PDF files are one of the most widely used document formats for sharing and storing information, whether on official channels, through emails and over the internet and so forth. The primary reason for the success of PDF is the ease of platform and portability it brings; be it a mobile device or a personal computer, no matter running what OS, chances are high that you’ll score a PDF document viewer pretty easily.
As the iPhone evolved, it reshaped the smartphone scenario altogether. I perform a lot of tasks on my 3.5″ iPhone screen as conveniently as I used to do them on my laptop. Since this includes editing and viewing Microsoft Office files as well, it makes more sense to have the ability to create PDFs on my iPhone. Seems like Adobe thought along the same lines, because the recently released CreatePDF application brings that convenience right to your fingertips. More on this after the break.
Adobe CreatePDF ($9.99) is primarily a conversion tool rather than creation, but only in that you cannot type out PDF files with this app. You can, however, convert various file formats, including images, Photoshop files, MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OpenOffice, etc. to PDF right from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.
The best part is that CreatePDF maintains the quality and formatting of the original file, including footnotes. As per Adobe’s claim, the conversion quality is same as that on Adobe’s desktop applications.
While conversion quality is remarkable, it’s not the only thing that is the same as Adobe’s desktop products. CreatePDF is priced at $9.99, and while it’s a useful application to have for people who deal with documents a lot on the go, it’s purely up to a user to decide if they want to cough out this much for a PDF conversion tool.
Since it’s not possible to create a PDF document directly from the app, usage has been made easier by implementing “Open in CreatePDF” links within applications like browsers and email attachment, and even in Dropbox. You hit the button, and CreatePDF will automatically detect the file type and begin conversion.
Another notable aspect of CreatePDF is that all files converted through this app are added to a special queue that can be used to manage and monitor them. It allows you to delete, rename or even email the files directly, using iOS’ native Email app.
While that’s pretty much about it as far as CreatePDF’s usage goes, please note that this app will connect to Adobe’s servers while it converts. The company claims this is only to ensure highest-quality conversion and that no sensitive data is retained on Adobe’s servers. Nevertheless, this rather-questionable quality assurance feature combined with the application’s hefty price tag and the possible roaming data charges for every conversion may not have a friendly impact on users’ reception of Adobe’s offering. Only time will tell.
To sum it up, CreatePDF is a useful addition coming from a trustworthy company that excels in PDF format creation and manipulation. If PDF is your bread and butter, and you want the ability to convert files to PDF on your iPhone, this might be it for you. On the other hand, if the points raised above concern you more, then you might consider keeping PDF conversion to your desktop and use your mobile device only to view these files. Whatever you choose, we’ll appreciate your comments to let us know.
