not least, you need to pick a destination for the new file before pressing the “Do it!” button. Frustration builds up once more, because it's not enough to select a folder, but you also need to write down the file name plus its extension to be properly exported.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that PDF Splice can be a simple and practical application for an impressive array of PDF operations, but only with a little more work. It comes in a light package, using little resources and portability is a major plus. However, the odd implementation of features makes it come in handy only for simple tasks where visuals are not a major concern.