Type on PDF review [iPhone]

We find it quite difficult to believe PDFs ever caught on. They're useful for certain tasks, like magazine layouts, which rely on the fundamental purpose of the format to maintain its appearance regardless of platform.

As email rapidly replaced paper bills, contracts and forms, many companies are falling back on PDFs to deliver a questionnaire that, only a year or two back, would have arrived in the post with a returns envelope. But PDF is no more suitable for this paper-replacement task than a Word doc or webpage. Editing and filling in a PDF on your computer is a downright chore, and we often resort to printing them, filling them in by hand, scanning them back into the computer and emailing the JPEGs. Hardly efficient, what?

Type on PDF is an iPhone app that understands that paper-to-electronic barrier profoundly, and aims to help make the dreaded PDF more useable on both side of a form.

It's primarily targeted at a standardised company form you might be expected to fill in when buying something, or opening an account, or applying for a job, loan or spare kidney. You know the type of thing - a PDF with boxes for your info that you can't easily fill in.

And it's a clever system Type on PDF uses, too. Your data is typed into the PDF as if it were editable, and the additions are saved back into the PDF format. Sounds obvious, but looking at the print and scan technique Adobe's files often force us into, this is very welcome.

Formatting options are available for your additions, too, including changing the text size and colour in case you want to make it clear where the form ends and your info begins.

It even simplifies that handwritten option by allowing you to write directly onto the PDF with your finger. Admittedly you're not likely to do that throughout the form (although you could if you wanted to) but the dotted line at the bottom would be a sticking point if you couldn't at least approximate your signature.

Type on PDF offers a two-way street by also allowing you to create your own PDF forms, sheets or documents within the app. It's geared toward the type of doc someone else is going to fill in the details of, and works a treat when receiving one of its own PDF creations.

All the editing is embedded into the base image of the document, too, which is touted as an important security feature by the developer (and we're sure it is) but this also means your entries won't accidentally get changed or deleted once the owner of the form gets it back.

With various export options, including Dropbox, direct emailing of PDFs, AirPrint compatibility and in-app storage of all your files, this is a great app to have around the office.