January Tech Tip: iLovePDF Has Every Tool You Need to Work with PDFs
As the Division’s Technology Chair, in addition to helping maintain the Paralegal Division webpage, I try to share technology tips and applications (usually free) that can make your work lives a little easier. If you find today’s “Tech Tip” useful, let us know. If you have a technology concern at work and you want to see if there’s a software or process that can make things easier, email [email protected] and we’ll try to address it in a future blog post.
Today, we are focusing on Portable Document Format (PDFs). I’ve tried many Adobe products over the years. I am always looking for something to make it easier for me to manage PDF files, especially during discovery. PDFs can be hard to merge, hard to split, hard to unlock if they are password protected, etc. I have a strong aversion to completing in minutes what I can complete in seconds.
Additionally, if you work at a smaller firm or have a modest office budget, you may not have the software you need to do all the things you wish you could do with PDFs. Even if you have Adobe Pro or some other PDF product, you may find this easier.
If you are frustrated with your PDF program, congratulations. Today your PDF problems are solved. You can see for yourself if it works for you. Remember, always check with your attorney(s) before using new software applications at the office.
Here’s a list of the things you can do with this free application: https://www.ilovepdf.com/
Merge PDF – Combine PDFs in the order you want with the easiest PDF merger available.
Split PDF – Separate one page or a whole set for easy conversion into independent PDF files.
Compress PDF – Reduce file size while optimizing for maximal PDF quality.
PDF to WORD – Easily convert your PDF files into easy to edit DOC and DOCX documents. The converted WORD document is almost 100% accurate.
PDF to POWERPOINT – Turn your PDF files into easy to edit PPT and PPTX slideshows.
PDF to EXCEL – Pull data straight from PDFs into EXCEL spreadsheets in a few short seconds.
WORD to PDF – Make DOC and DOCX files easy to read by converting them to PDF.
POWERPOINT to PDF – Make PPT and PPTX slideshows easy to view by converting them to PDF.
EXCEL to PDF – Make EXCEL spreadsheets easy to read by converting them to PDF.
PDF to JPG – Convert each PDF page into a JPG or extract all images contained in a PDF.
JPG to PDF – Convert JPG images to PDF in seconds. Easily adjust orientation and margins.
Page numbers (yes, bate stamp too!) – Add page numbers into PDFs with ease. Choose your positions, dimensions, typography.
Watermark – Stamp an image or text over your PDF in seconds. Choose the typography, transparency and position.
Unlock PDF – Remove PDF password security, giving you the freedom to use your PDFs as you want.
Rotate PDF – Rotate your PDFs the way you need them. You can even rotate multiple PDFs at once!
I hope you enjoy this month’s Tech Tip!
Alicia Mitchell-Mercer, ACP, RP, NCCP, SCCP is a senior paralegal and legal project manager at a litigation firm and a legal business analyst at a consulting firm in Charlotte, NC. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Paralegal Studies, a Master’s Degree in Project Management, and is certified through NALA, NFPA, the NC State Bar, and the SC Bar. Alicia is the Technology Chair and Communications Co-chair of the North Carolina Bar Association, Paralegal Division; and also volunteers as a court-appointed child advocate with the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem program.