You might appreciate deskUNPDF
Professional V2.0 software.
The program lets users convert
PDFs to Word for editing, HTML
for Web presentation, Excel for
recalculations, and — interestingly
— to formats based on the
OpenDocument Format (ODF)
standard, an ISO technical specification
that includes “open” alternatives
to the familiar DOC, XLS,
and PPT file extensions. These
alternatives include ODT for text
documents, ODS for spreadsheets,
and ODP for presentations. Here,
“open” means the standard can be
used in developing any kind of
software application — whether
free, open source, or commercial.
According to the developer,
deskUNPDF is the only commercially
available PDF-to-ODT
converter. So it is potentially of
interest to those working in applications
that provide ODT as
a default file extension, such as
OpenOffice and IBM Lotus Symphony
(both are free to download,
use, and distribute) as well
as Google Docs, which provides
a free way to save, share, and edit
documents online. ODF is said to
be increasingly used worldwide
by businesses and governments as
their default document format.
There has been a lot of buzz
lately on interoperability, and
“openness” can be considered an
important component of it. So, I
decided to test deskUNPDF’s ODT
conversions. The tests would involve
creating PDF files from a
highly graphic, heavily formatted
Web page, and a simple Word document,
converting them to ODT
files, and then uploading them to
Google Docs.
I downloaded a free trial of the
converter at http://www.docudesk.com/deskUNPDF_product_home.shtml. Next came downloading
IBM Lotus Symphony. This was
necessary to view or edit converted files because users must
have native applications installed
on their local machine. For example,
to turn a PDF into an OTD
requires installing Symphony, or
a similar program that provides
OTD as a default file extension.
I already have Adobe Acrobat 8
Professional, so it was not necessary
to download a program to
generate PDFs.
Next, I generated a PDF of the
Machine Design Web site. I started deskUNPDF, checked the
Open Office box, and then opened
the PDF in the converter. After saving
the file as an ODT, the converter’s
results were almost identical to
the PDF. But in uploading everything
to Google Docs, I lost all the
document’s formatting, which suggests
limited support for ODT in
Google Docs. In contrast, converting
a PDF of the Word document
and uploading the OTD hardly
changed the document at all.
Overall — leaving the online
application aside — the converter
works quite well. Usually, all that
is needed is to select the output
format, open the PDF document, and click the Convert button.
However, advanced options are
available. A Preview function lets
users see how converted documents
will look, highlighting the
text, font size, and format of each
page to be converted. In addition,
a new batch function is said to let organizations quickly convert
PDF archives to ODF.
The software comes f rom
Docudesk Corp., 7160 N. Dallas
Pkwy., Suite 530, Plano, TX 75024,
docudesk.com
—Leslie Gordon