More and more people are using mobile devices to process digital documents since they always seem to have their smartphone and tablet on them all the time. However, having many different file formats means requiring a lot of different apps to open these documents.

If we can bank on just one file format, however, PDF is probably the best choice as it is a stable file format that allows you to read text and images as they are.

There are already plenty of apps you can use to view PDF on your mobile devices but what about converting these files into PDF on the device itself? Well, that’s what this post is for! Check out these 10 free apps to convert PDF on your smartphone or tablet, be it iOS or Android. If you have more, do share them with us in the comments section.

Recommended Reading: Mastering PDF: 80 Free Tools, Tips And Resources

1. Able2Extract PDF Converter

Able2Extract PDF Converter is a free cross-platform app which allows you to create PDF documents from MS Office documents. It also lets you convert PDF documents to PowerPoint, Word, and Excel in just two simple taps. Converted files can be stored on your local phone storage so you can easily use or share them via other apps.

Platform: iOS | Android

2. File Converter

Convert most of your files on your smartphone and tablet with this app. The conversion will be done in a secure Cloud and converted files can be downloaded back to the app. Supported file formats include video, documents, audio, ebooks, images and archives, and over 100 source formats are supported.

Platform: iOS | Android | BlackBerry

3. To PDF

To PDF is a free iPad app that convert iWorks and MS Office documents, web pages, emails, images, contacts, SMS, clipboard content and even Dropbox content to PDF format. Besides that you can also use its extra features to annotate, organize and share PDF files.

Platform: iOS

4. iFiles Converter Lite

iFiles Converter Lite lets you convert documents to PDF right on your iPhone. You can easily import files from online storage like Dropbox, Google Drive or other cloud storage applications. Supported file formats include MS Office documents, iWorks documents, HTML pages, pictures and text files.

Platform: iOS

5. DocAS Lite

DocAS Lite is an all-in-one PDF app which allows you to read, convert, annotate and manage PDF documents right on your iPad. It has a built-in PDF converter that converts MS Office documents, iWorks document, HTML and text format to PDF.

Platform: iOS

6. Doc Scan

Here’s one that turns your hard copy into PDF. Doc Scan turns your hard copy documents into PDF format with your iPhone or iPad. Simply take a picture of your hard copy documents, scan it with the app, and convert the image into a high-resolution PDF on the fly.

Platform: iOS

7. DocToPDF

DocToPDF is an Android app that converts doc, docx, xls, xlsx, rtf and txt file formats to PDF. You can then share the converted PDF documents via email or bluetooth. There’s also a built-in PDF viewer that lets you to view and check the converted PDF file.

Platform: Android

8. Office Converter

Want to convert MS Office documents on your Android phone? Try Office Converter. It converts Word, Excel and PowerPoint file formats to PDF documents. However, conversion will be done online so an Internet connection is required. You can also add password protection to your converted PDF files.

Platform: Android

9. Web to PDF

Web to PDF is an add-on for the Dolphin browser that allows users to convert a webpage to PDF file, view or share it anytime.

Platform: Android

10. PDF Converter

PDF Converter is a lightweight app that converts any document into a PDF file. Conversion is done on a server and converted PDF documents will be saved on your SD Card storage in the "Download" folder.

Platform: Android

More

1. URL to PDF – URL to PDF app converts a webpage to PDF file easily. All you need to do is just copy the URL and paste into the app. [iOS]
2. PDF2Office – PDF2Office converts PDF documents to Text files and makes them editable on the iPad. [iOS]
3. Excel to PDF Converter – Convert all your Excel files to high-res PDF format easily with Excel to PDF Converter. [Android]
4. Doc to PDF Converter – Doc to PDF Converter supports .doc and .jpg format to convert into PDF format. [Android]
5. Open Office to PDF Converter – Want to convert OpenOffice file formats into high-quality PDF format? Try this app. [Android]
6. Mobile Doc Scanner – MDScan scans your documents and transform them into PDF format, right with your Android phone. [Android]
7. Text to PDF Converter – This app is specifically made to convert Text files to PDF format in offline mode. [Android]
8. Word To PDF – This apps converts .doc, .docx, .odt, .ott and .rtf to PDF. [Android]

In this third part (click here for Part 1 and Part 2), we are going to continue our discussion on creating and inserting new element with jQuery. We have disccussed how to use the jQuery functions before() and after() to insert a new element before or after the specified element.

jQuery provides two similar functions. They are insertBefore() and insertAfter(), which sometimes lead to some confusion in their usage. How do these functions compare to before() and after()?

What’s the difference?

Both of these functions, before() and insertBefore() or insert() and insertAfter() are essentially does the same thing. But how they are executed is reversed. Let’s take a look at the following example for the detail.

We have HTML list, like so.

 <ul id="list"> <li class="list-1">Ut enim ad minim veniam.</li> <li class="list-2">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.</li> <li class="list-3">Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit.</li> <li class="list-4">Sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit.</li> <li class="list-5">Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident.</li> </ul> 

Using the .after() we can write it this way to insert a new <li> element after the second list.

 $('.list-2').after('<li class="new-elem">Hello World! This is the new element.</li>'); 

The code above will first tell jQuery to search for .list-2 and it will insert the new element afterwards. Using the .insertAfter() function, the opposite will be carried out. We will first create the new element then search the target container where the element should be inserted.

 $('<li class="new-elem">Hello World! This is the new element.</li>').insertAfter('.list-2'); 

As mentioned, these functions will give us the same results, essentially.

Repositioning Element

Reather than create new elements, we can also reposition the existing elements in the document using these functions. Given the same HTML structure above, we can write it in this way to move, for example, the .list-1 to the bottom with .after() function.

 $('.list-5').after($('.list-1');); 

Or using .insertAfter() function, we can write it this way.

 $('.list-1').insertAfter('.list-5'); 

They will return the same result, as shown in the following screenshot.

The same functionality also goes to .before() and .insertBefore().

Final Thought

Which function should be used, would depend on a case-by-case situation. Sometimes we might have to use insertAfter() and there are times when using after() is not a viable option.

Lastly, we have come to the end of our jQuery series, Creating and Inserting New Element. We hope that this can be a helpful reference for you. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for our next jQuery session.