PDF Tips
Practical write-ups on real document problems — attachments that won't send, prints that clip, scans that need cleaning up.
| No. | Category | Title | Posted | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | file size | What to check when your attachment hits the size limit Don't reach for the compress button first. How mail size limits actually work, which files can shrink and which can't, and how to split a send politely. | 5 min read | |
| 14 | printing | Why your PDF prints with the edges cut off It looks fine on screen, but the printed page loses table borders or page numbers at the edge. The causes — scaling, paper size, margins — and the order to check them. | 5 min read | |
| 13 | fonts | PDFs that look wrong on everyone else's computer Fine on your machine, boxes and substituted letters on theirs. What font embedding is, how to check it before sending, and what to do with a broken file you received. | 5 min read | |
| 12 | rotate | You rotated the PDF, but it opens sideways again Rotated it in the viewer, saved, sent it — and the recipient still sees it sideways. The difference between view rotation and file rotation ends this problem for good. | 4 min read | |
| 11 | submissions | Photo or PDF? Choosing the format for document submissions ID copies, bank statements, receipts: when JPG is the right upload, when PDF is, and when several pages should become one file. | 4 min read | |
| 10 | page numbers | Three decisions to make before adding page numbers Skip the cover or not, where on the page, and what to do when the document already has numbers. Decide first and you'll only stamp once. | 4 min read | |
| 9 | document management | Contract PDFs are managed by filenames, not folders A naming convention that kills “contract_final_FINAL.pdf”, plus versioning and bundling habits that make any agreement findable in three minutes. | 5 min read | |
| 8 | scanning | Scans too big? Fix it at the scanner, not afterwards 300dpi or 600? Color or grayscale? A few scanner settings decide whether you'll ever need to fight with compression again. | 5 min read | |
| 7 | convert | Converting PDF to Word: what to expect, what to give up Why some PDFs convert to Word cleanly and others come out mangled. How to predict the result before converting, and when another route beats conversion. | 5 min read | |
| 6 | mobile | Handling PDF paperwork with nothing but your phone When “please send the documents” arrives while you're out: shooting, converting, merging, and sending — all from the phone's browser, no app installed. | 4 min read | |
| 5 | privacy | Before a PDF leaves the building: the hidden-data check PDFs carry more than what's on the page — author names, software traces, document info. What to check and remove before sharing a file externally. | 4 min read | |
| 4 | split | Splitting a PDF that's bigger than the upload limit A 200-page document and a “10MB max” upload form. Where to cut, how to name the pieces, and why compression comes before splitting. | 4 min read | |
| 3 | merge | Five things worth checking before you merge PDFs Merging takes seconds; undoing a bad merge takes longer. Check order, orientation, page size, passwords, and final size first. | 4 min read | |
| 2 | compress | Why your PDF won't get smaller Sometimes compression barely changes the file size. Here's what's actually inside a PDF, and which documents genuinely shrink. | 5 min read | |
| 1 | scanning | The right order for cleaning up a scanned PDF Scans arrive with upside-down pages and blank sheets mixed in. Doing the steps in this order means you only do them once. | 4 min read |