Most PDF frustration comes from a handful of repeated tasks. Learn these seven and the format stops getting in your way.
1. Merge
One application, one file. Combine the form, the ID and the proof of address before you send them, instead of making the reader open three attachments.
2. Split
The opposite move, and just as useful. Send only the two pages that matter rather than the whole 90-page report.
3. Compress
Upload portals still cap attachments at 2, 5 or 10 MB. Compressing a scan usually clears the limit in one pass.
4. Rotate
Sideways pages read fine on a laptop, where you can turn the view, and terribly on a printout. Fix it at the source.
5. Image to PDF
Photos of receipts scattered through a camera roll are hard to submit. One PDF, in date order, is easy.
6. eSign
Printing a contract to sign it, then scanning it back, degrades the document and wastes fifteen minutes. Place the signature directly on the page instead.
7. Lock
Payslips, medical letters and contracts pass through inboxes that are not always private. A password costs you a few seconds.
All seven run in this browser tab, on your device, with no account and no upload.
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