Additional file formats supported by the application are TXT, JPG image, HTML. PDFMate PDF Converter Free can convert Adobe’s PDF to EPUB, an open ebook standard that can optimize text according to the particularities of a display device. The freebie also includes OCR, but there is a three-page processing limitation.Īlthough the freebie is limited in features, the developer also includes upgrade alerts after a task completes, in order to promote sales of the Pro build of the software. The difference in features between the paid and the free product is quite steep, as the former dwarfs the latter with functions such as PDF splitting, convert selectively and even create editable documents from scanned PDF, based on optical character recognition (OCR) technology. In our case, the checkbox for agreeing to install the third-party application was already selected and I had to uncheck it in order to proceed with installing only the PDFMate product. Installing the free version of the product was not uneventful because it hauls additional software on the system. One incentive to make a purchase is the lifetime license that entitles you to free updates and the free technical support. The main advantage of this format is that it displays text the same way regardless of the software, hardware or operating system used.Īmong the numerous utilities designed to aid with turning PDF to a different document format is PDFMate PDF Converter, a freebie that also has a paid counterpart ($39.95 / 33 EUR) with a longer list of features and extended functionality. If you'd rather avoid this, pay close attention during the installation process: we had to click "Custom installation" and clear the relevant checkboxes to miss it.Although there are numerous document formats to suit one need or another, sometimes converting between them is absolutely necessary and the only type that poses more trouble is Adobe’s PDF. Please note, the program will attempt to install a browser toolbar during setup. So if you need a PDF conversion tool, just give it a try, see how it works for you. PDFMate Free Converter remains a likeable program overall, though, particularly useful if you'll use the HTML export, and of course the results you'll see elsewhere may vary according to your source material. And conversions to EPUB seemed particularly unreliable, with multiple viewers indicating all kinds of problems with the finished files. One or two PDF files couldn't be converted at all (this was rare, but it did happen). Elements of the original PDF document would sometimes appear in the wrong place in the destination HTML page, for instance. We also had success with the PDF export, as the program quickly took each four consecutive pages from our source file, and shrunk them down so they fit on a single page in the destination.īut there are also some problems. Converting multipage documents to HTML, for instance, usually produced good results, with a web page which looked not unlike a regular PDF viewer (Next and Back buttons, a page zoom control, direct links to each page, and more). Instead you must open the destination folder in Explorer, and launch one of the output files from there.ĭoes it work, though? In our experience, the answer is: sometimes. You can't just, say, double-click a source file to view it or the converted version, either. You can make this go away with a click, but if you're using the program all the time then it'll soon become annoying. One irritation you'll quickly discover is that a nag screen will prompt you to upgrade to the paid version of PDFMate. You'll click an Add button, choose your source files, select your output format (and perhaps output folder), before clicking Convert and waiting for the results. The program's basic interface is clean and straightforward. And as a handy extra it can also crunch down an existing file by shrinking its pages, so for instance it can take four pages from the source document, and reduce them to a single page in the destination. PDFMate Free Converter is a simple tool for converting PDF files to EPUB, plain text, HTML, images or SWF format.
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