If there's one file type that lands in my in-box more than any other, it is PDFs. I typically have to download them to my desktop, open them in a PDF reader, and choose where to store them. Not any more. I can open them directly in Google Docs and store them online.

Eric Ogren, Contributor

June 19, 2008

1 Min Read

If there's one file type that lands in my in-box more than any other, it is PDFs. I typically have to download them to my desktop, open them in a PDF reader, and choose where to store them. Not any more. I can open them directly in Google Docs and store them online.The number of PDFs I receive is really ridiculous. Since I like to keep them (just in case), they usually end up in a folder on my hard drive. I could offload them to an optical disk, but I'd rather store them online where I always have access to them. Now I can.

Though you can't download/open PDFs from Gmail directly into Google Docs (Google, I hope you're working on that one...), you can upload PDFs from your PC or from the Web to Google Docs. You can then open them in Google Docs, and while you can't edit them, you can at least select text to copy and paste. And what's cooler is you can share PDFs just like any other Google Document in your account.

There are some limits. Uploads from your PC can't exceed 10 MB, and uploads from other Web sites can't exceed 2 MB.

Not the biggest upgrade in usability, but a welcome one nonetheless.

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