Insert Pages Dialog and Extract Pages Dialog Suggestions

[jeffp]

Your Insert Pages and Extract Pages Dialogs are very useful. I have a couple of comments to make them even more so.


INSERT PAGES DIALOG

In the "Destination" section:

1. In the Page text box, pre-populate the number with the Current/Selected Page. This is very important. If inserting into the middle of the document, a user will first select the page thumbnail of the page where the new doc should be inserted, then click insert pages. As such, the Page text box should be pre-populated with the selected page. This would be extremely helpful and eliminate an extra mouse click into the text box and the typing of the new number.

2. Remember the last value set for the Location property when Page was selected. It defaults to Before, but if I set it to After, I'd expect it to remember that the next time I open the dialog.

For #1, you could go one step further. I would submit that if a user wanted to insert based on a Page (as opposed to First Page or Last Page), they would want the inserted document to follow (go After) the selected page. As such, if on opening the Insert Dialog the default Location is After, then you would set Page to the Selected Page. But if the default Location is Before, then you would set Page to Selected Page + 1.

EXTRACT PAGES DIALOG

1. In the Options section, add a new option called "Extract Pages As One Separate File". It is very common to want to extract multiple pages out of an existing document and save them all together in one file. In fact, I'd would submit that this is more common that saving each page out to a separate file.

2. We had a "Split" concept in our old program before we decided to use your ViewerAx. Our users found it very useful. This idea is similar to page extraction, but allowed the user to select a page and then split the document in two parts either before or after the selected page. Perhaps this could be worked in as a new Page Range option. Something like "Split: Current Page and All Pages After". Or alternatively and perhaps even better, add a checkbox that says "Split" which when checked would disable all the Page Range choices, but check Pages and populate the Pages box with the Current Page plus a dash ("3-"). I know you can say, just type "3-" into the Pages box, but we've found many users don't get that too well, and they quickly reconginze the word "Split" and what it entails.

3. Add an "Unstack" concept without having to save to file. Your Extract Pages As Separate Files will unstack the Page Range and save them to separate files, but you can't unstack the Page Range into the Editor (ie, without going to file).


We've found that many of our small office users employ the concepts of insert pages and extract pages all the time. As such, you'd be amazed at how cutting out a few mouse clicks and remembering the last sessions in these dialogs can add to their productivity.

Again, just my 2 cents worth that I hope you find helpful. Thanks for your consideration.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Thanks for the suggestions jeffp,

I must confess every time I use insert pages I think to my self I wish this would remember my choices from last time. Then I move on to doing other things... Your comments have been noted and a feature Request formally submitted. What comes of this will be up to the dev team to decide.

Thanks again for the feedback.