(I) Document format conversion tools
At work, we often need to receive different documents. Due to different computers and different software installed, the documents may not be opened. For example, a quotation document made with WPS is sent to a customer. The customer uses an Apple computer or uses software that is not compatible with WPS, so it cannot be opened. Therefore, it is necessary to convert the document into a PDF document so that any computer can open it.
I would like to introduce two very convenient websites to you. The first website is www.smallpdf.com, which can directly convert any document into PDF format, and there is no need to install any conversion software on the computer. The second website is www.office-converter.com. This website has more powerful functions. It can not only convert document formats, but also convert audio and video, and perform online compression, etc.
(II) Image recognition tools
You may encounter the following situations at work.
Scenario 1: The company needs to make an English version of the product catalog to prepare for the exhibition next year. However, since the company has never conducted foreign trade work before, the boss gave you a Chinese version of the product catalog and asked you to make an English version of the product catalog. If you type out the words one by one and then translate them, the workload will be very large and time-consuming.
Scenario 2: The boss took out a yellowed file bag and told you that this is an important file. The original file can no longer be found. You need to reprint this document and it will be needed the day after tomorrow. You see more than 20 pages of paper and your head is big. You have to stay up late to work overtime.
In such a situation, you only need to use a small tool to quickly solve the problem and save a lot of time.
The first small tool is www.onlineocr.net. As long as you upload a picture of the document, it can automatically help convert it into a Word document. But it should be noted that the maximum size of the uploaded document cannot exceed 15M.
The second tool is ABBY Finereader, the official website is www.abbyychina.com. You can choose different versions according to your own situation. It can not only perform text recognition and conversion of a large number of files, but also modify CAD drawings (many foreign trade companies have to modify the LOGO and company name when they get factory technical drawings).
(III) Recording recognition tool
Suppose you have a face-to-face interview with a customer. If the conversation takes a long time and you don’t make a memo in time after returning, you will soon forget some details of the conversation. Then you need to record the important conversation. After recording, you can convert the recording into text and make detailed minutes and memos of the conversation content, which is convenient for studying the customer’s psychology, personality and his way of thinking. The tool that converts recordings into text has a relatively good effect at present. The official website is www.iflyrec.com. You can choose machine conversion and manual conversion services according to your personal needs. After converting to text, you don’t need to listen to the recording repeatedly. Machine conversion usually takes 5 minutes to convert 1 hour of recording, which can save a lot of time.
(IV) PPT/Word/Excel Template Tools
In foreign trade work, when writing some reports and electronic product catalogs, the content is often written quickly, but the layout is ugly, so a lot of time is wasted on the layout, and it takes a long time to learn the exquisite design and layout of PPT or Word. How can you get exquisite layout without learning? You can use some template download websites to download exquisite PPT and Word templates, and then make a few modifications and use them directly.