Here we summarize the new features in version 6 of PDF Converter Professional in three sub-topics: creating, unlocking and editing PDF files. See also Key Features.
New features in PDF creation
Enhanced support for Microsoft Excel
Cell comments and hyperlinks in Excel can now be transferred to PDF files and bookmarks can be automatically created for each sheet when an entire workbook is converted.
Improved support for Microsoft PowerPoint
Comments and hyperlinks in PowerPoint can now be transferred to PDF files and bookmarks can be automatically created for each slide in the presentation.
Create PDF files from mail attachments
A new Nuance PDF toolbar in mailing applications (Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes) contains two PDF Create buttons allowing one or more attachments in a selected message to be converted to PDF files.
Create a PDF from a local file to become a mail attachment
As you are writing a message in a mailing application, a PDF Create button in the message window lets you browse for a file, have it converted to PDF using current settings and attached to the message.
Support for Lotus Notes introduced
The functionality described above, and also the existing feature allowing PDF files created from Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint or the Create Assistant to be sent via e-mail is extended to Lotus Notes, versions 7.0 and 8.
In the Enterprise Version
Support for Microsoft SharePoint is introduced
PDF Create 6 offers an interface that allows input files to be opened from SharePoint; created PDF files can also be saved to SharePoint.
Import PDF files to DMS systems
When working in the Document Management Systems Hummingbird Enterprise or Interwoven Worksite, a Nuance PDF control allows a file selected from the local computer to be converted to PDF and imported into the DMS system at the current location. This functionality is also available in SharePoint, if it has been configured by an administrator.
New features in unlocking PDF files
SharePoint integration
The Converter Assistant offers an interface that allows PDF and XPS files to be opened from SharePoint and output files can be saved there. It is also possible to select a PDF or XPS file inside SharePoint and call up the Converter Assistant to have it converted and saved to a location either outside or inside SharePoint.
Extended support for mailing applications
The functionality in Microsoft Outlook is modified and extended to Lotus Notes® (v 7 and 8). This lets you unlock the contents of PDF or XPS files in mail attachments, either with background processing with existing settings or using Converter Assistant for full access to settings.
Extended support for internet browsers
The existing functionality in Internet Explorer is now extended to Mozilla FireFox. The shortcut menu of a link to a PDF or XPS file offers a PDF Converter menu item.
Improvements to the OCR engine
The quality of Optical Character Recognition is boosted to the latest OmniPage 17 levels. This results in better conversions on image-only pages and when non-standard encoding is encountered.
Higher levels of encryption supported
PDF Converter 6 can open files protected by 256-bit encryption, if the correct passwords are supplied. Previously the upper limit was 128-bits.
Changed default in handling non-Standard encoding
The option to have pages with non-standard character encoding detected and sent to OCR was in version 5 by default OFF. In version 6 it is changed to ON – this yields slightly slower processing but delivers more reliable results. The Yes/No choice is saved separately for each document type (Standard Document, Legal, Spreadsheet, Form).
New PDF editing features
Support for Microsoft SharePoint
A SharePoint toolbar and Menu item let you open PDF files from SharePoint and save them back, along with document properties management. PDF Pages can be inserted or extracted. Files of any type can be opened from SharePoint to become attachments to the current PDF document. A feature new to all Document Management Systems (DMS), including SharePoint, is the ability so select any printable file from the DMS to have it converted to PDF and displayed in PDF Professional. PDF Create and Converter can acquire source files from SharePoint and save converted files to SharePoint and other DM systems.
Integration in Microsoft SharePoint
The services of PDF Converter Professional can be tapped when working in SharePoint. You can open a copy of a PDF file, edit it and return it to SharePoint alongside its source file; you can additionally save it outside the DMS. Also, a PDF file can be created from a non-PDF file inside SharePoint or on the local computer and stored in SharePoint. A PDF or XPS file inside the DMS can be converted to an editable format and saved to the local computer or returned to SharePoint. New to SharePoint, Hummingbird Enterprise and Interwoven Worksite is the ability to scan pages to a PDF file that is saved in the DMS at a specified location. Scanning is done via the scanner’s own interface. On scanners without an ADF only one page can be scanned at a time; an ADF allows multi-page scanning.
XFA form support
XFA form controls in PDF files allow organizations to securely capture, present, move, process, output and print information associated with electronic forms. XFA (XML Forms Architecture) is a set of XML specifications that enhance the processing of web forms by providing active tags, and ensuring that all instances of an XFA form template keep the specification of data capture, rendering, and manipulation rules from the original. XFA provides compatibility with other systems, and is resilient to changes in technology and standards. PDF Converter Professional lets you open PDF forms with XFA components, fill the forms and save them. This supplements the existing form functionality where Logical Form Recognition enables active controls to be placed on static scanned forms and then modified to create fillable forms.
Open PDF files from folders
Tools in the View Folder toolbar let you open the next or previous PDF file in the folder of the current document. The newly opened file replaces the current one.
Document Assembly
This allows several PDF documents to be opened and set to display many miniature sized pages at once, allowing pages to be efficiently re-ordered and moved or copied between documents by dragging and dropping their page numbers. Numbering can be changed and headers or footers inserted. Pages can also be inserted and extracted. Similar functionality already exists in the Pages panel, but there the pages appear as static thumbnails (mini-images). In document assembly the pages remain editable and are more resizable, so text and objects can be selected, copied, pasted, annotated etc. A Document Assembly toolbar appears whenever the Assembly viewing mode is selected and disappears when it is closed.
Improved security
Support is introduced for 256-bit AES encryption, both for opening protected PDF files and to be set for existing or created PDF files.
Flash items in PDF files
You can now play Flash video items embedded in PDF files. The Add Movie tool supports the Flash format. This feature requires an adequate Flash player to be installed on the computer.
Portfolios
Portfolios let you collect a set of documents relating to a particular topic for convenient distribution. PDF Professional provides this by extending the previous PDF Create support for packages. A portfolio is superior to a package because it can contain documents of differing file types (all documents in a package must be PDF files), also the documents can be arranged in a folder structure and they can be managed by a modern Flash-based user interface and creation of Flash cover pages.
Scan to PDF
The functionality described for scanning to a DMS is also offered with the same conditions for scanning to PDF with the resulting file opened in PDF Converter Professional. You can setup a scanner under General preferences in the Edit menu. If you do not, setup will be offered when the Scan to PDF tool is first used..
Compare PDF to Word documents
The previous facility to compare two PDF files is extended to Word documents. If a Word document is modified after a PDF was created from it, you can pinpoint the changes that were made. A comparison between two PDF files is presented by PDF Professional according your viewing choices. A Word-PDF comparison is done by converting the PDF to Word and opening the document comparison facility in Microsoft Word which uses its own display techniques.
Convert page areas to editable text
For the first time, it is possible to define a page area of interest with the Select Area tool use its shortcut menu to convert just its content to an editable format. This lets you, for instance, select a table and send it to Excel without the rest of the page, or select just one article from a newspaper page, and convert it to a Word document. Four targets are available; the conversion mode is automatically set – a spreadsheet conversion to Excel and a Standard Document conversion to Word, WordPerfect and PowerPoint. In the latter case this gives more control than converting a whole document because you can pre-define the content to be placed in each slide.
Mail attachment conversion and archiving now in IBM Lotus Notes
In addition to creating PDF files from non-PDF attachments, and converting PDF or XPS attachments to editable formats, PDF Professional allows selected messages to be saved to PDF, including their addressing information and attachments. It is also possible to archive mails efficiently by moving a group of desired messages to one mail folder and then archiving the whole contents to PDF with one command. Each individual mail can be saved to a separate PDF, or all selected mails can enter one PDF or a PDF package. Attachments can be embedded in archive PDF files or addressed by links.
Typewriter tools
The typewriter tool allows text to be entered at any suitable place on a PDF page. The typewriter box tool functions similarly, but the text is placed in a movable box. When the PDF is saved, the entered texts become a part of the real PDF content, unlike texts entered as annotations, e.g. with the text box tool.
Spell checking
This is now available for texts entered as annotations, in particular for Notes and Text Boxes. A shortcut menu offers spelling suggestions and flags errors. Words can be added to the built-in dictionaries. Spelling is available for Typewriter texts until the PDF file is saved.
FireFox support
The support in Internet Explorer is extended to Mozilla Firefox.
