14 DAY TRIAL // PDF files are quite popular nowadays as they offer a very nice combination of text and images and especially because one can secure these files against printing or copying; not to mention the business-like look. If you want to create a PDF file from multiple documents, then Simpo PDF Creator is one of the tools that can help you achieve this.
The application can be downloaded and used as one pleases, but it will apply a watermark on the output PDF file until it is purchased for $29.95. Also, you will be notified through a nag screen at every conversion about this watermark output.
In order to properly use this tool, you will need a system that has an Intel or AMD processor at a minimum of 1 GHz and at least 256 MB of RAM, 512 MB being recommended. Also, you will need Microsoft Office, any version that is required to create PDF files from DOC, XLS, PPT and other related file formats.
Simpo PDF Creator offers a very attractive and extremely easy to use interface that will definitely appeal to beginner users. Basically, you can access the most important features of this tool from the main window.
One of the first things you will probably do when wishing to create a PDF file is to select the files you want to use. The wide range of supported formats is another plus of this piece of software. You can use from Word, Excel, PowerPoint files to BMP, JPG, PNG image files to even other PDFs.
You can also easily decide an order for the selected files by using the designated buttons. This order is important because it decides the way your new file will be structured if you are merging all the files into a single PDF.
The Options section of the main window will enable users to choose the output folder for their new creations and to set for the application to merge all the files in one big PDF. If this option is not selected, Simpo PDF Creator will create a new PDF for every file on the list. The Status bar will give you an estimated time the conversion needs to complete.
Basically, the drill is simple: you pick the files you want to use, set if you want one big file (merge) or a new PDF for each selected file, choose the output folder and then press the Convert button.
The method used to change a document into a PDF file is by creating a virtual printer for the job. This will actually cause to convert any printable files into PDF. The usage is again very easy: you just select this option from the Print window (you can right-click on a document to access the function). The very useful thing when using this feature is that you can select only to convert a number of pages from a document without having to create a separate one. This is a big plus when you are working with large files.
Simpo PDF creator will add a new entry to your Explorer’s contextual menu that will offer you a quick access to the conversion capabilities of this tool. It’s a feature that most users will appreciate.
For the pickiest of you, the developer of the application has designed the Advanced Options window allowing you to add metadata to your PDF file for a little more customization. Thus, you can add a title, the author, a subject and even some keywords for the converted file.
Under the Security tab of the Advanced Settings window, you'll be given the possibility to protect the newly created document. The security level can be set to low (40-bit) or high, (128-bit). After setting the protecting password, you can set the actions it should prevent from taking place, unless you are authorized for them. Thus, you can select to allow printing or not, changing/copy or extraction.
Last but not least comes the Advanced tab that will help you select to create a PDF/A compatible document. This is a file format designed for the long term archiving of electronic documents. You can select to use an embed font, a flate compression and to set the page mode from normal to outlines, to thumbnails or fullscreen.
All in all, this tool promises to offer users a very easy-to-use, yet complex piece of software to create PDF files fast. The fact that you can set the metadata and security options is also a big plus.
Security level allows setting up a 40-bit or 128-bit password to lock actions such as printing, copying or text extraction.
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