OnlyOffice Docs 9.3 brings advanced PDF signatures and Dynamic Arrays

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The developers of OnlyOffice have released version 9.3 of their office suite. The update includes more than 30 new features, numerous performance improvements, and over 500 bug fixes. The open-source software includes programs for editing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs.

At the center of the innovations is the PDF editor, which now offers advanced signature options. Users can insert signatures via image upload, with the application automatically removing white backgrounds. Alternatively, signatures can be typed with professional fonts or drawn directly with a mouse or touchscreen. Enterprise customers can upload signature certificates in the admin panel to create trusted digital signatures that protect against unauthorized changes. Another practical innovation: Protected PDFs can now be edited directly after being unlocked with a password.

The PDF editor also receives a version history for PDF files, editing of embedded PDF fonts, and advanced macro functions for adding, deleting, and editing pages, forms, annotations, and tables. Via the "Insert" tab, users can create links to external and internal resources, which remain active even in comment mode.

Accelerated Rendering and New Formula Functions

For the spreadsheet editor, the developers have significantly accelerated the initial rendering of large documents over 3 MByte. The new Solver tool solves linear optimization problems using the simplex method. For complex text processing, three new Regex functions are available: REGEXTEST, REGEXREPLACE, and REGEXEXTRACT. Dynamic Array Support allows formulas to return multiple results that automatically spill into neighboring cells.

The COUNTIF function has been revised and fixes memory errors as well as errors with mixed data types. A new Format button in the "Home" tab provides central access to formatting for sheets, rows, and columns. When splitting and inserting data, multiple delimiters can now be used.

Multipage View and GIF Support

The word processor receives a multipage view that displays multiple pages side-by-side, facilitating layout review. The commenting system has been improved: comments receive unique user colors and display precise start and end points of the commented text. All header and footer options have been centrally consolidated in the corresponding tab. Mouse selection has been expanded, allowing double and triple clicks to select multiple words or entire paragraphs.

The presentation editor now supports GIF animations in slideshow mode, enabling dynamic movements without video players or external links. Further innovations include hyperlinks to images, shapes, and groups, as well as extended macro recording and the option to save documents as Markdown.

Enterprise Features for Server Administration

Enterprise customers receive extended admin panel features designed to simplify server administration. These include an HTTPS certificate script, fast server shutdown, font management for uploading custom fonts, and detailed tenant statistics. Uploading license files facilitates license management.

Many of the new core features such as PDF editing, Solver, Regex functions, Dynamic Arrays, Multipage View, and GIF support are also available in the Community Edition. Signature certificates and the advanced admin panel functions remain exclusive to Enterprise. All information about the new release can be found in the announcement at OnlyOffice.

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