ABBYY FineReader PDF for Mac: Features and Functionality

ABBYY FineReader PDF for Mac is a versatile software tool designed for reading, editing, and converting PDF documents.

This is an overview of its main features, options, and workflows, based on a 7-day trial evaluation of the software.

Getting Started

When you launch ABBYY FineReader PDF for Mac, you are presented with three primary options:

• FineReader PDF Viewer — A full-featured PDF reader that allows you to view, highlight, and edit PDFs stored on your Mac.
• Quick Conversion — A streamlined way to convert files or images into a wide range of formats.
• Advanced Conversion — Tools for working with more complex documents, including scans and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) projects.

PDF Viewer

The built-in PDF Viewer functions much like other PDF readers but with the added benefit of editing capabilities. Users can:

• Highlight and annotate text.
• Change highlight colours for clarity.
• Edit PDF content directly within the software.

This makes it a useful tool not only for reading but also for reviewing and modifying documents.

Quick Conversion

The Quick Conversion option enables you to:

• Import a file or image and convert it into a variety of formats, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF, and HTML.
• Create searchable PDFs, ensuring that text can be located and copied within the document.
• Export documents with flexible options such as “searchable PDF” or “image-only PDF”.

Quick Conversion is ideal when you need to rapidly transform documents into different formats without engaging in more complex editing.

OCR Capabilities

One of FineReader’s strongest features is its OCR engine, which allows scanned images or PDFs to be converted into editable text. When a document is analysed, the software highlights different areas using colour coding:

• Green — Text
• Pink — Images
• Blue — Tables
• Grey — Backgrounds

Users can check recognition results and manually adjust areas if required. For example, a section recognised as text can be redefined as an image or table.

The OCR Editor also allows:

• Adding new pages or scanning additional material directly into a project.
• Selecting recognition languages (with support for multiple languages simultaneously).
• Re-recognising documents after adjustments.
• Exporting in various formats including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF, HTML, or standard image formats.

Image Editing Tools

FineReader PDF includes an Image Editor for working with scanned pages or imported images. Features include:

• Rotation and flipping — Adjust page orientation as needed.
• Splitting pages — Divide scanned double pages into separate files.
• Cropping — Select and save only the relevant areas of a scan.
• Resolution control — Adjust DPI settings (300 is standard, 600 recommended for fine text, and up to 1200 for high-end use).
• Brightness and contrast adjustments.
• Eraser tool — Remove unwanted elements from a page.

These tools are especially useful when preparing scanned material for OCR recognition and conversion.

Advanced Conversion and Scanning

Beyond quick imports, FineReader supports advanced conversion and scanning tasks. For example:

• Import images directly into a new OCR project.
• Use the Continuity Camera on your Mac or iPhone to capture snapshots of book pages or text for recognition.
• Scan documents using a connected scanner, with automatic recognition applied to newly added pages.
• Correct page orientation and enhance images automatically.

The software supports both simple scans and complex, multi-page OCR projects.

In my opinion a major deficiency in the software is the inability or change the ORDER of the recognition areas prior to export. This means that if a complex document (eg. magazine, newspaper) is scanned the blocks of text in the output may well not be in the correct order, I have demonstrated this.

In a previous version of the software (FineReader v12.1.14) it was possible to re-order the recognition areas prior to export which was of huge benefit.

Export Options

After editing and recognition, documents can be exported to a range of formats:

• Searchable PDFs — Useful for sharing and archiving, while retaining the ability to search text.
• Microsoft Word and Excel — For editable documents and data.
• PowerPoint — To present recognised content in slide format.
• Rich Text Format (RTF), HTML, and standard images — For compatibility with other applications.

When exporting, users can choose between fully editable formats or image-based copies, depending on the intended use.

Navigation and Additional Features

The software provides straightforward navigation with:

• Page thumbnails and zoom options.
• An option to re-recognise content after editing.
• Built-in support for multiple languages.

Users can also manage default settings for OCR recognition, page orientation, and image enhancement.

Conclusion

ABBYY FineReader PDF for Mac is more than a simple PDF viewer. It offers a powerful set of tools for:

• Viewing and annotating PDFs.
• Converting documents quickly into multiple formats.
• Performing advanced OCR recognition with editable results.
• Editing and cleaning up scanned images.
• Exporting content into professional, shareable, and searchable documents.
• What I feel is a major deficiency, the inability to re-order recognition areas, is described in “Advanced Conversion and Scanning” above. This feature is available in other similar packages, PRIZMO for example.

For anyone working with scanned documents, complex PDFs, or multi-format conversions, FineReader PDF for Mac provides a robust and reliable solution. Potential buyers wanting to extract text from complex documents in a specific order should however be aware of the current limitation in terms of ordering recognition areas.

Angela Rayner: The Wrong Person, in the Wrong Place, at the Wrong Time

Angela Rayner’s rise from a teenage mother who left school at 16 with no qualifications to Deputy Prime Minister is often presented as a tale of grit and triumph. But critics argue that the reality is less flattering: they point to her limited education, questions about her judgment, accusations of hypocrisy over housing, and a taste for perks at the taxpayer’s expense. For a politician who could, at any moment, be a heartbeat away from leading a country of nearly 67 million people, observers say that is cause for concern.

Limited Education, Limited Expertise

Rayner left school without GCSEs, later achieving an NVQ Level 2 in social care at Stockport College. Before entering Parliament, she worked as a care worker and Unison trade union representative. While some praise her personal story as inspirational, others question whether this is the grounding Britain needs in one of the highest offices of state. Opponents often contrast her record with that of other senior ministers who bring years of policy or legal training, describing her qualifications as “thin” and her style as more sloganeering than statesmanship.

Housing Hypocrisy

As Housing Secretary, Rayner has overseen the introduction of council tax premiums on second homes, insisting such measures will help tackle the housing crisis. Yet she herself has three properties: her constituency home, a £700,000 Hove flat, and a grace-and-favour Admiralty House residence in Whitehall. She has confirmed that she pays the full second-home premium on the Hove property, but critics describe this as hypocrisy, asking how a minister responsible for housing fairness can justify multiple homes while also charging taxpayers £7,000 for new beds in her official flat.

Freebies and Favours

Rayner has faced questions over gifts and donations. She accepted clothing worth more than £3,000 from Labour peer Lord Alli, as well as earlier donations and a holiday he funded. Her declarations were initially incomplete and later updated to give more detail. Critics say this shows a politician quick to accept the trappings of office while presenting herself as a champion of ordinary working people.

Defeats and Misjudgments

Her flagship Employment Rights Bill, which aimed to give unions more influence, suffered heavy defeats in the House of Lords. Peers voted against her plan to reinstate automatic union levies to Labour and retained the 50% turnout requirement for strike ballots, warning that her reforms risked damaging vital services. Opponents said the scale of the defeat revealed political overreach and poor judgment.

Jet-Setting and Waste

Official figures show that Rayner’s department racked up 321,740 air miles in a single year — the equivalent of 13 trips around the world and almost five times the figure under the previous Conservative government. Rayner herself made several overseas visits, including a £20,000 trip to Africa. Critics argue that such extensive travel is hard to justify for a department focused almost entirely on domestic issues.

One Heartbeat Away

Rayner often portrays herself as plain-speaking and authentic. But her opponents counter that her record suggests otherwise, highlighting her lack of qualifications, her acceptance of gifts, her costly use of public funds, and her controversial housing arrangements.

The blunt reality, critics say, is that should Keir Starmer be incapacitated, Angela Rayner would be Britain’s leader overnight — a prospect they argue should give the public pause.

To her supporters, Angela Rayner is a story of triumph over adversity. To her critics, it is a story of opportunism rewarded — and one that raises serious questions about her suitability for the highest office in the land.

Rachel Reeves and Labour’s Economic Recklessness: A Crisis of Their Own Making

Rachel Reeves entered the Treasury promising stability, credibility, and an end to the chaos that defined recent Conservative governments. Instead, less than a year into her tenure, the Chancellor faces a £50 billion black hole in the public finances — a gap so wide it threatens both Britain’s economic future and the promises Labour made to voters.

This is not just an unfortunate turn of events. It is the direct consequence of poor planning, opportunistic spending, and a refusal to grapple with reality.

A Black Hole of Her Own Making

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has warned that Reeves’ wafer-thin fiscal buffer of just £9.9 billion has been obliterated. To stay afloat and meet her own fiscal rules, Reeves will now have to raise or save £51 billion annually by 2029/30. That is the equivalent of slapping 5p onto income tax — a staggering prospect for already overburdened households.

This comes after Reeves pushed through £40 billion in tax rises only nine months ago, promising she would not “be back for more.” Now, with businesses closing, unemployment creeping up, inflation rising again, and growth stalling, she appears to be preparing the ground for yet another raid on the taxpayer.

Her choices so far reveal a disturbing pattern: taxing pensions, inheritance, and non-doms — measures that may play well politically but are driving away the very wealth creators Britain needs. Meanwhile, money has been “sprayed around the public sector” on union-pleasing pay rises and higher state spending, with precious little to show in terms of improved services.

Britain in Decline

The truth is that the economy is not recovering — it is worsening. Growth is anaemic, energy bills remain stubbornly high, and food prices are soaring in the shops. Inflation, far from being tamed, is expected to remain well above the Bank of England’s target well into 2026. Families are being squeezed harder than ever, but the government’s answer is to tighten the fiscal screw further.

The NHS, despite endless pledges of “record funding” and “reform,” shows little sign of genuine improvement. Waiting lists remain intolerable, frontline staff are overstretched, and patients continue to suffer. The promised turnaround simply has not materialised.

Even education, once a source of pride, has become a hollow sham. While exam results appear to improve year on year, this is increasingly meaningless when pupils are handed the questions in advance and allowed to use AI tools for coursework. Standards are being sacrificed for political convenience.

And beyond the economy, the government is failing on the most basic test of sovereignty: control of Britain’s borders. Illegal migration is not under control — it is accelerating. Despite endless rhetoric and empty promises, the boats keep coming, and the costs to taxpayers keep rising.

An Impossible Situation

Reeves’ predicament is not just bad luck; it is the inevitable result of her failure to plan. As NIESR points out, Labour knew for years it was likely to form the next government, yet it came into office without a credible economic plan. Now, the Chancellor faces an impossible situation if she is to:

1. Meet her own fiscal rules.
2. Keep Labour’s spending commitments.
3. Honour her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on “working people.”

The truth is she cannot do all three. Something will have to give, and it will almost certainly be taxpayers’ pockets.

The Chancellor repeatedly insists she will shield “working people” from tax rises—but that potentially refers to only about three-quarters of Britons aged 16–64 who are employed, meaning around 24.7% in this key age group remain economically inactive—and that’s not even counting retirees, students, or children. Is it fair to make tax policy sound as if it protects the majority, when in reality less than half the entire UK population is participating in paid work? Reeves’ strategy risks deepening an unfair burden on a shrinking cohort, while ignoring the wider base of people outside that narrow definition.

A Chancellor Who Has Lost Her Way

Labour is fond of invoking Liz Truss as the epitome of economic mismanagement. But the uncomfortable reality is that Reeves herself has inflicted far greater long-term damage. Truss’ mini-Budget was a short-lived shock. Markets quickly stabilised. By contrast, Reeves’ tax-and-spend spree is entrenching stagnation, driving out investment, and leaving Britain poorer.

It is Rachel Reeves — not Liz Truss — who is now presiding over the real crash of the British economy. And if forecasts are to be believed, the worst is still to come.