The DeftPDF PDF Blog

When grayscale comes to mind, it has become a standard to automatically think that its black and white. This is correct in some terms but not entirely true when it comes to printing or photo editing. Indeed, grayscale is the product of a black and white image, the absence of color on a photo or document. To convert a file in grayscale means to remove the colors and leave black as its main source of ink. The importance of grayscale is gravely high for those looking into saving ink and money. But is grayscale really different from black and white?

The difference between black and white printing V.S. grayscale printing

Quite confused why you need to print your files into grayscale instead of black and white? If you’re not familiar yet with how and why these two are different. Here’s a quick comparison on what these two really are and what are the pros and cons of having these color settings on your PDF files.

In a gist, black and white, also known as monochrome, only has two colors – black ink and white, which basically means no ink at all. When you print a photo or text in this setting, the characters are printed out as black and the unprinted background remains white. This setting often produces and release more black colors, forcing a darker character, and darker silhouettes. While the printing is crisp on text, photos aren’t always produced the same as compared to its colored version due to the fact that shades are completely forgotten in black and white. Though photos are not its strongest suit, printing texts in black and white are often recommended to create a document that is easier to read.

On the other hand, Grayscale contains shades of grey – a lighter and mix of black and white or perhaps in printer language, it uses less black ink than the previous setting. When you zoom in to laser or inkjet printers, print patterns in microscopic dots are created to produce shades. Since grayscale creates different shades and variation of gray tones, photos are often produced similar to it's actual and closely accurate to the photograph, therefore, becomes the second choice to reproducing images.

What is a grayscale tool in DeftPDF and why convert to grayscale?

In the grayscale tool available in the online free pdf converter, DeftPDF, PDF text and images are converted to grayscale, exported for black and white or offset printing. Grayscale is the process of changing the colors and shades of your photo and reproducing it into gray images. If your PDF document contains colored images and you want to change them into grayscale, the grayscale tool of DeftPDF is perfect for converting these files. This tool is useful to those who don’t have the original copy of the file and has no way to change the image and edit it.

We can think of a lot of reasons why you should use a PDF tool to convert your PDF file into grayscale but the most important reason of all is to save ink! Though most of you would be perplexed in why you should convert since you already have this in printer settings, there are a few that may find this much more convenient as it allows you to see what you should expect before printing.

Other than ink saving, grayscale also reduces the PDF document’s file size, especially if your document has a lot of images in it.

How you can convert your colored PDF file into grayscale?

There are only a few steps to convert PDF to grayscale and it’s easy to achieve with our tools on your hands. Follow the steps below using online free PDF converter, DeftPDF and surely, you will be able to get your new grayscale file in less than 5 minutes!

Step one: Upload your PDF file in DeftPDF’s grayscale tool

Step two: Click “Convert PDF to grayscale”

Step three: Download your file to save it on your computer. You may also save it on your online storage such as Dropbox or Google Drive.

Other tips to save on ink

In addition to grayscale printing, you can also save on ink by doing the following tips:

1. You can print your file in the “Save ink” option, which is now available in most printer properties. It won’t provide you an optimal result but it’s a recommended option for those printing for reading or casual purposes.
2. Print in draft mode, also known as fast printing or economical mode. This not only saves you ink but also allows a faster printing process.
3. Print only the pages you need and delete PDF pages that aren’t needed. You may also extract PDF pages that are necessary for printing before distributing. Use DeftPDF’s tools for easier and faster editing!
4. Use your print preview before you actually print as it gives you a gist of what you should expect. If the turnout isn’t what you need, you can at least edit it out first before printing.
5. Reduce or lessen the images in your PDF file. Although it may not be applicable for everyone, this is a general rule for ink saving.
6. Maintain a clean printer! The more dust and dirt you have, the more blots and mistakes it produces! Avoid reprinting by keeping a clean printer and cartridge.

Splitting a PDF file may be a little tricky because we all have different requirements on how we should do it. There are different ways to split. You can split PDF by pages, split PDF by bookmarks, split PDF pages in half, split by size and split by text. Most commonly, people split PDF by pages because documents are often scanned in bulk or sometimes, they scan books or save one presentation for all departments. To be able to split a PDF page, there are three ways you can do it for free and that’s what we’re about to show you in this article!

Tools for Splitting PDF by Pages

There are three simple tools you can use for splitting PDF – your browser, online pdf splitter DeftPDF and your Microsoft Word. The first two tools can split any sorts of PDF including scanned PDF files. The last tool, however, can only be used for PDF documents that were previously a .DOC, .XLSX, or .PPT files. Though all ways will be shown, please take in consideration that not all will be able to split according to all kinds of splitting requirements. The method to be shown here is splitting only by pages. If you want to split your PDF by size, text, bookmarks, or in half, you can always use DeftPDF for free to do all these.

Splitting PDF with your Browser

Your browser can be your free tool for reading your PDF documents and it can also be your printing tool. In our previous blog posts, we’ve shown you how to use your browser to extract and this will actually be similar to splitting your PDF pages. So how do you do it?

Step one: Open your PDF file using your browser

Step two: Click the “options” or settings menu on your browser and click “Print”

Step three:  Set your destination to “Save as PDF" instead of placing your printer.

Step four: Modify the “Pages” to “Custom” and input the pages you wish to split then save your new PDF files.

For example, you have 8 pages on your PDF file.  You need to split it in pages 1-4 and 5-8. Simply input 1-4 on the custom pages and save your file, then on the next procedure, input pages 5-8 then save again. This will give you two sets of PDFs with the pages you need to be together.

Splitting PDF with DeftPDF

Online PDF splitter tool with DeftPDF is free and easy to use and there are only three steps in this procedure!

Step one: Go to www.deftpdf.com and select the Split tool you need. You can choose from a variety of splitting tool as DeftPDF has it all! You can split PDF by pages, split PDF by bookmarks, split PDF pages in half, split by size and split by text. In this example, we will split by pages.

Step two: Upload your file and choose which option you prefer to do. You can modify your requirements and rename the new PDF document by clicking “More option” then encoding the new name on the text box.

Step three: Click “Split PDF” then “Download” to save your work on your computer. You can also save it in your online storage such as Dropbox or Google Drive.

It’s as easy as that! In a few minutes, you will be able to create your new documents with the right pages. Since its online, it won’t change your original document so if you made a mistake or if you want to split it again differently, you can do so just by repeating the steps! You can also use the other tools available for free, such as crop PDF, edit PDF, convert PDF, translate PDF, PDF split and merge and so much more. 

Split PDF pages with Microsoft Word

As mentioned above, splitting PDF in this application has limits and it cannot use this method if it’s a scanned document. Using this application would be best used for those PDF documents that were previously Word documents or PowerPoint documents. This is usually the case when your original document file was already deleted and all you have left is the file saved in PDF format. This method is also manually done so if you’re not patient and you want something that involves only a few clicks of your time, maybe you ought to try other methods instead. You can try to split PDF online with free tools of DeftPDF or purchase other software available. So here is how you do it with Microsoft:

Step one: Open your PDF file using Microsoft Word

Step two: A notification will appear stating that your PDF file will be converted. Confirm this to open the file in this application. Your document will become an editable file once it’s opened.

Step three: Select the pages you want to group together and copy them to another word application.

Step four: Save your new document and rename them accordingly. Your new files can be saved as PDF by changing the file type once you save. 

How about Adobe Acrobat?

Yes, most people will probably ask why not use Adobe Acrobat to do the splitting? If you have already purchased Adobe then you can use this as a better option than your browser or your word application. It works as good as DeftPDF’s splitting tool and it can also be done in just a few clicks. You can find the splitting tool in Adobe Acrobat’s “Organize” tool. But don’t expect to be able to use this when you only have the free version. This can only be accessed for those subscribed.

If you haven’t purchased anything yet, why bother? You have your free PDF splitter here at DeftPDF.

There are more than two ways to create a fillable form. You can create it from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, using online designer tools and readymade forms like Google forms or JotForm, or creating fillable PDF using PDF editor online such as DeftPDF. Here, we will show you 3 different ways on how you can do this easily without paying anything! Let’s start with the offline way – using Microsoft applications.

Creating fillable Microsoft Word forms

Not everybody knows this but you can do so much more with Microsoft Word other than typing and encoding. You see, there’s another tab available that isn’t enabled by everybody on the word application and it’s called the “Developer tool” which can actually allow you to add forms, restrict editing and help you design better. Don’t worry, you don’t need to purchase or add more extensions! You just need to activate it with these simple steps:

Step one: Activate the developer tool by clicking “File” from the menu then click “Options.”

Step two: On the selection on the left row, click “Customize Ribbon” and tick the box of the “Developer tools” to activate and show its properties on the word application.

Step three: You will now be able to see the new tab on your Word application – “Developer”

Step four: Now the first thing you need to do is to create your form by encoding all the details you need and the questions you want to include. Design it the way you want the form to appear. You may also use the form templates available from your Microsoft word which can be found when you click “File” then click “new” and search for online templates.

Step five: After encoding your form, protect your it first by clicking “Developer” then click “Restrict Editing.” This will limit the receiver of your form from editing or deleting the questions on your form.

Step six: Add form fields that your audience can fill by clicking “Plain text content control” and place it in the area where your receiver should input their answers. You can also add dropdown lists, checkboxes, images, and more.

Step seven: After all the editing, click “SAVE” and the form will be ready for distribution as a Microsoft word document.

Quick tip: You can also turn this into a PDF form by saving this as a PDF file then you can use online free PDF editing tool, DeftPDF, to add your text boxes and making it fillable.

Creating a fillable PDF form

Though using Microsoft Word application is quite easy, the downside of saving it as a .DOC form becomes a dilemma due to its format. Since .DOC files are actually editable, the format can change depending on the user. Any special fonts used that isn’t a default font on the application or isn’t installed on the receiver’s computer may become deformed upon receiving it and may affect the layout, alignment and its overall appearance. This will also result in confusion for your receiver, giving them a hard time to fill out the form you sent. So, what better way to create a fillable form? We suggest you can create a PDF file format.

Creating a fillable PDF form isn’t as hard as it looks, in fact, it’s the easiest way and it can be free – if you’re using DeftPDF! Here’s an easy step by step guide on how to create your PDF form online:

Step one: Go to www.deftpdf.com and click “Start Editing” on the homepage.

Step two: PDF editor online will appear and prompt you to upload a document but to create a new form, click “start with a new document” under the upload button.

Step three: The site will give you a blank paper to start with. You can write your texts, add images, add shapes, links, and forms by clicking its respective buttons on the editing tool menu. Add all necessary elements as you prefer. Make sure to add your “forms fields” as a text box for your readers. This is where the receiver will fill out their answers. You may also add checkboxes, dropdown lists, bullets, and x marks.

Step four: Once done with your new form, click “Apply changes” then “Download” to save the file to your computer.

If you’ve placed your forms right, your form will look like this and enable your receivers to add their answers on the form without any editing tools.

Creating a fillable form using online forms

If the form doesn’t need to be saved on the computer and you just need something online for your polls or surveys, you can probably try using online forms. This is also easy to use but the downside here is the fact that you can’t save it as an offline form and you can’t attach it in an email. You can probably send the link but it remains online and receivers will also need to be online even if they are just filling it out. Another note to consider is the fact that not all forms online are unlimited to use and free. If it’s free, there’s a limitation to its features and sometimes it only allows a certain number of answers.

There are thousands of online forms available such as Jotform, SurveyMonkey, FormSIte and many more but for the sake of our little demonstration in this article, we will use the most common one – Google forms. Here’s how to create your own online form:

Step one: Log in to your Gmail or Google Drive account

Step two: While you’re signed in, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/

Step three: Choose a template you will use or create a new form with a blank document by clicking its respective thumbnail.

Step four:  Add the title of the form, description questions, and select the type of answer. You can add as many form fields, questions, photos, videos, texts and sections as you like. Just click the symbols on the right to add more elements. You can also edit the color and theme of the form.

Step five: Once done modifying the form, click “Send” found at the top right of the page. This will give you three options – send it by email, get a link or embed it on your website. Your form and the responses from your readers will be saved automatically on your google drive.

Best recommended way to fillable forms

All three fillable forms are easy and free, it’s just up to you which one you think best fits your needs. We recommend you stay with a PDF format to create your form – its easy, its free, secure, reliable and you can fill it out online or offline. You can try using it online with DeftPDF tools and there are no limits in using the site. You can also do so much more such as protecting, unlocking, translating, cropping, compressing, resizing and many more.

Annotating is the act of adding text highlights to a document, noting those edit worthy phrases to correct its source. It is also the act of commenting on the file, which is usually used for contracts, thesis papers or writing. The act of annotating does not necessarily mean it will be edited as it only points out what should be deleted, inserted or changed. It is often seen as a highlight, a strikethrough text or sometimes a note is placed beside a phrase or a word.

Annotating on Word documents are easy as they are readily available on its application. PDF files, on the other hand, cannot be annotated with the same program, instead, we use its own PDF editor tool to make these notes possible. In this case, we will use Adobe Acrobat offline and DeftPDF to achieve the goal of annotating the PDF file while comparing both on its use.

What are the annotations used and what does it mean?

There are only three types of basic annotations – highlight, strikethrough text, and notes. We use strikethrough on words to mark it and indicate that the text needs to be deleted. Highlighting the text, on the other hand, may be used to emphasize or add comments on it. Notes can also be added as a comment or as a memo to the source, to provide more information, give a meaningful remark to improve or sometimes it’s a note to compliment it. Other annotations that are usually used in writing also include inserting text, replace text, and delete text markups.

What are the pros and cons of using Adobe V.S. DeftPDF?

While both software provides the same tools, it is essential to understand its differences. For instance, if you are looking into connectivity, DeftPDF is edited and annotated online, which means you can directly send your final work after or upload it to online storage directly. Adobe acrobat meanwhile is used offline.

Installations and Subscriptions: With regards to installations, DeftPDF does not require users to install anything. You just simply go to the online website and use the tools right away. There is an option to install a chrome extension for more accessibility on future document editing but it’s not required. Adobe Acrobat meanwhile, needs to be downloaded and installed before using it offline.

Payment and Fees: In terms of payment, subscriptions or fees, DeftPDF does not require any. Not even information of the user to use the tools. Signing in is an option provided but not required. In fact, all of its tools are completely free to use. Adobe Acrobat’s free download version offers its basic annotation tool for free too but you need to subscribe to be able to use all its other editing features.

Saving your File: When it comes to saving your annotated work, minor differences can be evident. Since DeftPDF is online, it will not delete or write over the original PDF file, instead, it will create and save a new document upon downloading the file. Adobe acrobat meanwhile, will offer you both ways – to save the existing file with the annotation or to “save as” to create a new document so that the original file will stay the same.

Security and Safety of documents: Lastly, the most important question here is the security and safety of the file. DeftPDF ensures that the file you will edit is uploaded in an encrypted server, which means that your files are completely secure online. DeftPDF also guarantees that the files are deleted permanently after processing, therefore NO ONE will be able to get a copy of your file. Adobe Acrobat is used offline and can also be secure since the connection is only between the downloaded software and your computer. Both are secure and safe.

How do I annotate in Adobe Acrobat?

Annotating in Acrobat is actually pretty simple on its free basic version. You simply highlight PDF text using your cursor, right click on the highlighted field then select which kind annotation should be done with the choices that will appear.

You can change the color of your highlight by right-clicking on the highlighted text, choose properties then change the color as you prefer.

When you add notes as comments to the text, there is an option to view all comments on all notes. You can reveal all these by right-clicking on one of the highlighted texts, then select “open all pop-ups” or “show comment app.”

These are just a few of the annotation features that you can do in Adobe. Of course, if the PDF file has been saved with limited access and commenting is not allowed, these tools cannot be used on it unless the restrictions are lifted.

How do I annotate in DeftPDF?

DeftPDF is an online tool that is very easy to use and there are only a few steps to follow to annotating your PDF file.

Step one: Go to DeftPDF online and select the “Edit” tool from the menu

Step two: Upload your PDF file

Step three: Click “Annotate” in the editing tool menu appearing on top of your previewed document.

Step four: Highlight PDF text or strikethrough text on the document by moving your cursor over to the text area. A comment section will appear upon highlighting for you to add notes on the text.

Step five: Click “Apply changes” and save your work on your computer by clicking “Download.”

There are also other editing tools you can use that come handy for your PDF file and it already appears right in its editing tool menu and if you prefer to send the document right after annotating, you can also do this by selecting “Share” instead of “Download” after applying changes. You can also save it in your Google Drive or Dropbox if needed.

Being used to the programs that have already become the standard makes us feel as if we are working freehand and it goes without saying that Microsoft Office programs does this to us. It has certainly made creating and editing a document easy however, adding PDF files to the list will not be the same as handling a word document. A PDF file may require another tool for editing and it may not be as familiar as those already set as norms but once you’re set with all these editing tools, you will find that PDF is pretty simple after all – its just a matter of getting used to it.

What tools should I use?

There are options available in the market and it's very accessible online. One option is to use Adobe Acrobat, a free tool which you can download to read and edit your PDF files. Though this is free to download, don’t be fooled by its functionality offers as it only gives out a 7-day free trial. Once your trial is done, you will be prompted to a window that requires you to subscribe to their services on a monthly basis.

How do I use Adobe Acrobat to reorder PDF pages?

It’s not as hard as it looks. Adobe Acrobat is user-friendly and easy to navigate. You just need to pay their subscription fees to be able to use its complete software services! But if you already have purchased the complete tool, here’s how to use it for rearranging PDF pages:

Step one: Open the PDF file using Adobe Acrobat

Step two: Click on “Tools” and select “Organize Pages” then choose “Reorder pages”

Step three: In the thumbnail preview of your document, drag and drop the pages to sort PDF pages and rearrange PDF to your preferred order.

Step four: Save your file or use “save as” to create another document with the new arrangement.

Is there another option?

Yes, there’s more than one alternative to Adobe Acrobat and these tools are also available over the net. It can be online or a tool that needs to be downloaded. Some will give you free trials per hour or perhaps per quantity of documents edited, and some will give you free trials depending on functionality. All these tools will just be the same as Adobe’ tools and it will just be a matter of picking your favorite.

Is there an alternative tool that is completely free?

If you want a reliable tool with the same functionality and doesn’t require you to cash out, you can always pick DeftPDF as your go-to tool. It’s absolutely free and doesn’t trick you to subscribing after a number of days or number of users. All tools including editing, converting, translating, cropping, rearranging, resizing, compressing, encrypting and the other PDF necessities don’t need to be paid to be used.

How do I use DeftPDF to rearrange my PDF pages?

It’s actually very simple to use. All you need is a stable internet connection and your browser to be able to access and edit online. Here’s a simple guide to show you how easy it is to use:

Step one: Go to Deftpdf.com and navigate your way to “Combine and Reorder” tool, which you can find from the top menu “All tools.”

Step two:  Upload your PDF file.

Step three: On the preview of your uploaded document, drag and drop the pages to sort PDF according to your preferred arrangement.

Step four: Click “Save” to process the arrangement and click “Download” to save the new file on your computer. You can also save it on Dropbox or Google Drive or print the file if needed.

What are the other tools that can be used in DeftPDF?

First things first, the “combine and reorder” tool can do more than just rearrange the pages of your PDF, it can also combine more than one PDF file.  It’s a good way to create your new document without any hassle. Other tools available in DeftPDF are also great tools to use! If you need to edit texts, change texts, add images, shapes or forms, you can use the DeftPDF online PDF editor which is very easy to use.

PDF conversion is also a tool available in DeftPDF and it can change documents from PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to JPG, PDF to text, PDF to PPT, and vise versa. These tools are very useful especially if you want to bring back its former format to use it in that presentation or for various reasons that may be affecting any situation.

In addition, there are also other tools that can also help you with document management, such as  merging PDF, cropping PDF, Fill and sign PDF, Delete PDF pages, Grayscale PDF, compress PDF, extract PDF pages, Protect PDF, Unlock PDF, Resize PDF, Watermark PDF, Translate PDF and you can even split PDF depending on various requirements – by bookmarks, in half, by size, by text, or by pages.

There are so many tools available in DeftPDF and its all for free! All you need to do is try it!