What to look for in an eCopy alternative or eCopy replacement
In This Article:
- An eCopy alternative should handle PDF conversion from a number of different formats
- To replace eCopy, a program should provide a PDF editor with both image editing tools and markup tools
- A eCopy alternative should provide easy ways to combine, split, insert, or extract PDF pages and files
- As long as you're replacing eCopy, consider addressing other parts of your workflow, like scanning and file organization
- Jump to our recommendation »
ECopy Alternative and Replacement Overview
Looking for a eCopy alternative or a eCopy replacement? You're not alone. Many offices are looking for an easier, more stable way to create and manipulate PDF files. But is there a viable eCopy alternative? Absolutely. And the alternative is FileCenter.
This article will discuss the key considerations when replacing eCopy and show you why we recommend FileCenter.
Handling PDF Conversions
When you're dealing with a PDF-heavy workflow, one of your primary concerns in looking for document management software to replace eCopy is PDF conversions. You need a solution that can easily convert many different kinds of file to PDF, and preferrably do it on-the-fly. What do we mean by that? Many software packages require you to open a file then print it to PDF, a process that requires multiple mouseclicks and a minute or longer. Instead, your eCopy replacement should allow you to quickly and conveniently convert just about any kind of file to PDF.
Replacing eCopy's PDF Editing Features
eCopy's biggest selling point is PDF editing and PDF file manipulation. We'll cover file manipulations in the next section. PDF editing involves a broad range of tasks. Consider the ones that you perform the most often, and make sure that they're not just included in your choice of eCopy replacement, but that they're easy to use and pack the power you need. A few common tasks: adding annotations and highlights, filling out PDF forms, stamping/watermarking, touching up scanned images, snapshotting part of a PDF page, digitally signing PDFs, and password-protecting PDFs.
An eCopy Alternative for PDF File Manipulations
A separate category to consider in your eCopy alternative is PDF file and page-level manipulations, like combining (stacking) PDFs, inserting one PDF file into the middle of another, splitting apart PDF documents, pulling pages out of a PDF into their own file, etc. Often these file-level manipulations are best performed outside of a PDF editor. For example, the best eCopy replacement would let you simply drag-and-drop PDF files on each other to combine them, or right-click on a PDF file to extract pages from it or split it into multiple files.
Going Beyond eCopy
As long as you're replacing eCopy, take a step back and look at your entire workflow. Are there other tasks which, ideally, could be done in the same interface where you edit your PDFs? One obvious example is scanning. Many PDF-intensive offices also do a large volume of scanning. In many cases, it makes sense for your scanning software to be tightly integrated with your PDF software. For instance, you could scan directly to PDF, then proceed with any annotations you need to perform, or you could scan additional pages into an existing PDF file. Another common task is file organization. If you could organize your PDFs together with your other files, and also have the option of working with them right in the organization structure (like combining or splitting PDFs right where they're stored), you could work with a higher level of efficiency. You need to consider the features that will address your workflow needs.
Recommended eCopy Alternative
Our recommendation for an eCopy alternative is FileCenter. In fact, FileCenter is more than just an eCopy replacement. It's a powerful, yet surprisingly simple, system that offers an assortment of timesaving features, like a built-in PDF editor, easy file-level PDF manipulations, one-click PDF editing, and thoughtful features like the ability to email any kind of file as a PDF attachment. Going even further, FileCenter document scanning software has a full set of powerful scanning tools, tightly integrated with the PDF features, and even offers file organization through a cabinet-like interface that users rave about. Join the discerning business users who are moving to FileCenter as a competitive eCopy alternative and replacement and discover a professional product designed around professional needs. Download a free trial today.
