Ashampoo PDF Pro 4 Review

One of the key reasons for using PDF editing software is, of course, to directly edit and modify the contents of existing PDF documents. This is a function of good PDF editing software which is especially useful if you don’t have the original documents (e.g. in Microsoft Word format) from which the PDF was originally produced to make changes.

NB – Whenever creating PDF documents for yourself, always try to keep a copy of the original document containing the content used within the PDF. It is often easier and more accurate to simply edit the original document and then re-create the PDF than to reply on editing the PDF itself.

Starting with the default “welcome” document which is loaded into PDF Pro 4 when first starting is a great place to test out some of the many editing features and tools available. This begins with what is likely one of the most commonly used tools, the text tool, which can be used for adding new text or simply editing any existing text already found within the document.

As can be seen above, simply clicking onto any existing text within the current PDF document will allow me to edit it in the same fashion as I would in any other word processor. Furthermore, using the Text tool found on the toolbar, I can also add a text field (text box) which can be used to create a new block of text by simply clicking and dragging it on the page.

Once the text area to modify has been selected, many of the other text editing tools available within PDF Pro 4 become available for use as they might be seen in any other word processing software. As can be seen above, I can simply add or append any text I might require in the PDF document and then format this new text as is required.

NB – One of the biggest advantages of PDF editing software is not only adding new text to a document, but the ability to edit any existing text already contained within the PDF (a task made quick and simple thanks to software such as PDF Pro 4).

Additionally, whenever working with text within a PDF document, it is great to see that Ashampoo have included some newly upgraded spell-checking functionality which is built directly in to the editor itself. As can be seen below, this spell-checking functionality can be activated via the “Review” toolbar and is highly configurable including, amongst other things, being able to set the language being used.

Moving on and, as you might have noticed in the screenshot above, Ashampoo have now added a brand-new tabs bar into PDF Pro 4 which makes working across multiple PDF files much easier than in previous versions. The software still supports working with multiple PDF files across multiple different windows if this is preferred, and whilst tabs are now used by default, the option to open PDFs in a new window can be found in the file menu when opening up a new document.

Moving further on from the editing and modifying of text and the new tab bar interface (as was mentioned just above) and there several other key features available within PDF Pro 4 for continuing to edit a PDF document, these include:

• Adding images (from external image files)
• Inserting “PDF Objects” (the content part from another PDF file)
• Adding watermarks
• Adding form fields (for building PDF forms)
• Adding annotations (notes, stamps & signatures)
• Inserting shapes (including freehand drawing of shapes / lines etc.)

Starting off with what is most likely a very popular feature, the ability to embed images from external image files directly into the PDF document being worked on. This process begins by opening up the PDF document to be edited and then selecting the “Image” option from the “Insert” toolbar as can be seen below.

With the image file which is to be inserted selected, PDF Pro 4 will import the contents of this image file directly into the current PDF document. From this point onwards the image can then be manipulated further including changing its size, re-positioning it within the document as well as applying more advanced photo editing such as adding borders or altering the opacity of the image should such work be required.

Another potentially useful feature found within PDF Pro 4 is that of the watermarking tool. Such watermarks can, for example, be a small logo in the corner of every page or a block of faint identifiable text (e.g. a domain name) added to the background of each page in the document.

As can be seen above, adding a watermark to a PDF document is as simple as selecting the watermarking tool (via the insert menu), selecting an image file (PDF, JPEG etc.) which will act as the watermark itself, choosing the size (optionally filling the entire page) and then choosing which pages to apply the mark to. By default, watermarks will start in the middle of the page which is fine when using a large watermark to fill the entire page however, should you want to move the watermark (for example to have a small opaque logo in the corner of each page) then the watermark can be “unlocked” by right clicking on it, moving it to the correct position and then re-locking it again.

With the main PDF editing functions including the adding of text, images and watermarks to a document now covered, there is just one further tool found within the “Inset” menu that I am going to look at before moving on with this review – this is the annotations tool. As can be seen in the full view of the “Insert” toolbar below, annotations aside, there are still a lot of other tools and features available within PDF Pro 4.

Finally, the annotations tool (mentioned above) is a really interesting and useful tool for anyone who works with PDF documents on a professional level. From the annotations section of the menu, there are various options available for easily marking a PDF document with one of a collection of pre-set markings, markings which can be very useful in helping to highlight and record the status of a document (for example, we could easily mark a job sheet as complete or an invoice as paid etc.).

Other annotations available include a “signature” (which works from a nominated image file) and a “note” annotation which allows for a text-based note to be appended to the document. PDF Pro 4 also supports adding in custom shapes (notes) as annotations which includes, amongst other shapes, the circle annotation as can be seen below.

With most things relating to the editing of PDF documents now covered, I believe it is fair to say that PDF Pro 4 so far is doing an excellent job given how easy it is to use and the great value it offers compared to more established PDF software providers. In the next section I will be looking more at working with PDF files themselves and the functionality available for inserting, removing, extracting and merging of PDF pages.