PDF Extra iOS: How to choose between Free and Premium
PDF Extra is a freemium productivity app. It can be used entirely free of charge or with a premium subscription. In this blog post, we’re going to discuss the free and premium features and help you decide which version of the app suits you best.
We are delighted to say that more than half of the app’s functionalities are completely free for every user. What’s more — everyone who has downloaded and signed into the app also gets free cloud storage, courtesy of MobiDrive.
So now that we’ve cleared the basics, let’s dive deeper into the differences between the two versions.
PDF Extra Free: Do what you need to do
The free version of PDF Extra emphasizes functionality.
The Fill & Sign, Scan and Convert Images features are all single-purpose tools, which solve everyday work-related issues, while the Create Blank feature comes in handy when paired with the Draw and Annotate editing categories, all of which are also free.
The Scan tool allows users to snap a picture with their phone, which is then immediately turned into PDF. This is extremely useful when working with documents that have to be digitalized. Oftentimes, documents will come into our possession only physically. That could be a receipt for a delivered parcel, a commercial contract, a simple bill, or even a diagnostic report, comprised of multiple pages. The Scan feature can turn any of these documents into PDF instantaneously, making your day that much simpler.
Now pair that with the Fill & Sign feature and you’ve got yourself a way to officialize documents. Of course, this comes with a disclaimer: not all institutions or even commercial entities accept a digitally signed document as official or legally binding, but you’ve got that option nonetheless. So, how does the Fill & Sign feature works? Simply pick it from the New menu, and navigate the files browser to choose the PDF file you want to sign. After that the app will prompt you to draw your signature with your finger.
Want to fill in a physical document and send the signed copy over email? Either sign physically and use the Scan feature, or first scan the document and then sign it with the Fill & Sign tool. You have options.
Then there’s the Convert Images functionality. This feature is all about turning picture and photo files into PDF, allowing users to then utilize a PDF’s expanded possibilities when it comes to text editing. When is this necessary? Mostly when the image needs to become part of a larger PDF document, or when it has to be edited with additional text. A possible scenario would be an image file of a two-page magazine spread, a photo of a landscape, a collage or an advertisement, all of which have to be either converted to PDF and submitted individually to colleagues, or inserted into a larger PDF presentation.
And finally, the editing categories. The free version of PDF Extra includes two editing groups — the Annotate toolset, and the Draw toolset.
The Annotate category is comprised of tools with familiar text-processing capabilities such as highlighting and striking through text, inserting notes and text boxes, as well as pasting geometrical shapes such as rectangles and ellipses. Naturally, these features will cater to those who do most of their work writing, editing and fashioning documents. Students, journalists, marketing professionals, sales reps, entrepreneurs and a whole range of creative industries professionals will find these tools both intuitive and quite useful. In fact, this has been an issue with the PDF format since its inception and the convenience of being able to edit the contents of a PDF file on the go cannot be overstated.
The Draw category allows for free-drawing on any PDF file, presenting three pen styles as options: a medium thickness pen, a narrow nib pen and a wider highlighter, as well as a fourth type — eraser — which removes any lines scribbled with this toolset. These will be appreciated by the creative side of our userbase, as it allows them to express themselves through drawing without constraint.
Let your imagination run wild with this one.
PDF Extra Premium: Account for any PDF emergency
The premium version of PDF Extra is a complete PDF problem solver.
The app’s premium features are more advanced and cater to specific, albeit not so uncommon issues. You can think of these features as heavy-duty, work-related tools, which let you alter the file’s executable, combine multiple PDFs, rearrange and sort through a file’s pages and alter almost any text and image element in the PDF itself.
The Convert feature is all about cross-compatibility, allowing users to convert Word, Excel and ePub files to and from PDF. Converting MS Office files to PDF is something that users expect to have from an app like PDF Extra. However, the reverse capability will surely come in handy in a variety of scenarios, especially for professionals who travel a lot. Receiving these types of files in a work environment is almost a daily occurrence, and the ability to seamlessly switch between file extensions on the go will be greatly appreciated by them.
And when it comes to working on the go, the Edit toolset is perhaps PDF Extra’s most convenient feature. Almost any office job deals with PDFs — they are usually the final, proofread and ready-to-be-submitted file type. Yet, the dynamics of our world often require swift action at the last second, and this is where the app truly shines. This PDF-editing category allows users to correct any line of text by typing directly in the PDF file — and it functions similarly with images. They can be rotated, flipped, rearranged or replaced entirely. This is especially useful in emergency situations, when editing quickly while staying mobile, is essential.
The next couple of features go hand in hand. First, there is the Combine tool, which lets users merge two or more PDF files into one. Designers will be familiar with this necessity, as they’re often asked to compile multiple text and image pages into one. The feature is also quite handy when paired with other tools, such as the Convert and Convert Images tools, as it allows users to go from snapping a picture, to having it integrated into a multiple-page PDF in a matter of seconds.
However, the Combine tool’s usefulness becomes fully apparent when used in conjunction with the Sorting and Arrangement functionality. It can be found at the bottom of any opened PDF file under the four-squares symbol. Using this tool, you can rearrange, delete, duplicate, rotate and extract separate pages from a multi-page PDF file. Paired together with the Convert and Combine features, this functionality provides full creative freedom to office workers, freelancers and entrepreneurs alike. It upgrades PDF Extra to a professional-level design application, since it lifts all restrictions to what a PDF will include and how it will ultimately look like.
Last but not least on the list of premium features is the password protection option. Users can encrypt any PDF file with a password known only to them. To do so, tap on the three-dots icon at the top right corner of an opened PDF file and choose the Protect option from the menu. Choose a password, confirm it, and voilà — your PDF is protected. Admittedly, this feature is niche, and not used as often as the others that we’ve described so far, but as we discussed earlier, PDF Extra is first and foremost a productivity, office-related app. Having this in mind, the ability to password-protect a PDF file came as a no-brainer feature to us when we were in the process of developing the app. The scenarios, in which a PDF file must remain inaccessible were just too numerous and too important to ignore.
PDF Extra Free vs Premium: Final thoughts
PDF Extra is all about problem solving. When we were conceptualizing the app and figuring out our pricing model, we decided between two general directions: the free version should be able to accomplish everyday tasks, while the premium version should be able to account for any PDF-related scenario.
So, how do you choose between the two?
We like to think of it this way:
· Pick the free version if you’re looking for classic PDF-related solutions
· Pick the premium version if you want to be able to solve any PDF-related issue
The choice is entirely up to you.
PDF Extra’s premium features are accessible for only $49,90 per year.
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