LegUpTools PDF to InDesign Converter: Conversation with Tom Robinson

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  Tom Robinson is the developer of the LegUpTools PDF to editable InDesign conversion app. Previously he has been owner/manager of a printing company, and partner in a company that developed a web-to-print template editing application. He specializes in projects that automate graphic design production and publishing, in both digital and print formats.

In this conversation, Tom talks about his LegUpTools PDF to InDesign converter.

Geetesh: Tom, can you tell us more about LegUpTools, and what motivated you to create this solution to create InDesign files from PDFs?

Tom: LegUpTools offers a PDF to editable InDesign converter, allowing anyone to upload a PDF file and receive a closely matched version as an editable InDesign file. The app is available on the LegUpTools site.

For several years, my job involved managing print projects for clients. I often received PDFs that weren’t suitable for print, so had to manually recreate them in InDesign to make them print-ready. When I finally had the time to build an app that converts PDF files to editable InDesign files, I knew it would be useful because it solved a problem I had faced. I named the company LegUpTools, as the converter gives designers a ‘leg-up’ by saving them time when they need to recreate or take apart a PDF file in InDesign.

Geetesh: What sort of PDFs can be used to convert to InDesign files? Also, can PDFs created from PowerPoint files be saved as InDesign files?

Tom: The LegUpTools app supports almost any type of PDF.

Yes, it works well with PowerPoint files exported to PDF, which is one of the most common uses. PowerPoint files often include many shapes and arrows, which are time-consuming to manually recreate in InDesign. The app is especially timesaving for PowerPoint files that include flowcharts and diagrams.

Geetesh: Can you share some scenarios or success stories of using LegUpTools’ solutions? Also, is a free trial of LegUpTools available?

Tom: Let’s take as an example a designer commissioned to layout a report in InDesign. Much of the content will be supplied as text in Word files, which are easy to place in InDesign. However, charts from PowerPoint are often part of the report. The designer might need to tweak the formatting of these charts, so the text styles and colors match the rest of the report or edit the text inside the chart shapes. The LegUpTools conversion app makes it possible to get an InDesign version of the charts much quicker than manually recreating them in InDesign.

Yes, when a user creates an account on the LegUpTools site, they get two free page credits, so they can try before they buy. If they want to convert more than two pages, they can buy extra page credits at USD $0.25 per page.

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