Store Word, Excel, PDF, and various graphics formats locally on the iPhone

Filemark Maker is a new Mac OS X application that converts various file formats into data URLs, which can be stored locally as bookmarks on the iPhone (see our separate coverage on turning Web pages into locally stored bookmarks). Currently supported file formats include .doc, .xls, .rtf, .txt, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .pdf, or .html.

The process works like this:

• Set Safari as your default Web browser (in Safari, go to Preferences > General > Default Web Browser)
• Download the Filemark Maker application
• Drag any .doc, .xls, .rtf, .txt, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .pdf, or .html onto the application icon
• A Web browser window will open in Safari linking to the data: URL that stores the file information. Click on the link.
• Add the resulting URL as a bookmark in Safari.
• Synchronize your Safari bookmarks with your iPhone via iTunes
• Access the stored bookmark to view your file.

You'll now have a locally stored, easily accessible version of the file that can be viewed while iPhone is in Airplane mode or has no access to a data network.

The authors of the application write, regarding file size restrictions:

"We haven't found specific size limits, but the iPhone seems to dislike loading really big images ... we crash consistently when we load a 4000 pixel wide image! Weâ??ve had no problems reading pdfâ??s of books on the phone, though."

Also, note that storing several large data: URLs in MobileSafari's bookmark scheme can cause sluggish performance when navigating bookmarks.

Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.