The portable document format, or PDF, is known for being compact, lightweight, and versatile. These defining properties make it the ideal format for exchanging and presenting documents. Perhaps its biggest downside is that it’s harder to edit than most file formats. That’s why a PDF editor is a must-have for anyone who handles PDF files. (2)
A PDF editor is essentially a program that allows you to edit PDF files seamlessly. If you’re on the lookout for this type of software, Foxit PDF Editor would be an excellent choice.
A brief overview of Foxit PDF Editor
Foxit PDF Editor is one of the products offered by Foxit, a company that develops PDF software. This software boasts of numerous editing features, allowing you to make changes to PDF files with relative ease.
Although most of its functionalities can be found in other PDF editors, there are a handful of features that Foxit PDF Editor alone offers. It’s no exaggeration to say they’re the reason Foxit DF Editor stands out from similar programs. With that in mind, here’s a review of PDF editor Foxit with a focus on the features that set it apart from its competitors. (1)
5 features of Foxit PDF Editor
- Convert tab
In most PDF editors, to convert a file from PDF to Word or other formats, you must export it via the File tab. This usually takes a couple of steps to accomplish. Interestingly, Foxit PDF Editor has a section dedicated to converting the document to other formats—the Convert tab.
Under this tab, you can choose to convert the document to the following formats:
- MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, XPS)
- Image (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP)
- HTML
- Rich Text
- Plain Text
- Accessible Text
- XML
Compared with the traditional method of converting a document, using these features is much more convenient. It involves fewer steps, and you can change the file and conversion settings.
- Export All Images
As the name implies, this feature allows you to export all images on the document you’re viewing or editing. To be more precise, the software scans the document for objects with bitmap or raster data. Upon detecting the objects, it exports them into images. You can also choose the format by selecting an option on the Save As type field. The available options include:
- JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jif)
- TIFF (.tif., .tiff)
- PNG (.png)
- BMP (.bmp, .dib, .rle)
- JPEG2000 (.jpf, .jpx, .jp2, .j2k, .jpc)
This feature will be useful if you wish to export all images from a large presentation document.
- Link & Join Text
Under the Edit tab, you’ll find the Link & Join Text feature. Basically, it allows you to combine or join multiple text boxes. It’s quite a handy feature if you want to change the formatting of multiple blocks of text at once. Surprisingly enough, not many PDF editors have such a simple feature, so it’s one of the features that set Foxit PDF Editor apart from its competitors.
- Audio & Video and Add 3D
Inserting images and text into the document is one of the most basic features of a PDF editor.
Foxit PDF Editor takes a step further by allowing you to insert audio and video into the file using the Audio & Video feature. Again, this would be a useful feature for when you want to add additional visual aid to your presentation documents.
The software also has the Add 3D feature, which, as you might imagine, allows you to insert 3D files, further enhancing the visual aspect of the document.
- Accessibility tab
An accessible PDF is a document that can be accessed and read by people with disabilities without much issue. Although there are several ways to make a PDF “accessible,” most PDF editors don’t have features that allow you to do so. Fortunately, Foxit PDF Editor isn’t one of them. This is because the software has a dedicated section for improving accessibility—the Accessibility tab.
The Accessibility tab is all about providing people with disabilities with a way to digest the contents of the PDF document. Here’s a look at the useful features under this section:
- Full Check allows you to check whether the document is accessible to people with disabilities. For instance, it can check whether the document has appropriate color contrasts to ensure everyone can read the texts easily, even those with vision problems.
- Setup Assistant guides document owners through five steps that aim to improve the accessibility of the document. Using this feature, you can choose to change things about the document like the color contrast, text smoothing, and other configurations.
- Reading Order allows you to specify the order in which the screen reader reads the text in the document.
- Set Alternate Text displays all the existing alt texts on the document and allows you to change them accordingly. For your reference, an alternate text is a phrase or word that describes the content of a non-text element, like an image or video. The screen reader reads alt texts so that people with vision problems can surmise what graphics look like without actually seeing them.
How do you get Foxit PDF Editor?
If you wish to learn more about the Foxit PDF Editor software itself, you can start by watching this video and reading its description through this link:
The link to download the software should also be in the video description. Keep in mind that the Foxit PDF Editor software comes in two versions: regular and pro.
Some of the features mentioned earlier are exclusive to Foxit PDF Editor Pro. You can either try out the program with the free trial or buy it right away. The brand offers three payment plans: 1) one-time fee, 2) monthly fee, and 3) yearly fee. You can choose whatever floats your boat. The installation should be relatively easy as it guides you throughout the process. (1)
Wrapping Up
For most people, being able to add, delete, and edit images and text is more than enough for their purposes. However, every so often, you’ll encounter software that offers more than these basic features. Foxit PDF editor is one such software. These features may not necessarily be the most useful to some people, but they can become powerful tools under the right circumstances.
References:
- “Easily Create and Modify PDF Files with Foxit’s PDF Editor Software”, Source: https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/
- “What Is A PDF File?”, Source: https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/basic-computer-skills/what-is-a-pdf-file/1/