A while back, I compiled a list of programs that I often use in conjunction with my writing activities. Here are a few more.
- ScanSoft PDF Converter. Like many people, I often receive PDF files that I need to refer to or use when writing a proposal or report. Although I can select and copy text from these files using Adobe Acrobat, I often find it easier to convert an entire PDF file to Word. That's what ScanSoft does. If you're working in Word, you can just open the PDF file you want to use and ScanSoft will convert it to a Word document. Then you can cut, paste, insert, or whatever to your heart's content. But if the PDF file you want to convert has been scanned, you're out of luck. I don't think there is any program that can convert a scanned PDF.
- Filehand Search. I found this nifty little program through one of the TechnoLawyer Mailing Lists. It finds files or documents on your computer when you can't recall something you wrote before, need to find it, and can't remember what file it's in. I usually search by a short phrase that I remembered writing for something or other, and Filehand comes up with the document and the excerpt from the file where the phrase was used. This works much much better than Windows XP search function, which is perfectly awful. And it's free -- can't beat that!
- TraxTime. It's not writing-related, but if you're a consultant, you need some way to keep track of your time on various projects. TraxTime has a punchclock that you click when beginning and ending work, and can generate various reports. I've used this program for many years. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't generate invoices. I've tried quite a few other programs that do generate invoices, but they either have too many bells and whistles, are too expensive, or are too complicated to use. So I've stuck with TraxTime.
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