Umer Softwares Blog

How to use pdftoppm in Ubuntu?

2019-07-22T21:14:00.001+05:00

What is pdftoppm

pdftoppm is a command-line tool available in Ubuntu to convert pdf to images. It comes pre-installed in Ubuntu 12.04 and above.

In this post, you will learn how to use this tool to convert the pages of your pdf files into png, jpg and tiff files.

Usage

The general syntax for using pdftoppm is:

pdftoppm [options] PdfFileName.pdf ImageName

For example:

pdftoppm -png file.pdf img

To convert the pdf file to images, go to the folder where your pdf file is placed. Right-click and then select "Open in Terminal" in that directory.

After opening terminal, you will enter the commands to convert the pdf file to images. There are several options for you:

1. Convert the whole pdf file

To convert to png file, you will use -png. If you want to convert to jpg, you will use -jpeg. If file.pdf is the pdf file and I want the name of my images to start with image with page numbers at the end, I will use:

For png

pdftoppm -png file.pdf image

For jpg

pdftoppm -jpeg file.pdf image

2. Convert the first page only

To convert one page only, you use the -singlefile option.
For png

pdftoppm -png -singlefile file.pdf image

For jpg

pdftoppm -jpeg -singlefile file.pdf image

3. Convert any one page

The -f option is used to specify the starting page to start converting. If you want to convert a single page, let's say page number 25, you can specify -f 25 along with -singlefile option (-singlefile is for one page) and it will convert the page 25 only.

For png

pdftoppm -f 25 -png -singlefile file.pdf image

For jpg

pdftoppm -f 25 -jpeg -singlefile file.pdf image

4. Convert a range of pages

As I told above, the -f option is used to specify the starting page. The -l option is used to specify the last page. For example, if I want to convert from page number 5 to page number 10, I would write -f 5 -l 10

For png

pdftoppm -png -f 5 -l 10 file.pdf name

For jpg

pdftoppm -jpeg -f 5 -l 10 file.pdf name

5. Convert only odd pages or even pages

You will use -o to convert the odd pages only and you will use -e to convert even pages only. There is something weird about this option. If you use -e to get the even-numbered pages, it would convert the odd-numbered pages and if you use -o to get the odd-numbered pages, it would give the even-numbered pages. It would make sense if we assume that it starts counting pages from 0 internally. But, however, I told you how it works practically. Let me know in the comments why you think this happens or if this is just a bug.

Example of odd

pdftoppm -png -o file.pdf name

Example of even

pdftoppm -jpeg -e file.pdf name

6. Adjust the quality of output images

You can adjust the dpi of the output images using the -r option. For example, if I want jpg with 600dpi, I would use:

pdftoppm -jpeg -r 600 -singlefile file.pdf image

7. Adjust the height and width of the output images

You can specify a custom height and width for the output images. To specify a custom height, use the -scale-to-x option and to specify the width, use the -scale-to-y option. For example, if you want your image to have a height of 1600 and a width of 900, you would use

pdftoppm -jpeg -scale-to-x 900 -scale-to-y 1600 file.pdf image

To specify the width only and let the height adjust automatically according to the aspect ratio of the image, specify the -scale-to-y to -1 and -scale-to-x to your width. For example, if I want to make the width 920 and height adjust automatic, I will use:

pdftoppm -jpeg -scale-to-x 920 -scale-to-y -1 file.pdf image

Similarly, you can specify a height in -scale-to-y and set -scale-to-x to -1 to make width automatic.

8. Convert PDFs in bulk

You can use a simple trick to convert many pdf to images at once. We will create a bash file and execute it.

Put your pdf files in one folder
Right Click and select "Open in Terminal"

Create a new bash file using the following command.

>bulk.sh

Use the following command to edit the bash file

gedit bulk.sh

Enter the following code in the bash file and save it.

#!/bin/bash
for i in *.pdf; do
pdftoppm -png "$i" "${i%.pdf*}"
done

Change the permissions of the bash file using the following command

chmod a+x bulk.sh

Execute the bash file

./bulk.sh

We are just using a for loop to execute the command for all the files in the directory. You can use the options which you studied above in this loop. But remember that the options will be applied to all the files.

8. Use the cropbox

If you find that some useless information is appearing on your pages like shown in the screenshot below, you can use the cropbox option to get rid of it.

pdftoppm -png -cropbox file.pdf image

9. Get black and white or grayscale images

To get black and white images, use the option -mono

pdftoppm -png -mono file.pdf image

To get grayscale images, use the option -gray

pdftoppm -jpeg -gray file.pdf image

10. Get images in tiff format

To get images in tiff format, use -tiff option instead of -png or -jpeg

pdftoppm -tiff file.pdf image

11. Get images in ppm format

To get images in ppm format, do not specify any file type option. The default output is ppm.

pdftoppm file.pdf image

I hope this helped you. For more information, subscribe.

Chat Link by Umer Softwares

2019-07-17T10:18:00.000+05:00

Purpose of the App

Sometimes you have to send a WhatsApp message to someone without the need of saving the contact on your phone. This app solves your problem. This app lets you enter the recipient's number and open the chat in WhatsApp with just a single click!
There might be an occasion when you want to send a message to some of your friends without going through the pain of copy-pasting the message. This app helps you. Type in a message, hit a button, select chats and send. It is that simple.
You can also create links to WhatsApp chats. Copy the links or share them wherever you want.

Download

You can download the apk from the button below:

How to use

Open a Chat

To open a WhatsApp or WhatsApp business chat without saving the number in your contacts, enter the number in international format. The prefix is the country code or dialing code of the country and the number is the number of recipient. After entering the number, click the "Open in WhatsApp" or "Open in WhatsApp Business" button to open the chat. For example, if I have to message the number 03123456789 in Pakistan. The country code is +92, so I will enter 92 in the prefix and I will enter 3123456789 in the number box.

Send a WhatsApp message to a number directly

To send message to the number directly, check the Show Additional Options box and type the message in the Text to Send box. Then click the "Open in WhatsApp" or "Open in WhatsApp Business" button.

Send a Message to many people

Leave the prefix and number box empty and just enter the message. Then click the "Open in WhatsApp" or "Open in WhatsApp Business" button, select the chats and click the send button to send the message to all of them.

Create a link to a Chat

Add the number or message or both and then click the "Share Chat Link" button to share the link of the chat using some other app or click the "Copy Chat Link" button to copy the link of the chat to clipboard. Someone can click that link to open the chat in WhatsApp

Save numbers and messages in History for viewing Later

If you want to save the number or message in history, check the Save in History box before pressing the send buttons. It will save the current information in history.

To access the history, slide out the navigation drawer and select history. Click on any item to see its details.

This app is created by Umer Softwares. Do not forget to share this app with others and leave a five-star rating on google play store if this app helped you. If you face any problem in the app or have any suggestions, you can get in touch with me using the form below:

Create Direct Download Link to Google Drive Files in Android

2019-07-14T21:30:00.001+05:00

If you need to share a big file on your phone with someone, you can not send it directly using WhatsApp or other common messaging apps. Many people take the help of Google Drive's free cloud storage. They upload the file to google drive and send its link to the receiver. When the receiver opens that sharing link, he waits for the preview page to load and then clicks the download button to download. But you can easily create a direct download link before sending. The receiver can click that link to directly download the file. In this post, I am going to show you how to create a direct download link to a file in google drive in Android.

Procedure

Follow these three steps to get the Direct Download Link:

Step 1: Get Sharing Link of the file

1. Open the Google Drive android app and navigate to the file you want to create a link of.

2. Click on the three dots against the file and turn on Link Sharing

3. Again click on three dots and select the Copy Link option to get the sharing link.

Getting the Sharing Link of the file

Step 2: Install the Drive Link Manager app from Play Store

Click the following button to download the app from Google Play Store:

You can also scan the following QR Code from your phone to download the app:

Step 3: Enter the sharing link in the app to get the Direct Download Link

1. Open the Drive Link Manager app. It should automatically get the sharing link from the clipboard. If it doesn't, click the paste button to enter it in the input field.

2. Click on Convert to convert it into the direct download link.

3. The app will generate the Direct Download Link. You can use the Share button to share it or the Copy button to copy it to clipboard.

Converting Sharing link to Direct Download link using the app

You can also use the following online script to convert the sharing link to direct download link.

Enter Sharing Link

Direct Download Link

Do not forget to share this post with others

Crop image to Circle in GIMP

2019-07-12T13:11:00.001+05:00

Objective

GIMP is a free, open source and easy to use image editing tool. In this post you will learn how to crop an image to a circle using GIMP.

Procedure

Open the Image

Use File > Open or press Ctrl + O to open the image in GIMP. I am using one of my pictures as a sample.

Set up Transparency

You may skip this step but this is required if you want to put the circular image on other images. It will make everything except the circle in your image transparent.

Go to Layer menu and select Transparency > Add Alpha Channel. If it is already greyed out, it means that your image already has transparency.

Set up Ellipse Select Tool

1. Select the Ellipse Select Tool from the left toolbar or go to Tools > Selection Tools > Ellipse Select

2. Open the Tool Options by selecting Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Tools Options

3. In the Tool Options, select the first option in Mode which is "Replace Current Selection". Check the Antialising box. It will make the edges of the circle better. Set the Aspect Ratio to 1:1 by checking the Fixed Aspect Ratio Box and setting the Aspect ratio to 1:1. Setting the aspect ratio to 1:1 is required only if you want the image to be a circle. If you want the image to be oval shaped, this step is not required.

Crop the Image

1. After setting up the Ellipse Select tool, Mark the Circle on the image. You can drag the circle from its centre if you want to adjust its position.

2. After marking the circle, use Select > Invert to select everything exept circle (Shortcut: Ctrl + I) and hit Delete.

3. You will be left with a circle only.

Cut the Excess Area

If there is an excess blank area in the screen, you can eliminate it by using Image > Crop to Content

All excess blank area will be removed.

Export the Image

1. Click on File > Export As

2. Set the path. Select png from the file type. It will ensure that you do not loose the transparency in your image. Hit Export.

You can also watch a video of me doing this step by step.

Hope you liked this post. Do not forget to share this with others.

How to use Universal Copy?

2019-07-05T23:09:00.000+05:00

Purpose of the app

You are using your smartphone. You want to copy something on the screen. You try to long press the text and copy that but you can't do it. This app takes that pain away. It allows you to select and copy text from the screen that you can't do with Android's default long press.

Download

You can search "Universal Copy" on the play store or click the following button to download

or scan the following QR code from your phone if you are viewing this on PC.

Usage

1. Soon after installing the app, open it and enable it by using the very first option. In the next dialog that appears, click OPEN SETTINGS. Find "Universal Copy" in the list of apps that appear.

2. Enable the permission. In the next dialog that appears, click OK. Universal Copy is activated successfully.

3. A notification will appear in the notification shade. Click the notification to enable copy mode. Now you can tap anything on the screen to select and tap the copy button.

4. The selected text will be copied to clipboard. You can paste the text in any application.

Also See: Clip Stack - Clipboard Manager for Android

Other Features and Options

1. By default when you enable copy mode, there is a bar at the top. If you feel that the bar hides the text that you want to copy, you can enable full-screen mode to hide that bar.

2. When the copy mode is activated, you can tap the text to select it, double tap to copy and long press to edit. However, you can change the functions of double tap and long press.

3. By default, you can enable copy mode from the notification in the notification shade but you can also enable the copy mode by long pressing some specified buttons (includes: back button, volume buttons,...). You can also disable the notification.

3. The app also has an OCR Mode which is not free. When there is some text on the screen that can not be directly copied, optical character recognition can be applied to an image of the screen to extract the text. If you do not want to pay for this feature, you can take a screenshot of the screen and apply OCR to it using this free app.

I hope this post helped you. If it did, do not forget to like us on facebook.

Download Remix OS for PC: With installation Tool B2016080802

2019-04-04T16:01:00.001+05:00

Downloads

Remix OS for Windows comes in 32 bit and 64 versions.

32 bit download

File Name: Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_32bit_B2016112201.zip

File Size: 850 MB

Version: 1.0 B2016080802
ZIP File Contents:

How_to_launch_Remix_OS_for_PC.txt
Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_32bit_B2016112201.iso
Remix_OS_for_PC_Installation_Tool-B2016080802.exe

64 bit download

File Name: Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_64bit_B2016112101.zip

File Size: 1.02 GB

Version: 1.0 B2016080802

ZIP File Contents:

How_to_launch_Remix_OS_for_PC.txt
Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_64bit_B2016112101.iso
Remix_OS_for_PC_Installation_Tool-B2016080802.exe

Which one to download?

It is recommended to download the 32 bit version because it works on almost all devices. I have tried the 64 bit version on 64 bit supported processors but it does not work. So it is recommended to download the 32 bit version because it works.

What is Remix OS?

You use Windows or Mac OS or Linux on your computer and laptop. Similarly, you use Android or IOS on your smart phone and tablet. These are operating systems. Operating system make our computer devices usable. An app made for a particular operating system will run only on that operating system. But what if you want to run an app designed for one operating system on another operating system? For example, if you wanted to run an Android app on Windows. You can install an Android Emulator in Windows. BlueStacks, Nox Player and Genymotion are examples of Android emulators. When you use an android app in an android emulator on windows, your machine is running Windows. Windows is running the emulator and the emulator is running the app. You can not expect a good experience in this situation because the system resources are being used by many other things between your machine and the app. This problem can be solved if you install Android as an operating system on your PC. Remix OS is a modified version of Android Marshmallow that you can install on your computer. Since this is android, you can run almost all android apps and games on your computer and laptop using Remix OS. You can use it in dual boot with Windows and the procedure for installing is also very easy.

Developer

Jide Technologies is the developer of Remix OS. See http://jide.com . Learn about Remix OS from the developer at http://www.jide.com/remixos-for-pc

Installation

Step by step guide on installing Remix OS in Windows can be accessed here:

Screenshots & Features

1. Remix OS offers a desktop like environment. You get a desktop like windows instead of regular android home screen where you can place your apps.

2. Instead of app drawer, it has a start menu like interface.

3. The notifications appear in a side bar like Windows 10 instead of a notification shade like android on phone

4. Play Store works in Remix OS. Usually google play services do not work in many android emulators.

5. You can do multitasking. Apps can run in windowed mode as well. So you can place them side by side and use more than one apps at a time.

6. Gaming toolkit is the built in keymapper in Remix OS which makes it easier to play games. Read more about it here.

7. It supports many WiFi drivers. You get a dedicated app built in to manage WiFi.

See these too

Drive Link Manager by Umer Softwares

2019-04-02T19:53:00.002+05:00

Is this app for you?

If you are the person who saves files in google drive to share with others, this app will help you a lot.

Purpose of app

When you enable link sharing for a file in google drive, you get a link for that file. That is the sharing link or view link. When someone opens that link, the file will be viewed in his browser or it will just say "No Preview Available". Then the person can click the download button to download the file. But you can use that sharing link to create a direct download link for the file. When a person opens the direct download link, the file will start downloading instead of viewing in the browser. This app can create direct download link by taking a sharing link from you and vice versa. This app will also save your links so that you can access them from the app easily instead of going to google drive and generating a link again.

Download

You can search the app by name "Drive Link Manager" on google play store. Following is the icon of the app.

Click the following button to download the app from google play store.

If you are reading this on PC, you can scan the following QR code from your phone to download the app.

Usage

1. In google drive app, navigate to the file of which you want to get the direct download link. Click on the options icon (three vertical dots) against the file name.

2. Turn on link sharing.

3. After turning on Link Sharing, make sure it says "Link sharing turned on and link copied". You can also tap the copy link button to copy the link to clipboard.

4. Open the app and click the paste button. You might not have to perform this step if you open the app after getting the link. The app will automatically detect the link and generate the other link for you.

5. After putting the link in the view link box, click the convert button to get the direct download link.

6. After clicking the convert button, you will get the direct download link in the lower box. You can click the copy button associated with it to copy the direct download link to the clipboard.

Note

If you have the direct download link of a file and you want to get the view link, you can use the "View Link" tab in the app instead of "Download Link" tab and apply the same procedure to get the view link.

7. Your link is automatically saved to the history. You can access history by sliding the navigation drawer and clicking the history button.

8. Tap on the link name or the (i) button with the link to see its info.

9. You can rename the link. Just click the clear button against the name and type in a new name.

10. Do not forget to press the "Save Changes" button after renaming the link.

11. You can see your renamed link in the history. It will stay there until you delete it. You can also press the download or share button against the link to copy the download link or sharing link to the clipboard.

12. There is a button named "Google Drive" in the navigation drawer. Clicking that button will open google drive app. There is also a settings option.

13. In settings, you get the option to turn on or off auto check clipboard. The app will display a full screen ad at only one place in the app_ while opening history. I value user experience. So, if you feel that full screen ad is ruining your experience, you can turn it off in the settings.

This app is created by Umer Softwares. Do not forget to share this app with others and leave a five start rating on google play store if this app helped you. If you face any problem in the app or have any suggestions, you can get in touch with me using the form below:

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Text Scanner - OCR app for Android

2019-03-30T11:26:00.001+05:00

What is OCR?

Here's a tip: If you already know what OCR is, you can skip to the next section. For a computer, text and image are two different types of data. It processes text differently and image differently. Now if you have an image of some text, you might call it text and read it too being a human but the computer will consider it an image. It can not process it as text.

Here is an example. Let's say that you are viewing a webpage in your phone's browser. You can select the text and copy that to share it somewhere. But if you take a screenshot of that and open the screenshot, it is no longer text. You can no longer select the text from that image and copy it.

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition and it is a process of converting text from images into real text so that the computer can process it as text. It will take an image as input. Use some artificial intelligence based mumbo jumbo algorithms to recognize the text present in that image. And give the extracted text as output.

Purpose of the app

This app will apply OCR to images from your phone's storage or taken from camera by the it and give you the extracted text.

Download

The app's name on play store is "Text Scanner [OCR]". You can download it by clicking the following button

Or scan the following QR code form your phone if you are reading this on PC.

Use

There are two ways using which you can use the OCR. You can either take a picture of something from within the app or you can pick a picture from the gallery to apply OCR.

Picture from camera

1. After opening the app, you can bring the text in the view and press the shutter button to make the app start its work.

2. Since this app works online, you will have to wait for a few seconds before it gives you the results. You have an ad to watch in that time.

3. When it shows the results, you get the option to edit the text or share it.

Picture from gallery

1. To apply OCR to a picture from the gallery, hit the picture button at the top in the main screen of the app.

2. Pick a picture. For demonstration, I am picking a screenshot of this blog.

3. After a few seconds it will show you the results, it is that simple.

Cons

It works online. This is actually not a problem because this app does the OCR better than any other app that I have tried. But yes, you will not be able to use it if you are offline.
You can not crop the image you are applying OCR to. It would be great if we had the option to apply OCR on a particular area of the picture but it is not there. So if you want to apply OCR on a particular area of a picture, you can take the picture from your phone's camera, crop it and the apply OCR to it.

Hope you liked this post. To get more from Umer Softwares, like us on facebook or download our app for notifications. Also share this post using the sharing buttons below.

Clip Stack - Clipboard Manager for Android

2019-03-23T23:16:00.000+05:00

Purpose of the app

You copy data while using your android phone. When you copy some data, it is stored in the clipboard. But the problem is that, in many phones when you copy some other data to clipboard, the previous one is erased from the clipboard. This is where this app comes in. This app runs in background in your android phone and stores all data that you copy to clipboard. So, by using this app, you can store the data you copy to clipboard at a separate location and access it when needed. I have used some other apps also for the same purpose but in my opinion, this is the best.

Download

This app is called "Clip Stack" and can by downloaded from play store using the following button:

Or scan the following QR code from your phone if you are reading this on PC.

Use

After installing the app, just open to let it start its operation. From now, it will run in the background and record all the data that you copy to clipboard.

An important thing that you need to do:

If you have a ram cleaning app or a battery saving app installed on your phone, make sure to allow/whitelist this clip stack app to keep it running in the background.
Also check the settings of your phone to make sure that nothing is stopping the app from running in background.
In some phones, there is a "Phone Manager" app preinstalled. From that app, you can control which apps run in the background. Make sure to allow Clip Stack from there
I am currently using a Huawei device. The software is very aggressive in killing the background apps. But if I allow the app in the protected apps list in the phone manager, the app runs in background fine and is not bothered by the system.

You can access the settings from the "Settings" option in the option menu

One setting that I would recommend you to turn on is the "Pin Notification".

It will put a notification in the notifications area of your phone.

You can expand the notification. Don't know how to expand a notification? See this. A screenshot of the expanded notification is shown below:

On clicking the notification, you will see a dialog on the screen. This is a quick way to access clipboard history without even opening the app. You can also edit a clipboard data right from this dialog. Just long press the data and select edit button (go try this)

Test it!!

Open any app and copy some text to clipboard.

Now click on the Clip Stack notification to see the dialog box. You will see that the text you just copied is listed there.

You can long press the tile to see more options. You can also swipe the tile to right or left to delete.

Hope you liked this app. I personally use this app and it has been very useful. Want to know about more android apps? Download Umer Softwares android app to receive notifications when I write about another amazing app. Have suggestions? Feel free to comment

How to connect admob to firebase?

2018-12-17T19:42:00.000+05:00

Connecting admob to firebase can give you better ad analytics for your app. Learn more about advantages here. Let's talk how to do this.
*Before you start, make sure that your app is connected to both firebase and admob. This post only describes how to interconnect both services. If you have not done that yet, see admob implementing instructions here and firebase implementing instructions here.

1. Log in to admob and click on the apps button to see all apps.

2. Select the app you want to connect to firebase

3. In the link to firebase card, click on "link now".

4. Type in your app's package name and click continue

5. In the "Link to an existing firebase app" section, click on select a project and select the firebase project for your app

6. After selecting the relevant project, click on continue

7. In the first point of implementation instructions, you can download the new "google-services.json" file for your app. After doing so, click on done.

8. Your app is successfully connected to firebase.

9. You will have to replace admob ads with firebase ads in build.gradle file. Implementation instructions are here: https://firebase.google.com/docs/admob/android/quick-start

If you have any question, ask in the comments and don't forget to download Umer Softwares app from google play store to remain updated with every new post.

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How to use python in NetBeans?

2018-11-09T15:45:00.001+05:00

In this article, I am going to tell you how you can use NetBeans IDE to write python programs. For the sake of simplicity, I am dividing the procedure into following parts:

Installing Python
Adding Python plugin in NetBeans
Direct NetBeans to use the python version installed in part one for operation

Installing Python:

1. Use this link to download python and install it in your PC. Full procedure of installing python can be seen here.

2. Now we have to find the path of python installed in our PC. Go to Start Menu>> All Programs/ All Apps >> Python 3.7 and right click the IDLE Python. Select "Open File Location"

3. Right click on the IDLE Python shortcut and click "Open File Location"

4. Now copy the full path of python.exe in this folder. Save it somewhere because we will need it in the last section of this article.

Adding Python plugin to NetBeans:
1. Use this link to download the python plugin for NetBeans.
2. Extract the downloaded file in one folder. Remember this folder's path as we are going to use it in the upcoming steps.

3. Open NetBeans. Go to Tools >> Plugins

4. In the plugins window, open the "Downloaded" tab.

5. Click on "Add Plugins"

6. In the next window that appears, navigate to the folder in which you extracted the downloaded plugin files in step 2. Select all the files in the extracted folder. (To select all, highlight the top most file and use shift+down to select all)

7. After you have selected all the files, click on open.

8. Make sure that all the new plugins in the left pane are selected. Click Install.

9. Click next

10. Accept the license and click install

11. Click Continue

12. After the plugin installation finishes, check the button "Restart IDE Now" and click finish.

13. The IDE will restart. Wait for it to open again.

Set Python path in NetBeans:
1. After the IDE opens again, click the new project button as shown in the screenshot.

2. In the left pane, select Python and in the right pane, select Python Project and click next.

3. At the "Python Platform" option, click "Manage"

4. Click "New" in the bottom left set of buttons.

5. Paste the path of python.exe file you copied in the section-1 step-4 and click "Open"

6. After it detects the python version, click on close.

7. You will see a python version against python platform option. Click Finish to continue.

8. Python has been setup in NetBeans and you can start coding now.

Video

Following is a video demonstrating all these steps. Watch the video and make sure to subscribe me on YouTube.

If you have any query, you can ask in comments.

Setting up IDLE Python 3.7 on Windows

2018-10-30T15:38:00.001+05:00

In this article, we are going to install IDLE Python (The official IDE for python) on Windows. For more information about Python, see this.

1. Click here to download installer for windows
2. Run the installer program you downloaded. In the first screen that appears, click Install Now.

2. The setup will start automatically. If the computer asks for administrative privileges, click YES to grant.

3. After the setup is complete, click close.

Launching the IDE:
To launch the IDE, go to Start>All Programs>Python and open IDLE python as shown.

Modes in IDE:
There are two modes for writing the code:
1. Immediate Mode:
Soon after opening the IDE, you are in the immediate mode. You can start coding. The results will be displayed right after you click enter.

Let's write a basic program to display Hello World on the screen. Type this in the IDE and press enter:

print("Hello World")

You can start writing a bit longer code as well. Take the following code to compute and display the sum of 32 and 43

a=32
b=43
c=a+b
print(c)

*Note that we did'nt use quotation marks in above statement.

To display multiple things in the print statement, separate them by comma (,)

2. Script Mode:
To open the script mode, click File>New File or just press Ctrl+N

In the new screen that appears, you can write your code.

a=5
b=6
c=a+b
print(c)

Before being able to see the output of your code, you will have to save your code on hard disk. Python programs are saved as *.py files. To save your code, select File>Save or just press Ctrl+S. Select a location on the disk and save your work.

To see the output of your code, click Run>Run Module

You will see the output of your code in another screen.

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Turn your screen off with a launcher button

2018-09-14T23:08:00.001+05:00

In this post, I am going to tell you about an app which claims to perform a rather simple task. It turns your phone's screen off without pressing the power button. It provides you a launcher icon which you can place anywhere in your launcher (I would recommend to place it on home screen). You can click that icon to turn off the screen. Simple.. It contains some other features also which we will be discussing later in this post.
First let's talk why you need such an app. The answer is to save your power button. Using this, you can turn your screen off by tapping on a screen instead of pressing a hardware button. It is easy to click on the screen than to press a hardware button (At least for me).
The app is called Screen Off and Lock.

Use the button below to download it:

When you install the application, you get two icons in your apps drawer.

The "Screen Off" button (On the right) can be clicked to turn off the screen. However for the first time, you will have to provide administrator privileges to the app.

The settings icon_actually called "Screen Off and.." is used to enter the settings menu. In the settings, you find the following options:

The "GO TO PLAY STORE" button takes you to the play store to purchase the donate version in case you wish to support the developer with some money.
"Enable shortcut in notification area" when turned on, displays a notification which can be clicked to turn off the screen.

"Delay device locking" button explains itself with the text below it.
Using the "Screen off animation" feature, you can add a screen off animation to your phone. Note that the animation will only work if the screen is turned off using this app. It will not work when the screen is turned off using the normal power button.

The "Screen lock sound" feature enables you to add a screen lock sound. Again as above, it will only work when screen is turned off using the app and not the power button.

The vibration feedback feature when turned on, makes the phone vibrate when the screen is turned off using the app.

The uninstall application button enables you to uninstall the app easily. To go with the normal way, you will have to first disable the app as device administrator and then uninstall it.
The next feature should only be used if you are facing the problem described by it.

This allows you to change language.

One last trick. You can ask google assistant to "Open Screen Off" and it would turn your screen off with your voice. Or if you use "ok google" on your phone, you can say: "Ok Google....Open Screen Off" to turn your screen off with your voice. This will happen only if this app is installed on your phone.

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Related:

How to force any screen orientation in Android

2018-08-31T17:36:00.001+05:00

This app allows you to control the orientation of your screen manually and more powerfully. There are some cases when it is easy to use your phone upside down. This happens mostly when you want to use the phone while charging. Or may be your phone's headphone jack is on the top and you want it to shift to the bottom for sometime. This app proves handy in such situations.

The interface of the app is very simple. When you open the app, you get the option to manually change the orientation of your screen or set it to automatic.

The automatic mode is'nt good. It just turn on the automatic rotation of your phone. So if you are using this app, adjust the orientation manually. For example, if you select reverse portrait, your screen will be turned upside down.

*Using landscape and reverse landscape sometimes distort some apps that are programmed for portrait mode only.

**If you accidentally close the app while you have changed the screen orientation from it, open the app again to set it to normal. Otherwise, it can cause problems.

For more knowledge about interesting android apps, like Umer Softwares on facebook.

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WaveUp usage and review

2018-08-30T11:56:00.002+05:00

Our android phones come with various sensors that are used for some purposes by the phone. But there are third party apps available which allow you to use the sensors on your phone for some cool purposes. The one about which I am going to tell you, uses the proximity sensor. The proximity sensor is located on your phone at the front near the earpiece or the front facing camera. On some newer phones, it is located in that silly looking notch. Proximity sensor is used by the phone to turn the screen off while a phone call when you bring the phone near your ear. It avoids accidental touches on the screen when you are listening to a call. A proximity sensor actually senses when an object comes near it and sends feedback to the phone.
The app I am going to tell you about is called WaveUp.

This app uses the proximity sensor to turn on and off your screen. It will actually lessen the use of power button on your phone. It is handy if your power button gets damaged or of you just want to increase the life of your power button by using it less. Or just if you are too lazy to press the power button. Or if you just want your smartphone to look extra smart which turns the screen on automatically when you take it out of your pocket. Whatever the case may be, this app is useful. You can download the app by clicking the above provided button or just you can search for its apk on google. I will discuss the different sections of the app separately.

When you install the app, the first step is to turn on the service and grant the necessary permissions.

Why does it need the permission to manage phone calls? The developer has mentioned this in the app description but let me repeat it for you. I previously mentioned that the proximity sensor is used by the phone during a call. The app uses the permission to actually "know" when you are in a call. The app disables itself during a call and stops using the proximity sensor so that the proximity sensor can be used by the phone during the call. The app is open-source and there is nothing suspicious or worrying about this permission asked by the app.

Let's see the first section first. This will allow you to turn the screen on without the power button by using the proximity sensor on your phone.
1. You will enable the "Wave mode"to enable the service. You can turn on the screen by waving over the proximity sensor of your phone.
2. The second option is the number of times you have to wave before the phone turns on. It is by default 2 but I'll recommend you to change it to 1. By doing so, you can turn on the screen by just covering and uncovering the proximity sensor on your phone. If you find that you happen to turn on the screen accidently using this configuration, you can change this option back to 2.
3. The third option is the pocket mode. It senses when you take your phone out of your pocket/cover/bag or something else and turns on the screen.

Now let's move to the second option. This is about turning the screen off using the proximity sensor.
1. Turn on the "Lock Screen" first. It will require administrator permissions for the app to turn off the screen, so grant the administrative permissions to the app. By enabling this, you can turn the screen of your phone off by covering the proximity sensor for a specific period of time. This will also lock your phone when you place it in your pocket or bag or cover or just place the phone upside down on a table (or something else)
2. The second option is "Lock in landscape mode". It is advised to keep it off. Keeping it off will prevent turning the screen off while in landscape mode for watching a video or anything else.
3. The third option is cover time before unlocking. It is the amount of time for which the proximity sensor should be covered to turn the screen off.
4. The "Vibrate before locking" option will vibrate your phone when you cover the proximity sensor of your phone. It is recommended to keep it on.
5. The last option is for rooted devices. If your device is rooted, you should know what it does. There is no need to explain.

The "Show notification" option, when turned on, shows a persistent notification in the notification area. This prevents the app from being killed by the system or any other RAM cleaning app. It is recommended to keep it on.

If you have enabled administrative permissions for the app, it can not be uninstalled in normal way. Go to the app and use the last option to uninstall it if you are not happy with it. You may also disable it from Settings/security/device administrators and uninstall it manually.

The post ends here. Do not forget to share it with your friends.

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How to increase the volume beyond maximum in android?

2018-08-27T10:13:00.000+05:00

Our smartphone speaker works well in normal conditions but then comes a media file such as a video where the sound volume is too low even when you set the volume of of your smartphone to maximum. At this point, you can artificially increase the volume using some third party apps. One such app is Speaker Boost.

The use of app is very simple.

1. Open the app and use the slider to boost the volume.

2. You can click on the settings button and then select "Settings" from the drop down enu for additional options.

3. The Settings menu looks like this.

Show volume control: If you check this option, you will be able to control the system volume along with the boost from within the app.
Notification bar: This determines when the notification appears in the notification bar.
Non-Uniform boost: The option itself explains what it does. It is recommended to keep it on.
Maximum allowed boost: This determines what is the maximum percentage upto which you can boost.
Remove warning: Read the description of this setting

There are other apps available on the Play Store too for the same purpose. I found Speaker Boost to be the best because it works fine and is ad free. The problem with the other apps is that they are not ad free. Generally, an ad is not the problem but the apps lag to show you ads_some even hang and stop working for a while. If you want to see more such apps, search volume booster on Play Store.

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Is Augmented Reality the future?

2018-08-02T12:55:00.001+05:00

Let's start with the fold-able phones. If you are on the internet _ youtube or facebook, you must have seen videos for flexible phones. Right? Samsung working on flexible phones. They even showcased a flexible phone. You could imagine a tablet that was a thin flexible display that could roll into a cylinder. You could imagine a phone that could unfold into a large tablet. Why did'nt foldable phones become a reality? Firstly, the concept was quite possible. Samsung's OLED display is flexible. It is being successfully used in Samsung and non-Samsung phones (such as the iPhoneX).
Why did'nt flexible phones become a reality? Why?
The answer lies in the question that what do companies want? Profit? Money? You are right. The companies want money. They would manufacture a product that would sell in market and generate them profit. Big companies have great sources to study the market trend to determine whether or not a product would sell and earn them profit. So flexible phones were'nt profit generating things. They were amazing but just imagine if there was a flexible phone in the market, would you buy it? You might answer yes but actually you would be thinking that what is in the phone? Is it worth for money? It could do nothing extra than a regular phone and must have cost more than a regular phone. So, it was not a profitable thing and eventually, the concept of flexible phones died.
After analyzing all this, we come to a conclusion. What big tech companies are developing and launching is much likely to have great sales in the market. These products are likely to be adopted by us.
On which new thing are these companies working on? The answer is AR, VR, 3D and all the things related to that. Google cardboard, Microsoft HoloLens, Samsung gear VR are the examples of this. These companies are investing great in these technologies. Windows 10 has a 3D builder and that it is really great. I am a regular user of paint and it felt like Windows 10 is pushing me to use Paint 3D.

I used it and had a great experience. Building 3D is easier than ever. Google's ARCore is also out. If companies are really planning to get a great profit from this, we can expect VR glasses instead of our smart phones in future. The hologram technology will replace our TVs and big screens. Instead of video calling, we can expect 3D calling in which the person we are calling will be virtually standing in front of us.

Image Source: Youtube

Do these things seem fictional? They are absolutely not. Back then Artificial intelligence seemed fictional. A few years ago companies like google were working on virtual assistants. Why? Because they knew that these things will be adopted by us and yes, that was true. Today we have virtual assistants on our phones and our PCs. Google assistant, Cortana, Siri, Alexa and Bixby are examples of these. Google home can control the lights of my home and even turn on the air conditioner. Cortana and Alexa powered speakers are also out. This example supports my argument. Companies were working on virtual assistants, now they are part of our lives. Now companies are working on AR and VR, they are going to be a part of our lives soon.

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How do I determine if my Windows is 32 bit or 64 bit?

2018-07-23T09:55:00.001+05:00

1. Right click "My Computer" or "This PC" and select properties. (If you're in Windows 10, you can also press Windows Key + Pause/break)

2. In the next screen that appears, you can see whether your Windows is 32 bit or 64 bit (See the screenshot below)

IMG2PDF usage and Review

2018-07-18T13:28:00.001+05:00

Ever wanted to convert images to PDF right on your Android phone? If yes then I have found the right application for you. It is called IMG2PDF and it is available on Google Play Store for android devices for free.

Usage:

On the main screen you can find three buttons. Their purpose is shown in the screenshot below.

In the sidebar, the only usable feature is the settings.

In the settings, you find only two options. One is the password protection, which allows you to password protect your PDF files and the other is compression, which allows you to compress the images before putting them into the PDF files.

Now let's talk about converting images to PDF using this app.

1. Click on the add button in main screen of this app.

2. Open any album and select as many images as you want.

3. Click on the done button once you have finished selecting images.

4. The images will be packed into PDF in the same order as you selected them. If you want to change the order, you can click on the arrange images button and rearrange them. Once you are done with it, click on the convert to PDF button as shown in the screenshot below:

5. Enter the name for the PDF, select a compression method and click on Ok. You can also select a password for your PDF if you want. You can also turn it into grayscale.

6. Once you click the ok button your image will be started converting into PDF. Make show that you have turned off your mobile data or Wi-Fi during this step. Otherwise it will keep on showing you ads and will not work properly.

7. Once your images are converted into PDF, you can view it in any PDF viewer and also share it.

I have tested this app for converting upto 500 images to PDF and it works fine.
Its "No compression" and "low" compression are fine but "Medium" and "High" will ruin your images. So try not to use them.
Make sure that your internet is off before you click the Ok button in step 5. Otherwise, it will keep on showing you ads and not work properly.

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Word Counter by Umer Softwares

2018-06-04T17:41:00.001+05:00

Application name: Word Counter

Created by: Hafiz MuhammadUmer
Programming Language: Java
System Requirements: Java Runtime Environment (jre) . Download jre 8 from here. Download jre 9 from here. Download jre 10 from here
Minimum jre version: jre1.8.0_144
Downloads:
Download .jar file. Compatible with Windows.

Explanation: This is my second GUI application in java. It counts the number of words, number of letters, number of digits and much more in a given text. It also stores the queries for later viewing. You can also choose not to save the queries. The history can be viewed later and deleted.

Source code: The source code of the application is available at:

http://javawithumer.blogspot.com/2018/06/word-counter-source-code.html

You may not copy, modify or redistribute it without prior permission from Hafiz Muhammad Umer (UmerSoftwares@gmail.com). The application itself can be distributed without modification but you are not allowed to decompile it.

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Send message to yourself in WhatsApp

2018-01-10T21:33:00.002+05:00

Sending a WhatsApp message to yourself can be helpful in some cases. Many people used to send SMS to their own number if they wanted to take a note of something. Some people also send an email to themselves to take a note of something. But sending a WhatsApp message to yourself is not straight forward. In this post, I am going to tell you how you can send a message to yourself in WhatsApp.

Quick Method to Send Message to Yourself

Download the "Click to Chat" application from Google Play Store.
Open the app and enter your number.
Click the open button and send the message.

Different ways of sending a message to yourself

Method 1: From Contacts

This is the easiest method. It might not work on all devices. But the trick is to save your number in the contacts and then click the WhatsApp message button to send a message to yourself.

Method 2: Using an app

Download the "Click to Chat" app from Play Store.

Open the app and enter your number in it. Then click the "Open" button to open your chat in WhatsApp. Then you can send a message to yourself.

Method 3: Creating a group

In this method, you will first have to create a group in WhatsApp with one person only and then remove that person so that only you are left in the group. This group trick will work for both Android and IOS.

In WhatsApp, click the options button and select New Group.
Select only one person for the group.
Type in the group name and create the group.

Now go to the group options, select the other person and remove him from the group.
You will be left with a group of only you. Whatever message you send will be visible to you only.

Method 4: Creating a link

This method will work everywhere. On Android, IOS and even WhatsApp web. The method of creating the link comes from WhatsApp. See the post by WhatsApp here. In this method, you will have to type a link in your browser in the following format:

https://wa.me/<number>

You will write your number in International Format. See full details here. Write your country code first and then write your number without leading zeros. Do not include any brackets or dashes.

For example, if you are in the UK, the country code is 44 and the number is 07700 900555, you will write 447700900555 and the link will be http://wa.me/447700900555

Benefits of sending message to yourself

You can create a to do list for yourself or take a note.
You can see preview of a message or a link before sending it to someone else.
You can save links that you want to save while surfing the web.
You can send files to yourself to keep them in a separate location and access when needed.
If you want to set some images or videos aside, you can send them to yourself.
You went on shopping and parked your car. You can send the location of the car to yourself to save it.
Using the group method to send message to yourself can be even more helpful. You can create a group for notes, a group for your shopping list, a group for tasks you have to do today and much more.

Someone said, "Sharing is caring". I don't know who said this but please share this post with others.

Date to Calendar by Umer Softwares

2017-11-28T13:33:00.002+05:00

Application name: Date to Calendar

Created by: Hafiz MuhammadUmer
Programming Language: Java
System Requirements: Java Runtime Environment (jre) . Download jre 8 from here. Download jre 9 from here.
Minimum jre version: jre1.8.0_144
Downloads:

Click here to download as jar file. Compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac.

Click here to download as exe file. Compatible with Windows only.

Explanation: This is my first GUI application in java. It takes the date from the user and displays the calendar. The calculations are based on Umer's Algorithm for Date to Day conversion. The program comes with a beautifully designed user interface giving you a good user experience. The program is made user friendly. The processing power of the program lies in its powerful algorithm which is able to calculate the accurate calendar upto 10^100,000 A.D within one second. The program is not based on approximations i.e. it is 100% precise.

Features:

When the application starts, the window appears in the center of then screen.
There are separate boxes for you to enter date, month and year (in A.D).
The program will not allow you to enter alphabets and special characters in the boxes.
When the program starts, the cursor is placed in the date box for your convenience.
When the cursor is in a block, you can press the enter key to move it to the other block. You can also use arrow keys to move through the blocks.
To display the calendar, you will have to press the ok button or simply press enter after entering date, month and year.
When the calendar is displayed, the date will be highlighted in the calendar.
The date box is fully optional. It means that you can enter only month and year to get the calendar but in this case no date on the calendar will be highlighted.
If you leave the month or year box empty while pressing the ok button, the program displays a message reminding you that you must enter them in the box.
When the program starts, the calendar of the current date is displayed. The date is obtained from your system.
If you hover the cursor over the calendar buttons, they will highlight and pressing them will highlight them permanently.
You can press the day buttons to highlight entire columns.
For your convenience, there are clickable urls in the about section. Clicking on them will open the link in the default browser.
There is a "Report a bug" button. By clicking on that you can report a bug to me if you find any.
The most important feature of the program is its ability to calculate the calendar upto 10^100,000 A.D within one second. (The link for the source code is given in the next section).

Licence: The source code of the application is available at:

http://javawithumer.blogspot.com/2018/01/date-to-calendar-source-code.html

Source Code: The source code of the application is available at:

http://javawithumer.blogspot.com/2018/01/date-to-calendar-source-code.html

It is subjected to the terms described in the licence section above.

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How to transfer your installed Android apps from one phone to another via WhatsApp

2017-11-18T18:37:00.002+05:00

Sharing your installed apps to your friends via WhatsApp can be useful in many cases. Some internet providers give special packages for WhatsApp. In this case you can share your apps via WhatsApp instead of downloading it from Play Store. Follow the procedure below to share your installed Android apps via WhatsApp:

Steps for sender:

1. First you will have to install an app "Bluetooth app sender" on your phone.

You can download it from the button below

2. Open the app and select the application you want to send and then press the send button.

3. Select WhatsApp.

4. Select the contact to which you have to send the app and then click the send button. The app will be send to that contact.

Steps for receiver:

The receiver must enable installation from unknown sources in Android Settings in order to install the app.

1. When you receive an app via WhatsApp, click on it to install it.

2. If you cannot open it directly from WhatsApp open it in a file explorer at the path
InternalStorage/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Documents/

Note: Installation from unknown sources should be enabled in Android Settings

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How to enable "Allow installation from unknown sources" in Android device

2017-11-18T18:13:00.004+05:00

To enable "Allow installation from unknown sources" in Android phone settings, follow these steps:

1. Open settings in your phone and open the security settings.

2. Click on unknown sources to enable it.

3. If it gives a warning click on Ok.

Installation from unknown sources has been enabled in your phone now you can install apks in it.

How to transfer installed apps from one android phone to another

2017-11-09T17:24:00.002+05:00

Generally most of the android users install apps from the Play Store. Android does not have any built in functionality that allows you to transfer installed apps from one phone to another. But we can use some third party apps to get the job done.

1. SHAREit:

It is the best app and has the most user friendly interface. It must be installed in the mobile phones of both sender and receiver. In case it is not present in the receiver's phone, you can transfer it by using its built in method for the purpose. After opening the app you can use the send or receivr buttons to send and receive files respectively.

2. ES File Explorer:

To share your installed apps via ES File Explorer, you can use its Sender feature.

1. Open the "Sender" from main screen in the app.

2. The receiver will click on receive.

3. On the other hand, the sender will click on send.

4. You can move in the app section, select the app you want to share and click on send at the bottom of the screen.

5. Then you will have to select the receiver's avatar to connect to him.

3. App Backup & Restore:

1. Open the app and swipe from left edge of the screen to open the sidebar. The receiver will click on receive.

2. On the other hand, the sender will click on send.

3. Select the app you want to share and click the send button as shown by the screenshot below.

4. Select the receiver's avatar to connect and share the app.

5. The received apps will be shown in the Archieved section in the receiver's phone.

4. Bluetooth App sender:

1. Open this app and click on the app you want to share and then tap the send button.

2. It will show you the built in functions/apps of your phone using which you can share the app.

3. The receiver does not require to install the app on hiss phone.

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