Have you ever received a PDF file in an email that contained information you need in text form, but the PDF doesn't let you select the text? Sometimes this is due to access restrictions on the document, but more often it's because the person creating the PDF did so by simply scanning the document. This creates an image of the document, but does not embed the text information.

To extract the text, you need to use optical character recognition (OCR) software. Most scanners come with OCR software, but if you don't have ready access to it, you might consider using the Online OCR service.

Online OCR lets you upload a PDF file and it returns plain text that can then be copied directly into the word processing tool of your choice.

Obviously there are security concerns with uploading and storing copies of your documents on a 3rd party's site, but if that's not a concern to you, Online OCR might be just the trick to solve your OCR needs.

[via Lifehacker]

Have you ever received an iWork file created in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on a Mac, and not had any way to deal with it? Next time, try changing the file's extension to .zip, then unzip it with your favorite zip utility. Inside you should find a PDF preview document containing a nicely formatted version of the document in question.

It seems strange that Apple doesn't promote this fact more, as it's a real usability win for iWork users that want to share their documents with non-Mac users. Wouldn't it be nice if Word, Excel, and Powerpoint did this?

[photo by *keng]

1. Start a new document.
2. Enter Title, Recipients name, email, and company name.
3. Write, or paste in body details of your Terms and Conditions.
4. If there is any file attachments required, browse and upload them.
5. Email to the client

Version 1.0 of the OpenXML document translator launched this past Friday. This initiative translates native document formats into OpenOffice and Microsoft Office. The translator will work between Microsoft's OpenXML, and OpenOffice's OpenDocument formats. The project took eight months to complete and ensure it met a high quality and standards level. So far, over 8,000 copies of the translator have been downloaded on SourceForge. Although the translator is not being shipped within Office products, Microsoft said that it has tested it with Office 2007-2003, and Office XP. The next version of OpenOffice will carry the translator, which is currently available on SourceForge. The decision for Microsoft to be involved with the translator has stemmed from customer demand. Support for both Excel and PowerPoint documents are scheduled for November 2007.

Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Essilor, Intel, Microsoft, NextPage, Novell, Statoil, Toshiba and the The United States Library of Congress have all approved the Office Open XML (OOXML) specification to be sent to the ECMA (a European standardization association). This is the next step in Microsoft's spec being accepted across many systems, platforms and applications. This is also the format that is the new hotness in the 2007 version of Office, at a beta-tester's workstation near you. I have to say that I have been very happy with Microsoft's 2007 Office system, and especially the XML format. It seems to make documents save and open a little bit faster, not to mention the endless interoperability features I haven't had a chance to test out yet. I think Microsoft is really on the right track here, and it shows, even in the beta. Hopefully this standard will be as versatile and flexible as we all think it will, but right now it is looking good.

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