PDF Architect

PDF is popular format among those who need to distribute their files over the Internet as these documents can store not only text and images, but also tables, annotations or forms. However, unless you are running Window 8 or 8.1, a dedicated application is required to preview their contents, such as PDF Architect.

You need to pay attention during installation, as the software utility offers you the possibility to integrate it within Windows Explorer’s shell, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Firefox - you can disable some or all of them if you do not want them. However, please note that you cannot activate the integration once the app is installed, so you need to be sure you will not need it later on.

The interface of PDF Architect is intuitive and user-friendly, and you can simply select the PDF files you want to read - since the app supports tabs, you can open several documents and switch between them with ease (using the mouse or the common Ctrl+Tab keyboard combination).

Once you accessed a PDF files, you can highlight its form fields, zoom in or out, explore its bookmarks or jump to a specific page. PDF Architect also allows you to change the preview mode (from single to continuous, facing or facing continuous) or rotate the pages.

If you want to use PDF Architect to create your own PDFs, you need to activate this function via email, for free. Due to this feature, you can generate PDF out of images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP or TIFF), texts or comicbook files (CBR or CBZ), or you can combine several types of files to obtain a single large PDF. Another option of creating PDFs is from your clipboard’s contents or directly from the scanner.

PDF Architect can come in handy when you want to read or create PDFs, but if you want to be able to convert, edit or secure them, you will need to purchase a license for each module.