Best PDF editing software???

[Rockrz]

I've been using eFax Messenger Plus for years for recieving e-faxes and it was very handy for adding text, images, etc

Now that I'm migrating to Windows 7 64 bit, I installed their new software version for Windows 7 64 bit and it's just a viewer now that doesn't have all the features of the original eFax Messenger Plus

So, someone was telling me I should look in to PDF editing programs (most of the time after editing with eFax Messenger Plus, I was printing to PDF anyway)

Anybody using any PDF editing programs that allows you to add text, graphics and whatnot that works well?

Recommendations would be appreciated for this
type of program that works with Windows 7 64 bit

[Rockrz]

Anybody have any experience with Nitro PDF?
( found at http://www.nitropdf.com )

[AlexDawson]

I use Nitro PDF Pro and I can recommend it as a great solution, it can be a bit clunky in certain situations but it's the best Acrobat alternative I've come across.

My advice would be to download the free trial and see if it meets your needs, that's what trials exist for.

[Rockrz]

it can be a bit clunky in certain situations

What do you mean by it can be clunky?

You mean it doesn't work sometimes or sometimes it's hard to use???

[AlexDawson]

There's just a couple of features that (for me) could be better implemented, it does work and it does work well, but I'm just being picky

[Rockrz]

OK, thanks for the feedback. Just wanted to hear from somebody that uses this software.

I knew about the trial, so that'll be my next thing so I can do some testing

[Rockrz]

Sometimes it is very hard to use...

wOw! That doesn't provide alot of confidence in the product...

[Unit7285]

Anybody have any experience with Nitro PDF?
( found at http://www.nitropdf.com )

I've used NitroPDF Pro for a couple of years and in general it has worked well.

I agree with AlexDawson, however, that it can be a bit 'clunky' at times. It's hard to explain more specifically - it's just that sometimes things can be awkward to achieve. I suspect this is true of most PDF programs, however.

Overall, I would strongly recommend it, and it is great value.


Paul

[Rockrz]

it can be a bit 'clunky' at times. It's hard to explain more specifically - it's just that sometimes things can be awkward to achieve. I suspect this is true of most PDF programs

Does the Adobe program get "clunky" at times too?

If it doesn't, maybe I need to invest in that if it's a superior product?

[wwb_99]

The adobe stuff is pretty slick, and they pretty much throw in Acrobat Pro if you buy any of the web suites, which is kind of unavoidable in this line of business.

[Rockrz]

I just went to the Adobe website and it looks like they charge $1899.00 for Acrobat Pro...which is ridiculous, regardless of how good it is.

For that kind of money it better run itself with perfection, automatically!

I'll just download the NitroPDF Pro free trial and see how that does.
Regardless of any short comings, it'll be better than paying $1899.00

How do some sites sell this for $200 - $300?
Would those be hacked versions?

[wwb_99]

I think you were looking at one of the creative suites, not Acrobat Pro which runs $449 from the adobe store.

Acrobat standard is the one you see at the $200-300 price point.

[Rockrz]

Looks like professional extended (whatever that means)
goes for $699.00 which is still way too much











.

[AlexDawson]

Just get Nitro PDF Professional, it does pretty much everything Adobe Acrobat does for about 1/10th of the price.

Though I disagree with wwb_99 that it's unavoidable in the industry (I don't use Adobe bloatware).

[Unit7285]

I'll just download the NitroPDF Pro free trial and see how that does.

Nitro frequently drop the price by about 30% for short periods. If you're not in a great hurry you could sign up to the mailing list and wait for this to happen. Shouldn't take too long. (Famous last words!)


Paul

[Rockrz]

That's a good idea, if I could find their email list sign-up!

[Rockrz]

Found it!

[molona]

Looks like professional extended (whatever that means)
goes for $699.00 which is still way too much

Acrobat has 3 versions: Standard, Professional and Extended

You'll only need professional version if you want to dedicate time to forms. You can create forms with the standard version, but the professional version comes with LiveCycle Designer, a tool created only to do forms.

The Extended version adds a special plug-in to create PDFs from PowerPoint. Of course, you can do it with any of the previous versions...but Adobe Presenter is like another program specialized on presentations and slick animations. It also has good manipulation of 3D objects.

That's why you've got different prices

Acrobat is the only tool I really know so I can't compare with other editors. I do think that it is worth the price if you work with PDFs frequently, and you don't simply view PDFs.

[Rockrz]

OK, thanks for the overview. That does explain why they have different pricing since there are differences in merchandise

I don't think my PDF usage rises to the level of paying more than a couple hundred dollars for whatever I end up getting.

I'm just wanting to be able to do forms, add and delete pages, and be able to insert text and images, which is what
I was able to do for years using eFax Messenger Plus before they made it into just a viewer

I would think NitroPDF Pro would be able to handle these tasks

[AlexDawson]

Yep it can, and as an added bonus, it can also do most of the stuff in Acrobat Pro (the form editing et al).

It's only when you come to all that fantasy fluff in Extended like embedding Powerpoint, video & audio, complex scripting - where there's no alternative.

[Rockrz]

It's only when you come to all that fantasy fluff in Extended like embedding Powerpoint, video & audio, complex scripting - where there's no alternative.

I doubt I'll ever be using those items...

[molona]

If my memory serves me well, OpenOffice also has editing capabilities for PDFs... but I never tried them myself so I don't know how they work.

[Unit7285]

If my memory serves me well, OpenOffice also has editing capabilities for PDFs... but I never tried them myself so I don't know how they work.

You can export OpenOffice files as PDF, but you can't open and edit PDF files using OpenOffice.


Paul

[molona]

Yes, you can if you use the Sun PDF Import extension I haven't tried it so I don't know how it works. It will import the document into Draw (very similar to the utility that Acrobat has and that allows you to export a PDF page into Illustrator or Corel Draw for editing)

I think that it is packed with OpenOffice 3 but not sure about it

[LannyPurse]

I prefer acrobat anyway, but I sometimes use a pdf to word converter http://www.anypdftools.com/pdf-to-word.html which is free and facilitate efficient editing.