Repository:

https://github.com/Swati4star/Images-to-PDF
23rd of February 2019 made it exactly one month and two weeks since I waited for an update from a project I care about.

Finally, I'm happy the long awaited release had been rolled out and that is the reason why I'm making this blog post.

Like I had said, it took the project owner 1 month and 2 weeks to release the latest version after the previous one. I'm glad it's finally here even though, it all looked liked the project was abandoned. That was how I felt. I don't know if others didn't feel the same.

I had already known something good was on the way because the project repository was getting lots of commits and replies.

Are you wondering what project am I referring to?
It's no other than Image-To-Pdf Converter.

Two months ago, I published a blog post where I introduced and explained its functions. In the post, I defined the project as a lightweight open source android application that converts images into a pdf file.

The project owner refers to it as follows:

Images to PDF Converter, JPG to PDF Converter, BMP to PDF Converter, PNG to PDF Converter, GIF to PDF Converter, Convert JPG to PDF, Convert to Pdf, PDF Converter, Convert JPG to PDF, JPG to PDF Document Converter.

I'm sure you already have an idea what the app does. But, just in case you still want to read more, here's the post “The Android APP Every Content Creator Should Have".

Update

The latest version of the app is V8.5.7 which was officially released on 23rd February 2019.

In the latest release, the project owner was able make the following changes;

• Added new feature to invert PDF colors

• Added more ways to split PDF

• Fixed crashes and improved PDF conversion performance.
  

1. The Journey Behind Invert Pdf Colors

The project owner was the initiator of this idea. On Oct 21, 2018, she committed on the project repository requesting if any contributor can help her with the development to invert pdf colors.
Shivamdhuria, one of the project contributors volunteered to take over the development.

Shivamdhuria submitted a pull request on the 13th of February 2019 which was later merged on 17th February 2019 after corrections were made by the project owner.

My views on the implemented feature after using it.

Locating this feature wasn't difficult for me not because, I have read the steps given by the project owner in the development request.
The developer committed and I quote;

Add an option in home page, as well as in navigation drawer with the title Invert PDF.

As you can see, the project owner decided to make it easy for anyone to locate the option.

What does Invert PDF color really mean?

Before I updated my app to test the new feature, I had already known what the function was like. I wasn't surprised with what I saw because, I expected it to swap colors between the PDF text and background color. And that was exactly what it did.

Invert PDF color is similar to changing app theme to dark in some other apps with theme option.

While I was using Invert PDF color option, I noticed the process needed to apply the color inversion is different and difficult when compared to changing themes on other apps.

Selecting dark theme on other apps instantly invert all black colors to white and vice versa. But, clicking on invert PDF color in IMAGE-TO-PDF will open another fragment where a pdf can be selected for color inverting.

I observed that the time needed to invert a PDF file depends on its size.

If the aim of the project owner on this feature is to increase users comfortability while using the app at night, because, inverting documents color reduces the amount of brightness/light being emitted from the screen at night, then, this is not the best option to use.

I would have preferred if there's an option to swap between light or dark theme. Just like the one in a project I reviewed 2 days back ago.

I don't even think there's any need for an option to change theme or invert colors in other to increase readability at night. Because, the latest Android OS comes with an option known as Eye care which can also be used if an app doesn't have option to change themes.

W. Clement Stone once said and I quote;

To every disadvantage there is a corresponding advantage.

My previous paragraph doesn't make the feature completely useless because while I was using it, I tried looking for the special reason the project owner decided to add this feature. Then, I found out it saves every inverted PDF in its history page.

All inverted PDF on history page can be accessed anytime or shared with other apps or users. This part of the feature was where I started appreciating the idea behind it.

I was able to share the inverted Pdf with my PC and viewed it with my web browser without issues.

I had been in search for ways to invert colors on my PC while reading. But, with this feature, I don't have to search anymore.

With the Invert PDF Color feature, I can comfortably read any inverted pdf file anytime of the day.

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2. More ways to split PDF

This was an idea again suggested by the project owner on Aug 28, 2018. In the previous version of this app, the split PDf option splits the selected PDF into PDFs of single page. But, the project owner is suggesting a way which allow users to select the page range in which they want to split PDF.

Shivamdhuria is here again to take up the development. He released a pull request on the 20th of February 2019 where he added an Edittext which fills in value automatically on selection for single page PDFs. Changing the edit text can help create any configuration of PDFs.

I have to give kudos to the developer for this feature. I could still remember the last time I tried splitting a pdf file with over 200 pages. The task took almost forever to complete. Also, I didn't need the whole 200 pages of the pdf. But, there wasn't any means I could split the pages I needed.

With the new option added to the splitting interface, I was able to split Pdf files pages by pages.

In the previous version of the app, users are not allowed to split their desired page from a PDF file.

Here's a pdf file I split. The original file consists of 53 pages and I decided to split the 53rd page.

One other reasons I love this feature is the fact that it doesn't alter the original Pdf file. Also, the split file can be shared with anyone or app.

The app in general do not have an in-app purchase or ads. It's far better than other PDF converters I have used.

I got more unique with the latest features added. Other converters do not have any of these options.

Upcoming features and bug fixes

There are more features coming. The project owner is busy suggesting features like;

• Add color picker in Filter Images section
• Add option to View images in Gallery in PDF to Images and Extract Images

While the reported bugs are;

• The title bar shows image selected count after pressing back
• History section shows wrong entry for Invert PDF
• App crashes when invalid input is entered into Split PDF Fragment

Which I am sure one for contributors will take care of.

Summary

In this blog post, I have been able to give the updates in the latest version of the app. I also shared my views and experiences towards the newly implemented features. I ended the article by updating my blog readers with the features they should be expecting.

Image-To-Pdf has been my default file converter ever since I came across it. I appreciate the fact that there are more features being implemented. I recommend it to any one reading this.

Thanks for reading my blog update.

Series Backlinks

PDF CONVERTER- The Android APP Every Content Creator Should Have