Format Factory PDF Converter: Join, Compress & Convert Documents
The Document panel is more capable than the developer's own homepage lets on — PDF joining, compression, encryption, and conversion to and from Word, Excel, Markdown, and more, all confirmed on the installed app.
PDF Joiner
Merge multiple PDF files into one, in the order you add them.
Compress PDF
Reduce a PDF's file size, useful before emailing a large scanned document.
PDF → Text / DOCX / Excel
Extract editable text, a Word document, or a spreadsheet from a PDF.
DOCX → PDF
Convert a Word document into a shareable, non-editable PDF.
Encrypt / Decrypt PDF
Add or remove password protection on a PDF file.
PDF → Markdown (MD)
New in version 5.22.0.0 — converts PDF content directly to Markdown format.
CAJ → PDF
Also new in 5.22.0.0 — converts the CAJ academic document format (common in Chinese academic databases) to PDF.
Get Format Factory 5.22.0.0
~163 MB, 64-bit Windows only, published by Free Time Software Technology Co., Ltd.. Go to the download page for the official link, the exact byte size to check it against, and a safe-download checklist.
Only 64-bit Windows 7 / 8 / 10 / 11 are supported.
Using the PDF Joiner
Added back in version 4.9.0, the PDF Joiner is straightforward: add each PDF you want combined, arrange them in the order you want the final document to read, and merge into a single output file. It's the standard tool for combining several scanned receipts into one file for an expense report, or merging chapters of a document that were scanned separately.
Compressing and encrypting a PDF
PDF compression, encryption, and decryption were added in version 5.1.0 and remain part of the current build. Compression is most useful for scanned documents with large embedded images, which tend to balloon in file size compared to a PDF generated directly from a word processor. Encryption adds password protection to a sensitive PDF before you share it; decryption removes it if you have the password and need to edit or merge the file with others.
EPUB, Mobi, and Kindle (AZW3) support
Converting to EPUB, Mobi, or Kindle's AZW3 format requires the free EBookCodec add-on module — a 75 MB download available through Options → Modules, not part of the base install. Once downloaded, it adds ebook conversion to the Document panel's toolset. This module status is worth knowing upfront so you're not surprised by an extra download the first time you try converting to an ebook format.
More PDF conversion questions
Does converting PDF to Word preserve formatting?
We didn't run a detailed formatting-fidelity test across complex layouts in our own review — for simple text documents, conversion should be clean, but heavily formatted PDFs (multi-column layouts, embedded graphics) are more likely to need manual cleanup after conversion, which is common across PDF-to-Word tools generally, not specific to this one.
Can I join PDFs that are password-protected?
We'd expect you to need to decrypt a protected PDF first using the Decrypt PDF tool before joining it with others, though we didn't specifically test joining an encrypted file directly in our review — decrypting first is the safer assumption.
What is the CAJ format, and why does it matter?
CAJ is a proprietary document format used by China's CNKI academic database — the CAJ→PDF tool, added in version 5.22.0.0, converts those files into the far more universally readable PDF format, useful specifically for researchers working with Chinese academic sources.
Why PDF to Markdown matters
Markdown export, added in the current release, is a genuinely developer-and-writer-friendly addition — Markdown is the plain-text formatting standard behind everything from GitHub READMEs to static site generators and note-taking apps like Obsidian. Converting a PDF report or document into Markdown makes its content far easier to edit, version-control, or repurpose than working with the original PDF directly.
The short version
Join, compress, encrypt, decrypt, and convert PDFs to and from Word, Excel, Text, and now Markdown — all confirmed real in the Document panel, alongside newer CAJ support and optional ebook conversion through the free EBookCodec module. More document capability than the developer's own homepage advertises.
Converting multiple documents at once
The Document panel supports the same batch workflow as the rest of the app — add several files to a given tool, and each processes with the same settings. This is particularly useful for the PDF Joiner when combining many scanned pages, or for a batch DOCX-to-PDF conversion when finalizing a folder of reports for distribution.
Keep an original copy before converting
PDF-to-Word or PDF-to-Excel conversion is inherently a best-effort process for anything beyond simple text — keep your original PDF until you've confirmed the converted document opens correctly and the formatting is usable for what you need.
More than a PDF-only tool
Despite the "PDF converter" framing, this panel handles Word, Excel, Markdown, and — with the optional module — full ebook formats too. If you only came here for one specific conversion, it's worth a quick look at what else this panel can do before reaching for a separate tool.
Check encoding on non-Latin text
If you're converting documents containing non-Latin scripts — relevant especially for the CAJ→PDF tool aimed at Chinese academic sources — verify the converted output renders the text correctly rather than assuming encoding was handled perfectly, since this is a common failure point across document converters generally.
A document toolkit hiding inside a converter
Most people don't expect this much document capability from a tool primarily known for video and audio conversion — which is exactly why it's worth documenting in this much detail rather than a passing mention.