Today, it is simply impossible to imagine working with documents of any direction and level of complexity without the use of computer information processing tools. The era of typewriters is over. In most cases, if you do not take specific information or calculations, it is the texts that need to be processed. Consider the most popular and common free programs for working with certain types of documents. Separately, we will focus on the test files.
Programs for working with documents: an overview
As you know, for the most part, users of computer systems based on Windows OS prefer to work with the standard MS Office application package, which contains programs for almost all occasions.
However, at present, you can find a lot of alternative developments, which also include programs for working with documents of any type, which, in terms of functionality, are not inferior to the MS Office package, and in some cases even surpass it.
In any package, regardless of the developer, applications are presented that allow you to create, view and edit text files, spreadsheets, databases, as well as process graphic objects or even multimedia.
Office suite from Microsoft
To begin with, let's look at the well-known office suite from Microsoft. It is considered universal, since the programs for processing documents used in business are most widely represented here.
Not surprisingly, many developers did not reinvent the wheel and simply copied most of the applications, including their counterparts in their own packages. MS Office itself contains several main applications, among which Word, Excel and Access are most often used.
If we talk specifically about text documents, Word is the progenitor of the DOC / DOCX format, which is now supported by almost all third-party packages. However, the developers of this also did not stand aside and eventually introduced into their editor the ability to work with formats that differ from the standard, which are used by default by other developers.
After all, if you look, for example, at the possibility of opening or saving a text document, you can even find support for PDF files here. But more on that later.
Actually, Office itself can be downloaded and installed completely free of charge, the only thing you need is a product activation key. This does not stop anyone, because it can be produced using a small utility called KMS Activator. Other free packages do not have this mandatory activation or registration requirement.
Alternative developments
At the dawn of the development of office programs, MS Office occupied a leading position, since its creators were able to include programs for working with documents of completely different types in a single set, which made it possible to create a tool for working with them, as they say now, the all-in-one standard ".
Nevertheless, it turned out to be impossible to hold leadership for too long, since quite serious competitors appeared on the market. First, the Lotus Pro package became such, and a little later, another serious development called Open Office appeared. By the way, many experts call this package not only a direct competitor to Microsoft, but also draw users' attention to the fact that it has some additional tools that standard MS Office does not have.
The simplest text editors
But let's focus on text files, which are the most common in workflow today. For viewing and information, the simplest, as it seems to many, applications like Notepad, which is included in the standard Windows set, can be used. Yes, indeed, in Notepad you can work exclusively with text, just like it was in Norton Commander under DOS systems. Everything here is almost the same, only Notepad has a graphical shell. It goes without saying that there is no need to talk about any text formatting, design or insertion of additional objects.
But few people know that it is Notepad and programs for working with text-type documents like it that support the syntax of most programming languages known today, so programmers and application developers prefer to work with such editors.
Standard programs for working with Word documents
Now a few words about and its analogues. Consider an example where a user has a "clean" system on their computer. If anyone does not know, the office suite is not included in the original Windows set, it must be installed separately. Therefore, many do not even realize that the system has a free program for working with Word documents (it is “embedded” in the system).
We are talking about the application WordPad (Viewer). You can open and view Word files in it, but there are no special features for editing the document. Uncomfortable, sure, but better than nothing.
However, in the absence of Word, you can open such a text file in another way. Adobe Reader, Acrobat or Acrobat Reader will help with this. Any such program for working with text documents containing graphics allows you to open files of almost any text format or import their contents. Depending on the type of application, the editing options also differ, but even if there is no such tool, you can view the files anyway.
Conclusion
Of course, it is simply impossible to consider all office-type applications. However, even with regard to Word documents or text files, it can be noted that working with them can be quite simple. If there is absolutely nothing at hand, you can view these types of files even using the most common web browsers, not to mention saving them with the ability to edit in "cloud" services. By the way, many of them make it possible to simultaneously make changes that are automatically displayed to all users currently connected to a remote editor on the server.
There are many different programs on our computer. Some of them we use often, while others we work extremely rarely or never at all. But there are those in the computer that you just need to know and be able to use. And one of them is the Microsoft Word program.
Of course, if you use your computer only for playing games and communicating on the Internet, then you can safely do without Word. But in this case, you can hardly be called a confident user. After all, a confident user is one who knows how to perform basic operations on a computer (create a folder, copy, delete) and work with popular programs, including Word and Excel.
By the way, when an employer requires knowledge of a PC from an employee, this means, first of all, knowledge of Microsoft Word.
What is Word
Microsoft Word is a program for printing text and compiling documents. Simply put, it is used for printing.
You can type any type of text in it: an article, a document, an essay, a term paper, a diploma, and even a book. Also in this program, you can beautifully design the text - add a picture or photo to it, highlight its parts with different colors, change the font, letter size and much more. And in Microsoft Word, you can create a table, print an announcement or make a poster. Plus, the printed can be output to paper, that is, printed on a printer.
Word is a white sheet of paper that you can immediately type on using your computer keyboard. Moreover, this is not one sheet of paper: if you need to print a lot of text, and it does not fit on one sheet, the program will automatically add more sheets. You can also edit the printed text: change the size of letters, font, style, and much more. There are special buttons for this in Word.
How to open the Word program
Look at the desktop, that is, at the screen of your computer. You may see this icon on it:
This icon opens the Word program.
If there is no such icon on the Desktop, click on the "Start" button in the lower left corner of the screen.
A list will open. Click on the item "Programs" (All programs).
It may seem that printing documents is a simple process that does not require additional programs, because everything you need to print is in any text editor. In fact, the possibilities of transferring text to paper can be greatly expanded with the help of additional software. This article will describe 10 such programs.
FinePrint is a small program that is installed on a computer as a printer driver. It can be used to print a document in the form of a book, booklet, or brochure. Its settings allow you to slightly reduce ink consumption when printing and set a custom paper size. The only downside is that FinePrint comes with a fee.
pdfFactory Pro
pdfFactory Pro is also integrated into the system under the guise of a printer driver, the main task of which is to quickly convert a text file to PDF format. It allows you to set a password on a document and protect it from being copied or edited. pdfFactory Pro is distributed for a fee and you will need to purchase a product key to get the full list of features.
Print Conductor
Print Conductor is a separate program that solves the problem of printing a large number of different documents at the same time. Its main function is the ability to compile a print queue, while it is able to transfer absolutely any text or graphic file to paper. This makes Print Conductor stand out from the rest as it supports 50 different formats. Another feature is that the version for personal use is completely free.
Green Cloud Printer
GreenCloud Printer is an ideal option for those who are trying their best to save on consumables. Everything is here to reduce the consumption of ink and paper when printing. In addition to this, the program maintains statistics on saved materials, provides the ability to save the document in PDF or export to and . Of the shortcomings, only a paid license can be noted.
priPrinter
priPrinter is a great program for those who need to print an image in color. It has a huge number of tools for working with pictures and a built-in printer driver, with which the user is able to see how the print on paper will look like. priPrinter has one drawback that unites it with the above programs - it is a paid license, and the free version has significantly limited functionality.
CanoScan Toolbox
CanoScan Toolbox is a program specially designed for Canon's CanoScan and CanoScan LiDE series scanners. With its help, the functionality of such devices is greatly increased. There are two templates for scanning documents, the ability to convert to PDF format, scanning with OCR, fast copying and printing, and much more.
PRINTING BY BOOK
PRINT BY BOOK is an unofficial plugin that installs directly into . It allows you to quickly create a book version of a document created in a text editor and print it. Compared to other programs of this type, PRINT BOOK is the most convenient to use. In addition, it has additional settings for headers and footers. Distributed completely free of charge.
Book Printer
Book Printer is another program that allows you to print a book version of a text document. If you compare it with other similar programs, it is worth noting that it only prints on A5 sheets. She creates books that are convenient to take with you on trips.
SSC Service Utility
SSC Service Utility can be called one of the best programs that is designed exclusively for Epson inkjet printers. It is compatible with a huge list of such devices and allows you to constantly monitor the status of cartridges, perform cartridge tuning, clean steam generators, perform automatic actions for safe cartridge replacement and much more.
WordPage
WordPage is an easy-to-use utility that is designed to quickly calculate the print queue of sheets in order to create a book. She can also split one text into several books as needed. If you compare it with other similar software, then WordPage provides the least number of options for printing books.
This article describes programs that allow you to greatly expand the printing capabilities of text editors. Each of them was created for a specific purpose or for certain devices, so it would be useful to combine their work. This will allow you to overcome the disadvantage of one program with the advantage of another, which will significantly improve print quality and save on consumables.
We suggest you download a wonderful program called priPrinter. This software, which many also call a virtual printer, is a high-quality and reliable document printing driver. If you download and install the program for free, then printing documents with priPrinter will turn into a real art. Making changes to ready-made layouts, prepress, virtual printing - all this can be done quickly and easily, without installing expensive computer products.
If you download priPrinter to print documents, you will notice some features in the program. For example, the utility can adjust to the path of the document before starting the printing process on a real printer. A new dialog box is automatically launched, where you can edit the text and make certain adjustments. Magnifying glass effect, zooming, poster and brochure layout, duplex printing, number of sheets per page, inserting additional graphics, precise page cropping, adjusting the look - all these and many other effects can be applied to the page before printing documents.
You just need to download and install the priPrinter program to enjoy printing documents. The software boasts a beautiful and attractive interface, which is made in the style of Microsoft Office programs. It is also worth remembering that the utility has an official Russian translation, so working with the application will be very simple and interesting for everyone, even people who are unfamiliar with foreign languages.
Free download software for printing documents priPrinter
To download and install priPrinter, you do not need to put in much effort. But there will be a lot of benefits from this program for printing documents. The functionality of the application allows you to correct the document before the start of the printing process. Your file will be displayed in the window, and this will be done in a convenient and understandable way. Users get the opportunity to evaluate exactly how the text will look after printing, whether there will be any displacement or page shifts. If you wish, you can arrange pages by placing any number of pages of the document on one sheet, as well as in a different order.
It is also recommended to download a program to process various text fragments. For example, there is a wonderful feature of watermarking, you can choose any mark and create it on each page so that everyone has an idea who is the developer of this document. Adding new pages, removing ads if there are any, pagination in any order - all this can be done by an application for printing documents. You just have to download the software for free and make sure of all its positive qualities. The program will not disappoint you.
The presence in the arsenal of home appliances, along with a computer, is also a printer today is becoming almost the norm. For the most part, only ordinary word documents are printed on home printers, moreover, directly from Microsoft Word and in their "natural" form - that is, the pages are output sequentially one after another and there is exactly one page on each sheet. However, with equal success, a home printer can be used to print ordinary documents in a more complex presentation (for example, in the form of brochures or booklets), as well as to print large-format documents and photographs, or printed projects generated from them, such as calendars and postcards. This is not difficult to implement, though you will have to acquire a specialized application that would allow you to quickly and effortlessly obtain high-quality prints. What? It depends on the tasks facing the user, from the perspective of which we will consider software solutions.
Printing pictures
If you are an amateur photographer and often resort to printing photos, then you should get a specialized utility - with the help of such utilities, you can print pictures in a given format much easier and faster. To do this, you just need to specify the photos (they can even be in different sources), determine the size of the frames and the option for placing them on the sheet by selecting the desired template, if necessary, correct the placement of the photos on the layout, swapping them and cropping and sending to print. Moreover, sometimes such solutions provide the opportunity not only to print pictures according to a template, but also to create collages, posters, calendars, postcards, etc. on their basis, and in a matter of minutes. As an example of such solutions, we stopped at paid programs ACD FotoSlate, ArcSoft PhotoPrinter, Pics Print, PhotoCool, Photo Print Pilot and PrintStation and free MultiPrint. The most functional of them is ACD FotoSlate, which stands out for its huge number of built-in templates (there are 450 of them) and, in fact, is a cross between a utility for printing pictures and a multi-profile program for preparing a wide variety of printed projects. All other solutions are more focused on printing photos in popular formats (9x12, 10x14, 10x15, 13x18, 15x20, etc.), although some of them also have a certain set of more complex templates (rather than those in which pictures are simply placed based on the specified photo format). However, in any case, using any of these utilities will make it easier to print multiple pictures on one sheet of paper. Table 1. Functionality of programs for printing picturesACD FotoSlate 4.0
Developer: ACD Systems Ltd.Distribution size: 14.3 MB
Spreading: Shareware ACD FotoSlate is a complete solution for printing digital photos at home. This program supports all popular image formats (BMP, EMF, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TIFF, etc.) and allows you to print photos in popular formats, including 4x6, 5x7, 10x15, 11x17 and 13x17. And create spectacularly designed collages, posters, calendars, postcards, scrapbooks, labels for CDs and DVDs, etc. based on pictures. Also, the program can be used to adjust the color profiles of the printer, scanner and monitor, which allows you to get rich, realistic color reproduction at all stages of photo processing. The demo version of the program (there is no Russian-language localization) is fully functional and operational for 30 days. The commercial version costs $29.99. The fastest and easiest way to create a printed project in ACD FotoSlate is to use the services of a wizard that automatically starts when you load the program, which will follow all stages of its preparation. This option is limited to using one of the built-in project types, but the external design of the project can then be adjusted if necessary.
When using this option, click the "Start a project wizard" button and answer the wizard's questions in good faith. Here, at first you will need to select the desired type of project (photo album, postcard, calendar, etc.), and then specify the page orientation and design style.
Then the desired images are loaded into the template of interest, manually placing them in the designated areas. In this case, images can be added to the project from hard disk folders, scanners and digital cameras. Pictures inserted into the template can be easily rotated, mirrored, cropped and improved by color correction, sharpening, or vice versa blurring. It is possible to apply sepia effects to images and carry out color colorization, as well as adding a border and / or frame, and borders and frames can be added immediately to all images of the project, which significantly speeds up its preparation.
Well, if the appearance of the template is not entirely satisfactory, then it is not a problem to correct it - just select the "Adjust Page" command from the context menu and make the necessary changes in the template editor that opens. For example, move existing areas, change their size, delete some of them or, conversely, add new areas of the desired shape, as well as embed text and/or calendar objects.
A few more possibilities when creating a project based on the editable templates included in the delivery (there are as many as 450 of them!). In this case, when starting the program, click on the "Create a new project wizard" button or create a new project with the File > New > "Create custom project" command. In both cases, a page style selection window will open, where you will need to select the appropriate option. Further technology here will be completely identical to the one discussed above - that is, you will need to add images to the project and place them in the designated areas, correcting them if necessary.
If none of the existing templates suits you in principle, then you can create a template from scratch through the Page Designer module (Designer button) - it will take a little longer, but you can completely independently determine the external structure of the template and the design of all project pages. There are no tricks here - select the Designer > "Create Page" command, press the New button in the window that opens, set the page parameters, and then embed areas for images of the desired shape and size on it and place them on the page to your liking. At the end of the work, the template is saved in the template library, and in the future it can be used in the preparation of printed projects.
It is possible to create projects in the paper saver mode "Paper Saver", which provides automatic layout on each sheet of the maximum possible number of images, which helps to reduce the cost of expensive photo paper. Upon completion of the preparation of the project, it is printed (Print button), however, projects can also be saved in the program's own format for further work, exported to BMP, JPG or TIFF graphic formats, or saved in PDF format.
ArcSoft PhotoPrinter 5.0
Developer: ArcSoft Inc.Distribution size: 18.2 MB
Spreading: Shareware ArcSoft PhotoPrinter is a convenient and very easy-to-learn solution for printing images. The program allows you to work with images in a variety of formats and can adjust print settings for most brands of photo paper (Kodak, Avery, Epson, Canon, HP, etc.), which is very important when using compatible consumables, and a special wizard allows you to optimally adjust the color printer profile for high quality results. There is support for all standard photo size formats, including 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 9x15, 11x17, etc. The demo version of the program (no Russian localization) is fully functional and operational for 15 days. The commercial version costs $49.99. Creating print projects in ArcSoft PhotoPrinter is based on the use of built-in templates, for the most part based on standard photo size formats and automatically determining options for placing images on a sheet of paper, taking into account these same sizes. First, pictures are added to the project ("Select Photo" tab), which can be taken not only from the hard disk, but also imported directly from digital cameras, scanners and memory cards, it is even possible to capture frames for printing from video files.
Then, on the "Preview & Print" tab, the desired template is selected, as well as the printer and brand of photo paper, as a result of which the images are automatically placed. If necessary, the pictures can be swapped, but changing their size and position on the sheet is not provided in this method.
Using the built-in editing tools, it is easy to perform simple transformations on the images involved in the project, the list of which includes cropping, rotating, mirroring, scaling, automatic color correction and red-eye removal. It is also envisaged to add borders to photos (however, the list of borders is small), carry out color colorization and introduce arbitrary text fragments into projects.
It is also possible to develop projects from scratch (project type "Photo Collage"), when the number of pictures on a sheet of paper, their size and position are determined by the user. However, no really interesting collages can be created here due to the limited list of borders and the lack of masks, which is usually necessary to combine a series of pictures into collages. In other words, the only advantage of this method of preparing a project is setting atypical photo sizes. You can also prepare projects in paper saving mode.
Printed projects are usually printed immediately, however, if necessary, they can be saved in the program's own format or exported to popular graphic formats (BMP, JPG, TIFF, GIF, PCX, etc.).
PicsPrint 3.22
Developer:Distribution size: 6.55 MB
Spreading: shareware Pics Print - a program for printing photos. With its help, it is easy to quickly prepare the desired printed project, using the appropriate template, and get a quality print of the required size. Templates allow you to print pictures, as well as create greeting cards, calendars, photo album pages or posters from them (up to huge images that take up 20x20 ordinary pages). The program works with most graphic formats (GIF, JPG, BMP, PSD, TIF, TIFF, PCX, PNG, etc.) and supports all standard photo size formats, including 5x7, 6x9, 8x10, 8x12, etc. However, the interface is very poorly thought out, and the project preparation process, in our opinion, is inconvenient and requires much more effort than in other products reviewed. And the possibilities cannot be compared with the functionality of ACD FotoSlate, although this clearly does not follow from the overview table. For example, the several templates available are, in fact, only examples of what templates can be in principle, and in reality, effective templates will have to be created independently. Design options are minimal - in particular, there are built-in borders, but they don’t cause delight (again, you will have to connect your own), you can add text, but you can’t make it on a transparent background, etc. The demo version of the program (there is no Russian-language localization) is fully functional and operational for 30 days. The commercial version costs $39.5. There are several ways to create projects in Pics Print. You can use the wizard. To do this, simply select the command File > "New Document", click on the Wizard button and specify the project type. And then honestly answer the wizard's questions regarding printer and paper settings and select images. Images for a project can be taken from hard disk folders or imported from a camera or scanner.
The resulting project can be edited. In terms of editing images (items > Edit command), they can be rotated, aligned (in relation to each other or the page) and cropped, it is also possible to get rid of red-eye, color correction and sharpening.
Images can be enhanced with borders - the number of built-in framing options is small, but can be expanded with custom borders. You can change the orientation, format, margins, etc. of the page (Page menu). It is also allowed to embed text and calendar objects on the pages.
Another way to create a project is by template. Then, after launching the project preparation process (command File > "New Document"), you need to select the Templates option and specify the project type.
And then perform the same operations that were described above, so we did not see any fundamental difference between these two methods of creating printed projects, and it is not clear why it was necessary to come up with not one, but two methods of preparation.
It is also possible to create projects from scratch (File > "New Document" command, "Blank Layout" button). In this case, all the necessary images are added to the project sequentially, and their size and position are manually adjusted, which is not allowed with other methods of creating a project. Finished printed designs can be printed immediately, saved as templates, exported as images in popular graphic formats or as PDF.
PhotoCool 2.01
Developer: UssunDistribution size: 5.06 MB
Spreading: Shareware PhotoCool is a handy program for fast image printing. It supports major graphic formats and prints pictures in popular formats (including 3.5x5, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, etc.). The demo version of the program (there is no Russian localization), which adds watermarks to printed images, is operational for 30 days. The cost of the commercial version is $29.95. The technology for preparing projects in PhotoCool does not cause any difficulties. When you start the program, the window for selecting the page layout method is automatically launched, it can also be called up by clicking on the "Change Page Layout" button. Here you can set one of three layout modes: Munual, "Contact Sheet" or "By Size". If the first method is chosen, the entire project setup falls on the shoulders of the user, who will have to manually determine the position and size of images, align them, etc. The "Contact Sheet" method allows you to print images arranged on a page in columns and Size" - set images to one of the popular print formats (3.5x5, 4x6, etc.).
After choosing the layout method, the desired images are embedded in the project (they can be loaded from a hard disk, scanner or digital camera), which is done by simply dragging and dropping images from the built-in viewer window. To get into the viewer, you need to press the F10 key.
Images loaded into the project are easy to correct (for example, via the context menu) - they can be rotated, mirrored, supplemented with frames, borders and captions. In addition, there is a built-in editor, access to which opens when an image is selected and the "Edit Image" command is selected from the context menu. The editor allows cropping and color correction, as well as improving the appearance of the image by blurring, sharpening, removing red-eye and colorization. When creating a project in the Munual mode, you can additionally move images freely, change their sizes, and also change the order of imposing images on top of each other.
The finished project is printed (Print button) or saved in the program's own format.
Photo Print Pilot 1.2
Developer: Two PilotsDistribution size: 2.6 MB
Spreading: Shareware Photo Print Pilot - a simple and convenient program for printing photos. It supports major image formats (BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF) and includes 16 templates to print photos in popular formats (including 9x12, 10x14, 10x15, 13x18, 15x20, and more). There are no frills (like adding spectacular frames, creating collages, calendars, etc.) in this program, but you can print photos according to a simple template, after rotating and cropping them if necessary, without any problems. The demo version of the program (there is a Russian-language localization) is functionally limited - a notification is added to the photo print and only the first page of the project is allowed to be printed. The cost of the commercial version is 300 rubles. Printing pictures with Photo Print Pilot is a breeze, as everything is clearly controlled by the wizard. First you need to specify the desired pictures by moving them from the "Available Images" area to the "Selected Images" area - you can add pictures only from the hard disk.
In the next step, you will need to create a printed project (the "Place on the layout" button) - that is, if necessary, change the printer and sheet format, select the layout template and click on the "Create" button. As a result, the photos will be placed in accordance with the specified template.
Then the images on the layout can be swapped by simply dragging them with the mouse (correcting the position of images in the selected template is not allowed), rotate and crop them. You can also set up adding dates when printing (on all or only selected sheets). But somehow it will not be possible to improve the appearance of the pictures (for example, add a frame, carry out color correction, eliminate the red-eye effect, etc.) in this solution, so you will have to carry out such operations in advance in some other suitable program.
At the end of the preparation of the project, it remains just to click the "Print" button. It is not possible to save a printed project for further use in this program.
PrintStation 3.22
Developer: Picmeta SystemsDistribution size: 3.33 MB
Spreading: Shareware PrintStation is a program for fast image printing. The program can work with images in a variety of graphic formats and allows you to print pictures placed on the page in columns and columns. The demo version of the program (there is no Russian localization) is operational for 15 days and is almost fully functional, but does not allow you to export projects to graphic formats. The cost of the commercial version is $35. To create a printed project in PrintStation, the user first needs to select and mark the images of interest to him (the "Mark Selected Files" button). Source images are loaded from the hard disk through the built-in browser, which allows not only viewing images (including in full-format mode), but also performing operations that are allowed through Windows Explorer: renaming, copying, etc.
Then you need to click on the "Create Layout" button and specify the number of columns and columns, as well as the distance between the images, or enter the required image sizes - in principle, you can not do this, but use one of the six built-in templates. As a result, the program independently scales the pictures and arranges them on the page in an optimal way. Images embedded in a project can be framed and a shadow and free text can be added to them (at the top or bottom of the page, as well as above and below each of the photos). You can set a colored background. However, no framing or any other transformations are provided in the program, so all such operations must be carried out in other solutions.
The created projects are printed out or exported to popular graphic formats or PDF format, unfortunately, problems with Cyrillic are not ruled out in the generated PDF documents. It is possible to save projects in the program's own format.
MultiPrint 4.00.11
Developer: M.W. GraphicsDistribution size: 157 KB; you may need to download additional libraries (970 KB)
Spreading: Free MultiPrint is a very simple and compact photo printing software that supports all popular image formats including BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF and PCX. The program (there is no Russian localization) can be downloaded and used completely free of charge. With MultiPrint, you can easily and quickly print one or more pictures on one sheet of paper. The technology is as follows - images are loaded one by one from the hard disk and manually placed on the page in the desired way, the size, orientation and position of the images are adjusted by the user. For ease of placement, rulers and a grid are provided. The finished project is immediately printed, it is impossible to save it.
