Learning to use Tracker Software's PDF-Tools

[Olenda59]

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently started working more with PDFs and came across Tracker Software's PDF-Tools. It looks like a powerful suite for creating and editing PDFs, especially with all the automation options, but I’m still finding my way around it.

I’m particularly curious about building custom tools, doing batch conversions, and using the more advanced features like JavaScript actions or document processing workflows. But I have to admit, the interface feels a bit overwhelming at first, and most of the tutorials I’ve found are either very basic or assume you already know the software inside out.

Has anyone here followed a course or tutorial that really helped you understand how to use PDF-Tools more efficiently? Even a good written guide or a YouTube channel would be helpful. I'd also love to hear how others are using it in their daily work—whether it's for administrative tasks, document automation, or something else entirely.

Any tips or recommendations would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, Olenda59

Thank you for the post, To start I should mention we changed our company name back in 2023. Tracker-Software Products LTD is now PDF-XChange Co LTD! (With that said, there may still be some old references around our websites, so if you see somewhere mentioning it in the present tense, please do feel free to let us know).

The PDF-Tools UI can certainly be a bit overwhelming, it is a very powerful tool, and with that level of power comes a decently high barrier to entry. As a batch processing tool it is also capable of handling a very large volume of actions all at once. For this reason, I highly recommend always taking a "trial and error" approach to any process when using it.

• A mistake born from a lack of testing could result in irreversible redaction, or irremovable signature security across dozens (or more) of your documents. Having helped to make specialized tools which do that in the past, I will say that my "Number 1" takeaway is to always test with duplicates of any important files, and avoid overwriting the originals with any "potentially destructive" actions.

As you have said, we do offer some fairly basic coverage over processes like how to create your own custom tools, or configuring Folder monitors, but breaking each individual tool down piece by piece is enough that a full college course could likely be taught on it, and we sadly don't have the manpower to offer continually updated video/tutorial options on its capabilities.

You may find that the PDF-Tools product manual offers enough information on the individual functions for your needs, and if you have specific questions about certain actions after reviewing these pages, we would be very happy to extrapolate where possible, or try to assist in adjusting your custom tools to meet your specific needs!

As for your mention of Javascript, that alone IS enough of a can of worms that there are countless courses available online.

• PDF on the other hand, has a very specialized toolkit, which somewhat requires you have a decent working knowledge of JS (or at least programming in general) beforehand. If you have prior experience with JavaScript programming, than you should be good to go! At that point, the Adobe JS API reference manual is the best resource to learn about how JS Works in PDF, for the vast majority of PDF software that supports such actions.

Kind regards,