[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

PDF24 can now insert a clickable table of contents when you merge files. In the online tool Merge PDF (https://tools.pdf24.org/en/merge-pdf), add your files in the right order, click the gear icon (Additional options) and tick Insert table of contents. The merged PDF then starts with a page that lists each file with its start page, and each line is a link to that page. Create bookmarks additionally adds a bookmark for each file. These options are not available in Page mode. In the PDF24 Toolbox on the desktop, the same option will come with the next version.

So convert each part (e.g. each Word document or each piece of sheet music) to its own PDF and merge them with this option. The file names become the entries of the table of contents, so give the files meaningful names before merging.

Please note: the table of contents has one entry per merged file. A table of contents created from existing bookmarks or from the headings within one document is not possible yet. Thank you for the suggestion, we will add it to our list. If your booklet is a single Word document, you can insert the table of contents in Word before converting it.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

most of these options are not settings of the PDF printer itself, because they change the layout of the pages. In PDF24 you apply them to the PDF after it has been created:

• PDF24 Reader print dialog: open the PDF in PDF24 Reader and print it (Ctrl+P). The print dialog offers Scaling (also a custom percentage), Paper size, Orientation, Pages per sheet, Duplex (long edge / short edge), Header & Footer with placeholders (document name, page number, total page count, date) and Booklet. You can print to your real printer, or select Create new PDF as the printer to get a new PDF with these settings.
• Pages per sheet is also available as a tool in the PDF24 Toolbox and online, with Margins and Add borders (a frame around each page): https://tools.pdf24.org/en/pages-per-sheet
• Add page numbers (Toolbox and online), with a pattern such as "Page {NUM} of {COUNT}" in the Toolbox: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/add-page-numbers
• Fonts: PDF24 always embeds the fonts (as subsets) when it creates the PDF, so there is nothing to set.
• Double-sided: a PDF file has no front and back side. You choose duplex when you print the PDF on a real printer, e.g. in the PDF24 Reader print dialog.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

you can add such a link yourself with the Link tool in Annotate PDF: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/annotate-pdf (also in Edit PDF: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf)

1. Open your PDF there and choose the Link tool.
2. On a song page, draw a box over the spot that should be clickable (for example a short text "Index" that you add first).
3. In the link window choose "Page" and enter the page number of your index page (or choose the index under "Bookmark" if your PDF has a bookmark for it).
4. Repeat this for the other song pages and save the PDF.

A simpler way without a link on every page: give the index page a bookmark, for example with https://tools.pdf24.org/en/bookmark-pdf . Then you can jump back to the index at any time from the bookmarks panel of your PDF viewer.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

splitting by file size (a new file whenever a maximum size is reached) is not possible yet. It is on our to-do list.

Until then you can split by number of pages: in the PDF24 Toolbox, open Split PDF and choose the mode Pages per PDF. Your file has about 0.2 MB per page on average, so 12 MB are roughly 60 pages. As pages differ in size, start with a lower number, for example 40, and check the sizes of the new files. If a part is still too large, you can reduce it with Compress PDF.

For a 1 GB file, the PDF24 Toolbox on your computer is the better choice: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

Splitting also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/split-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

put both PDFs into one file, the front side first and the back side second, for example with the Merge PDF tool: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/merge-pdf

Then print the merged PDF and choose double-sided (duplex) printing in the print dialog or in the settings of your printer. Page 1 ends up on the front and page 2 on the back of the sheet.

If the leaflet should be folded like a small booklet, the Booklet tool arranges the pages for that: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/create-pdf-booklet

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. Texts like {lang/join} or {lang/compress} appear when PDF24 cannot read its language files. They are in the subfolder lang of the PDF24 installation folder.

Please check that this folder exists, contains the .lang files and can be read by all users (security software may also block it). Version 11.9.0 is quite old, so the best way is to uninstall PDF24 and install the current version: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

If the texts are still missing with the current version, please let us know.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. We have improved this since then: since version 11.18.0, the tools Extract PDF pages and Remove PDF pages find references to other pages and remove them, so that pages you did not choose are no longer saved in the new file. In many cases like yours the result is now much smaller. Links on the page are kept, only links to pages that are not in the new file are removed.

Please try again with the current version of PDF24 Creator: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

This also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/extract-pdf-pages

If the extracted page is still almost as large as the whole document, please send us the file. It only reaches our team and is not public:

Send a file to the PDF24 team

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. The merged PDF could take over the setting "open on page X" from one of the input files. This has been fixed since January 2024: merging now removes this setting, so the result opens on the first page: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/merge-pdf

If you want a PDF to open on a certain page, or remove such display settings from an existing file, you can do that with "Set PDF viewer preferences": https://tools.pdf24.org/en/set-pdf-viewer-preferences

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. Current versions of PDF24 Creator, including PDF24 Reader, require at least Windows 10. Windows Server 2012 R2 is based on Windows 8.1 and is no longer supported, so the installer of the current version does not run there.

Please use PDF24 on Windows 10 or newer. On older systems you can use the PDF24 online tools, which run in any browser: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. Printing from the PDF24 Assistant has been rebuilt since then. Up to version 11.30, "Print" in the Assistant used its own print path that converted the pages to an image, which explains the slightly blurred text. Since version 11.31.0 the Assistant uses the print dialog of the PDF24 Reader, the same way the saved PDF is printed from a PDF program.

Please install the current version: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

In the print dialog, make sure that "Print as image" under "Options" is not checked. If the print is still less sharp than when you print the saved PDF from another program, please let us know.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

you can do this with our online OCR tool: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf

1. Upload the scanned PDF.
2. In the Language field, select both English and Sanskrit. Several languages can be selected at the same time.
3. Start the recognition and download the PDF with the recognised text.

How well the Sanskrit text is recognised depends a lot on the quality of the scan, so a clean scan with at least 300 DPI helps.

The OCR tool of the PDF24 Creator for Windows works the same way and runs on your computer: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

please make sure that the language of the document is selected for the text recognition. With scans, a higher DPI value in the OCR settings can also help with small characters such as % and /.

If the characters are still not recognized with the current version: So that we can reproduce this, please send us a file where it happens with this button:

Send a file to the PDF24 team

Please also tell us whether you used the OCR tool of PDF24 Creator or the online tool https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

1. That is how OCR works: the page stays an image, and PDF24 puts the recognized text over it as an invisible text layer. The PDF looks exactly like the original, and you can search, select and copy the text. That is why "Extract images" still finds the page images. If you only need the text, right-click the file in the list of the OCR tool and choose "Show recognized text".

1. The text layer itself is small. The size comes from the page images: the OCR tool first converts the PNG files into PDF, and in the PDF the images can take more space than in the PNG files. For a smaller file, choose a profile with lower quality under "Profile" in the OCR tool (it is applied after the OCR), or compress the result afterwards with PDF24 Compress. Compressing also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/compress-pdf

OCR is also available online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

thank you for the update. For other readers: the cmd_*.json files are only job descriptions. The PDF24 Toolbox writes the job into such a file and starts its bundled Java component with the path of this file, which is why some firewalls show it as if the .json file were executed.

Regarding editing in the Reader: This function is in the works for PDF24 Reader and will be released with one of the upcoming versions.

Until then you can pass the open file to the Toolbox directly from the Reader: click the toolbar button "Forward file tools" and choose "Toolbox". There you will find the tool "Edit PDF".

This also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

this is available now: since version 11.27.0 the PDF24 Assistant remembers its last window position and opens there the next time. The option is in the PDF24 Settings on the page "Assistant": "Remember window placement". It is switched on by default. Please update PDF24 Creator to the current version.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

PDF24 is not a USB device and has no device ID or GUID of its own. If the policy also controls printers, the PDF printer of PDF24 is the part it may block:

• Classic PDF printer: printer name "PDF24", driver "PDF24", port \\.\pipe\PDFPrint
• Driverless PDF printer (since version 11.31.0, Windows 11 24H2 and later): Microsoft Virtual Print Class Driver, app package PDF24.Wpp_3w7hzerhx5424

Details: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#63-classic-and-driverless-pdf-printers

If the problem still exists with the current version, please tell us which product applies the policy, what exactly fails in PDF24 (printing to the PDF printer, starting PDF24, saving files ...) and which message or event you see. You can send us a screenshot with this button:

Send a file to the PDF24 team

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

PDF24 OCR currently saves the result only as a PDF with a text layer. Thank you for the suggestion to save it directly as a TXT file, we will add it to our list.

Until then, there are two ways:

• After the recognition, right-click the file in the list of PDF24 OCR and choose "Show recognized text". The text opens as a .txt file in your text editor (with a marker line for each page), where you can save it with "Save as". The file is only temporary, so please save it before you close PDF24 OCR.
• For many files: save the PDFs with text and convert them in the PDF24 Toolbox with "Convert from PDF" and the output format "Text (.txt)".

Both steps are also available online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf and then https://tools.pdf24.org/en/pdf-to-text

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

yes, this is possible now. When you make an inserted saved signature larger or smaller, the next time you insert the same signature it gets that size, so you only need to scale it once. The size is remembered in the browser in which the signature is saved: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/sign-pdf

"Sign PDF" in the PDF24 Toolbox on Windows will do the same with the next version.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. The tool "Edit PDF" of the PDF24 Toolbox saves text with the font selected in the font list (default: Calibri). While you type, Windows displays the Thai characters with a substitute font, but Calibri itself contains no Thai characters, so they are missing in the saved PDF.

Please try selecting a font with Thai characters in the font list before you type the text, for example "Leelawadee UI" or "Tahoma", which come with Windows.

Thank you for reporting this, it is on our to-do list: characters that the selected font does not contain should come from a suitable system font.

Edit PDF is also available online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

the PDF24 printer creates the PDF from the print data it receives. Whether the text is turned into an image already in the online program or on the way through the Remote Desktop connection, we cannot tell from here. A quick test: print a document from a program on your local PC (e.g. Notepad) to the same PDF24 printer. If the text can be selected in that PDF, the printer works and the image comes from the remote side, e.g. from the print settings of the online program.

Please also use the classic PDF24 printer for printers redirected into a Remote Desktop session, see https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#63-classic-and-driverless-pdf-printers

If the remote side only delivers images, text recognition (OCR) makes the text of these PDFs searchable and copyable again. Since version 11.31.0 the PDF24 OCR tool has a Hot folder: while the OCR tool is open, PDF and image files placed in this folder are recognized automatically and saved with the save file suffix to the output directory. So you can use the folder your printer saves to as the hot folder. OCR is also available online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf

If the local test also gives an image, please send us such a PDF with this button:

Send a file to the PDF24 team

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

in your screenshot the invisible text layer that the OCR adds does not lie over the text of the page image, so the selection is shifted. This should not happen.

Please try it again with the current version of PDF24 Creator. The OCR is also available online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf

If the text is still shifted, we would like to check this. So that we can reproduce this, please send us a file where it happens with this button (best the original file before the OCR):

Send a file to the PDF24 team

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

we do not know of a cause for this yet. We also don't know a way to repair files that have already been compressed: the images are recalculated at the new resolution, so please keep the originals or use your backup.

Please first compress one of the affected originals again with the current version 11.31.1. If the page turns dark again: so that we can reproduce this, please send us such an original file (before compression) with this button:

Send a file to the PDF24 team

The files reach only the PDF24 team and are not visible in the forum, so you don't need to redact them. Please also tell us whether you compressed with PDF24 Compress or in the PDF24 Toolbox, and the settings (DPI 144, image quality 100, color model).

Compression is also available online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/compress-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

thank you for the detailed description. The cause was that objects of the pages that were not extracted stayed in the new file. This was fixed in version 11.18.0: Extract PDF pages and Remove PDF pages now remove these leftovers, so the result only contains what the extracted pages need. Please update PDF24 Creator to the current version.

This also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/extract-pdf-pages

If an extracted page is still almost as large as the whole PDF with the current version, please send us that file so that we can reproduce this, with this button:

Send a file to the PDF24 team

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

with the standard "PDF24" context menu entry, Windows starts PDF24 once for every selected file, and PDF24 collects these calls into one window. It only waits a short moment for further files. On a network storage the calls can arrive more slowly, especially while files are being copied, so the late files no longer make it into the window. Thank you for the report, we have added it to our list.

Until then you can open the PDF24 Toolbox and drag the files from the network folder into the tool you need, or add them with the file selection there.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

these are two different windows. The Start menu entry opens the PDF24 Toolbox with all tools and your favourites. The entry "PDF24" in the Explorer context menu opens the smaller window "PDF24 File Tools", which only offers the tools for the selected files (join, compress, convert, extract pages, recognize text and so on) and has no favourites.

To get the complete Toolbox from there, click Open with Toolbox in the File Tools window. The Toolbox then opens with the selected file(s), and all tools are available.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

yes, this works with Protect PDF:

1. Add your PDF and leave Password to open the PDF empty.
2. Click the cog icon (Additional options) and enter a password in Owner password.
3. Uncheck what should need this password, e.g. Modification of content, Copying of contents, Commenting and Assemble document. Leave Printing and High quality printing checked.

The PDF then opens and prints without a password; the owner password is needed to change the permissions. Like all PDF permissions, they are applied by the PDF program that opens the file.

Protect PDF: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/protect-pdf

The tool Protect PDF in PDF24 Creator (Toolbox) has the same fields.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

in the PDF24 Toolbox tool "Add page numbers" ("Aggiungi numeri pagina" in Italian), the two fields work like this:

• First page ("Prima pagina"): the page on which the numbering starts. Pages before it get no number. The first numbered page gets the number 1.
• Offset: a value that is added to every number. With offset 0 the numbering starts at 1, with offset 19 it starts at 20, the next page gets 21 and so on.

Example: the PDF has a cover page and the numbering should start with 1 on page 2: First page = 2, Offset = 0.

The placeholder for the number of pages ({COUNT}) also includes the offset, so it shows the last page number. If you only want the page number, use {NUM} as pattern. In version 11.31.1 both fields are shown directly in the form; in the next version they are in the dialog "Additional options" behind the cog icon.

This also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/add-page-numbers - there the field is called "First number" and you enter the start number directly (e.g. 20).

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

the visual crop is already there in Crop PDF, online and in PDF24 Toolbox:

1. Add your PDF and switch on Visual mode (the switch appears once the PDF is added).
2. Drag the edges of the crop frame on the page preview. Enter full size mode gives you a larger preview.
3. The frame and the margin fields Left, Top, Right and Bottom (in mm) are linked: you can also type exact values, and the frame follows.

For your grid this saves the spreadsheet: all page areas have the same size, so for the next area to the right you add the area width to Left and subtract it from Right (for the next row the same with Top and Bottom). It is still one run per area, though.

A zoomed-in preview while dragging is not available yet. Thank you for the suggestion, we will add it to our list together with your case of splitting a sheet into a grid.

Crop PDF: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/crop-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

sorry for the late reply. Today PDF24 opens PDF files in the PDF24 Reader. Signing directly in the Reader is not available yet: This function is in the works for PDF24 Reader and will be released with one of the upcoming versions.

Until then you can sign a PDF with the tool Sign PDF of the PDF24 Toolbox, or online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/sign-pdf

Both save the signed PDF as a new file, which then has to be attached to the e-mail. Saving it back into the opened Outlook attachment in one step, as in your workflow (sign, save, close, send), is not possible yet. Thank you for the suggestion, we will add it to our list.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

yes, both directions work from the command line with the PDF24 Toolbox, without a window:

PDF to HTML (Complete)

1. Create a job file, e.g. C:\Data\job.json (write the backslashes in paths twice, otherwise the file is not valid). You can add several PDFs to fileInfos:

{ "action": "convertPdfTo", "outputFileType": "html", "conversionMode": "complete", "fileInfos": [ { "file": "C:\\Data\\test.pdf", "name": "test.pdf" } ] }

conversionMode can be complete (as "Complete" in the Toolbox) or textOnly.

1. Run the job:

"C:\Program Files\PDF24\pdf24-Toolbox.exe" -processJob C:\Data\job.json C:\Data\result.json

1. In result.json you find the HTML file under outputFiles: file is its path in the temp folder %TEMP%\PDF24, name is the intended file name (e.g. test.html). Copy it from there to your folder.

Description of -processJob: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#912-process-a-job

HTML back to PDF

"C:\Program Files\PDF24\pdf24-Toolbox.exe" -htmlToPdf C:\Data\test.html C:\Data\test.pdf -paperSize A4

The HTML is rendered like in the Edge browser and saved as PDF. Further options (orientation, margins, background): https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#913-convert-html-to-pdf

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