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Developer

Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

By Brien Posey January 16, 2014, 2:02 PM PST

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1
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Document to PDF
Document to PDF
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Converting paper documents to PDF

Converting paper documents to PDF

This gallery is also available as a TechRepublic article.

If you have a lot of paper documents laying around, itrnmay be helpful to be able to scan those documents and save them as PDF files.rnPDF files take up less space than paper documents, and they can make it easy tornsearch for specific information. Here are five utilities forrnconverting paper documents to PDF.

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Figure A
Figure A
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

1. Soda PDF 6

1. Soda PDF 6

Soda PDF 6 is a full-blown PDF editor that also includes scanning capabilities. The utility is divided into a series of modules, each of which deliver different functionality. The installer allows you to pick and choose the modules that you want to install. It costs $39.00 (USD), but a free trial version is available for download.

Figure B
Figure B
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Soda PDF 6 View tab

Soda PDF 6 View tab

Soda PDF allows you to scan and perform optical character recognition on paper documents, but it also offers the ability to edit existing PDFs.

4SodaPDF3.11614.jpg
4SodaPDF3.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Soda PDF 6 Create tab

Soda PDF 6 Create tab

With Soda PDF 6, you can batch import files.

5SodaPDF4.11614.jpg
5SodaPDF4.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Soda PDF 6 Edit tab

Soda PDF 6 Edit tab

Soda PDF 6 is able to save PDF files to alternate formats, such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, HTML files, TXT files, or even images.

6SodaPDF5.11614.jpg
6SodaPDF5.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Soda PDF 6 OCR

Soda PDF 6 OCR

Soda PDF 6 even offers a OCR Module.

Figure C
Figure C
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

2. Softi Scan to PDF

2. Softi Scan to PDF

Softi Scan to PDF is a simple utility for scanning paper documents and converting them to PDFrnfiles. rnThe utility offers a cleanrnand simple interface that allows for control over color and resolution, butrnit lacks any of the features of a full-blown PDF editor. Softi Scan to PDF costs $29.95 (USD), but a free trial is available for download.

8SoftiScan2.11614.jpg
8SoftiScan2.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Softi Scan to PDF brightness settings

Softi Scan to PDF brightness settings

You can easily change the brightness settings with Softi Scan to PDF.

9SoftiScan3.11614.jpg
9SoftiScan3.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Softi Scan to PDF DPI settings

Softi Scan to PDF DPI settings

With Softi Scan to PDF, you can easily change the DPI settings.

Figure D
Figure D
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Softi Scan to PDF color settings

Softi Scan to PDF color settings

Here you see the color settings for Softi Scan to PDF.

11SoftiScan5.11614.jpg
11SoftiScan5.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Softi Scan to PDF Settings

Softi Scan to PDF Settings

Scan to PDF Settings for Softi Scan to PDF.

Figure E
Figure E
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

3. Advanced Scan to PDF Free

3. Advanced Scan to PDF Free

Advanced Scan to PDF Free is a free tool for converting paper documents to PDF format. When installing Advanced Scan to PDF Free, be sure tornperform the custom installation. Otherwise, the software will install arntoolbar, change your browser home page, and change your search provider, inrnaddition to installing other software.

13AdvancedScan2.11614.jpg
13AdvancedScan2.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Advanced Scan to PDF Free scan feature

Advanced Scan to PDF Free scan feature

Here you can see the Scan to PDF/JPG to PDF tab.

14AdvancedScan3.11614.jpg
14AdvancedScan3.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Compression

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Compression

One of the software’s mainrnfeatures is its ability to specify compression type.

15AdvancedScan4.11614.jpg
15AdvancedScan4.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Paper Size

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Paper Size

Another mainrnfeature is its ability to specify paper size. There are also a number ofrnfeatures that can be used to adjust the image size and positioning.

Figure F
Figure F
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Tools

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Tools

The software even has thernability to add password protection and a digital signature to documents thatrnyou create.

17AdvancedScan6.11614.jpg
17AdvancedScan6.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Help

Advanced Scan to PDF Free Help

The Help tab in Advanced Scan to PDF Free.

Figure G
Figure G
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

4. Readiris Pro

4. Readiris Pro

Readiris Pro is a utility that is designed to scan paper documents and convert them to PDFs,rnMicrosoft Office documents, or even e-mail messages. It costs $129.00 (USD), but a free trial is available for download.

19Readiris2.11614.jpg
19Readiris2.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Readiris Pro image file formats

Readiris Pro image file formats

The software can alsorncreate documents from a variety of image file formats.

20Readiris3.11614.jpg
20Readiris3.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Readiris Pro Zones

Readiris Pro Zones

The Zones tab in Readiris Pro.

21readiris4.11614.jpg
21readiris4.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Readiris Pro Page tab

Readiris Pro Page tab

The software offers arnvariety of document controls, such as the ability to rotate and adjust pages, plus the ability to delete blank pages.

Figure H
Figure H
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Readiris Pro Cloud Setup

Readiris Pro Cloud Setup

In addition, Readiris has a cloud setup function throughrnwhich the software can be linked to cloud providers such as SkyDrive orrnDropbox.

23Readiris6.11614.jpg
23Readiris6.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

Readiris Pro View tab

Readiris Pro View tab

Here you can see the Readiris Pro options under the View tab.

Figure I
Figure I
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

5. SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR

5. SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR is a utility for scanning documents and converting them to PDF format. It costs $295.00 (USD), but a free trial is available for download.

25Solarsys2.11614.jpg
25Solarsys2.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR File

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR File

In addition to the basic image conversionrnprocess, SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR also performs optical character recognitionrnin order to make the documents searchable.

26Solarsys3.11614.jpg
26Solarsys3.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR Edit

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR Edit

The Edit options in SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR.

27Solarsys4.11614.jpg
27Solarsys4.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR View

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR View

The View options in SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR.

28solarsys5.11614.jpg
28solarsys5.11614.jpg
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR Options

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR Options

The program offers a number of Options that give you control of everything from document formatting to mouse functionality. 

Figure K
Figure K
Five Apps: Utilities for converting paper documents to PDF

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR Language

SolarSys DocScan Pro OCR Language

Thernsoftware even supports the installation of additional languages.

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Image of Brien Posey
By Brien Posey
* 1988 - Started teaching myself about computers \ * 1992 - Mainframe programmer for an insurance company \ * 1993 - Network Administrator for a different insurance company \ * 1996 - Author for The Cobb Group \ * 1998 - Network Administrator
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