deskUNPDF
DeskUNPDF stumbles with complex formatting
PDF converter supplies organized documents from simple files, but can't handle spreadsheets.
Overall:
Converts simple PDFs effectively; spreadsheet conversion unusable
Documentation:
Well-defined documentation; easy-to-follow user guide; plenty of tutorials and videos
Usability:
Easy to install, navigate; well-designed interface; sometimes sluggish
Community:
Small community on social media; no user forum
Performance:
Performs well on basic conversion needs; requires more effort for other tasks
Although deskUNPDF is capable of a few simple tasks, using the program to convert documents into spreadsheets creates more problems than it solves.
The converter stumbled in every one of our tests, producing multiple pages instead of one spreadsheet. This problem makes sorting and filtering a tedious challenge that requires manual navigation.
Larger files also affected performance. A test with a 163-page lined document proved troublesome. Instead of converting the PDF file into one spreadsheet, the program took 35 minutes to create multiple pages that were cluttered and difficult to read.
We reached out to the company for help solving these problems, but have not heard back.
There are benefits of using deskUNPDF for simple tasks. The learning curve is low and it converts most PDFs quickly into other formats.
Installation is speedy and the user guide gives easy-to-follow set-up guidelines. The interface is also well designed and selecting a source PDF and choosing an output format, including Microsoft Office, image and Web, transforms the file into the specified format.
These issues make deskUNPDF useful for plain files but not more demanding documents like spreadsheets or files with embedded or damaged fonts. For the $59.99 price, the software isn't well suited for the journalist's toolkit
Product:
//Company:
//Version Tested:
2012
//Release Date:
2012
//OS Tested:
//Cost:
$59.99
//Open Sourced:
No
//Demo Available:
Yes
//Obsolete:
No
How deskUNPDF performed on our tests
Verdict:
Not recommended for large PDF files with unlined tables
DeskUNPDF manages to convert unlined tabular report, results not useful
DeskUNPDF created a spreadsheet with headings and clearly lined sections from an unlined table of political appointments, but output spread over multiple pages makes it unhelpful at best.
READ OUR FULL TEST RESULT »Verdict:
Usable results, but multiple-page output a pain
DeskUNPDF converts data well, but multiple spreadsheets hamper output
DeskUNPDF produced an error-free conversion of this housing violations database into a spreadsheet like a pro. The problem is that the software created not just one spreadsheet but 47 from a 50-page document.
READ OUR FULL TEST RESULT »Verdict:
Produces spreadsheet, but text is useless
DeskUNPDF can't handle embedded font
Converting a PDF filled with unusual fonts tripped up the deskUNPDF program. Instead of a sortable, organized spreadsheet, the system produced a 1,052-page document packed with garbled text.
READ OUR FULL TEST RESULT »Verdict:
Results badly formatted, split across multiple sheets
DeskUNPDF fails with simple spreadsheet conversion
Tacking a 163-page, lined document results in sluggish conversion time and multiple cluttered spreadsheets that prove impossible to sort and filter.
READ OUR FULL TEST RESULT »Latest Reviews
-
Outwit Hub Pro can scrape almost any database, but learning curve steepens with complex datasets
-
Pdftotext excels at extracting data from conventional tables, stumbles with more complex tasks
-
For Monarch, high cost translates to unmatched spreadsheet conversion
-
DeskUNPDF stumbles with complex formatting
-
Helium Scraper a powerful extraction tool that rewards patience
Latest Tutorials
See more»
The Reporters' Lab welcomes relevant discussion from readers, but reserves the right to remove comments flagged as inappropriate or spam. The lab is not responsible for the content of user comments and cannot guarantee their accuracy.