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Author Topic: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40  (Read 12976 times)

NigelH

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Grab it while it's still available. Make sure you register to get the serial number.
This is the full commercial single-user version of eXpert PDF 3
I've stopped using Jaws PDF Creator (V3.4) in favour of this.
http://www.pcauthori...ad/expert-pdf-3.aspx

cthorpe

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2007, 03:14 AM »
Looks like a good program.  There are a few little issues that I found with it, but thankfully both can be fixed very easily.

First off, the program automatically puts itself in your autostart registry entries at hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run.  That is easily removed.

Second, when you create a pdf and exit the window, the program stays running in the background eating up a ton of resources (30mb of ram in Working Set alone on my machine).  You can change a bit in the registry to stop that from happening.

It's at: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Visage Software\PDF Printer\Options

Change the DWORD value for StayBackground to 0 (zero).  If you don't see that DWORD, create it and set it to zero.

Now when you are done creating your pdf and exit the program, it won't stick around in the background.  This does cause a longer delay when you tell a document to print to the program, but I'd rather wait a few extra seconds than loose all that ram.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2007, 07:52 PM by cthorpe »

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2007, 09:31 AM »
First off, the program automatically puts itself in your autostart registry entries at hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\currentversion\run.  That is easily removed.
Isn't this a typo? There is no such address in hkey_local_machine\software.   :tellme:

AbteriX

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2007, 10:50 AM »
Hi Curt,
It must be "software\microsoft\WINDOWS\currentversion\r..."
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Tip:
If you find it, use the favorites menu to bookmark the key as "HKLM run".

Note, there is also such an Run-Key for the current user (depends which user is logged in):
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HTH  :tellme:

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2007, 12:50 PM »
Hi Curt,
It must be "software\microsoft\WINDOWS\currentversion\r..."

The PDF printer, vspdfprsrv.exe, was using 2.4 MB memory which is not unusual, but of course in no way necessary. Well, that's history now: Thanks for the directions!  :Thmbsup:

NigelH

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2007, 07:20 PM »
"cthorpe" , thanks for the StayBackground  tip .

I use Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel and StartupMonitor to handle "startup" issues.
http://www.mlin.net/

Carol Haynes

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2007, 07:57 PM »
I use (and have advocated) Mike Lin's Startup control Panel but recently have had a number of issues with parameters being dropped when you temporarily disable items.

It seems to be abandonware these days (as do the rest of Mike's utilities last time I bothered to look - also his forum has now gone because it attracted so much rubbish and was pretty much left unattended) so I would caution 'use with care' unless you simply want to delete startup items.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2007, 07:59 PM by Carol Haynes »

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2007, 08:42 AM »
Grab it while it's still available. Make sure you register to get the serial number. This is the full commercial single-user version of eXpert PDF 3 http://www.pcauthori...ad/expert-pdf-3.aspx
The link was http://www.pcauthori...ad/expert-pdf-3.aspx

- and if you hurry, you can then upgrade this version 3 within the next two days (before 10. March] to the all new Pro 5, at half the normal price, £20 - instead of £40.

Upgrading link: [Edit: http://emea.0mm.com/...S50RO6AV0aez0Dqqe0Eg ]
- promotion code EXPDF5-UPG - VAT is added.
[one more after-edit: VAT is included !! Total: £19.99]

pdf5.jpg
« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 09:12 AM by Curt »

tinjaw

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2007, 09:13 AM »
I cannot find a list of improvements from version 3 to version 5. Can anybody locate it?

cthorpe

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2007, 09:37 AM »
I cannot find a list of improvements from version 3 to version 5. Can anybody locate it?

Well, version 4 adds:
Move up to the latest eXPert PDF Professional 4 and you'll be able to save your documents as images, instead of PDF (JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, TIF, EMF and BMP formats supported). There's also a more powerful PDF editor, the ability to create and manage hypertext and URL links within a document, and protection options that can limit users rights to print, edit, or copy your finished PDF file.

And it looks like version 5 has vista support.  Don;t know what else.

C
« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 09:51 AM by cthorpe »

tomos

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2007, 09:38 AM »
thats €50 (Euro - do ye even see the Euro symbol in States??)
+ 20% VAT
not cheap, well, depends  :)  i guess

I cannot find a list of improvements from version 3 to version 5. Can anybody locate it?
I cant even find Version 5 at their website - the latest version there is 4.2.50  :tellme:

EDIT: overlapped with your post cthorpe
Tom
« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 09:40 AM by tomos »

tinjaw

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2007, 09:50 AM »
FYI: the upgrade from v3 to v5 is USD $32.13 during the 50% off deal.

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #12 on: March 27, 2007, 02:18 PM »
I cant even find Version 5 at their website - the latest version there is 4.2.50  :tellme:

- they do say so: registered customers will be offered version 5 before the public is notified about the new version.

As for what is new, they only say very little in the add:

What's new in version 5?
NEW – Now you can convert Word documents into PDF files, and PDF files into Word documents, making Expert PDF the all-in-one PDF solution
NEW - Convert multiple files into PDF files at the same time.
NEW - Compatible with Vista, the new operating system from Microsoft.

- of course that is compared to version 4, and 'we' upgraded from version 3, so what was new from 3 to 4 is hard to tell today, isn't it.

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2007, 02:24 PM »
thats €50 + 20% VAT

£20 with VAT included can hardly make €60 - please fix your calculator!  8)
« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 02:53 PM by Curt »

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #14 on: March 27, 2007, 02:50 PM »
The listed price with VAT included is $37.76, or €29.54

« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 02:59 PM by Curt »

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2007, 03:09 PM »
Silly me; I have forgotten to tell, that you don't need to install version 3 or 4, because the new installer will ask you first to remove the old version. Version 5 is a fresh installation.

And the link was http://emea.0mm.com/...S50RO6AV0aez0Dqqe0Eg

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2007, 03:32 PM »
And the answer from one of the competitors came at once  :D

$40, normal price $50 - BUT DO NOT ACCEPT THIS OFFER, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LEAVE THEY WILL OFFER YOU A FURTHER CUTDOWN AT 15%  :D :D

http://dr.bluehornet...9EEB101250E0824EB20C
boximage.jpg

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« Last Edit: March 27, 2007, 03:35 PM by Curt »

tomos

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #17 on: March 28, 2007, 04:19 AM »
thats €50 + 20% VAT

£20 with VAT included can hardly make €60 - please fix your calculator!  8)
Curt,
that wasn't my calculator,
that was the price they quoted me.
From the first link you gave, & in post 15

well, actually it was €49.95 or something alon those lines  :) & didnt say if it included vat
it DID originally say £20 (or 19.95) but maybe when I selected Euros it went back to full price??!!
I dunno. By direct conversion £20 = €30, still doesnt add up..

The link doesnt work for me today, but the link in last post does
BUT DO NOT ACCEPT THIS OFFER, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LEAVE THEY WILL OFFER YOU A FURTHER CUTDOWN AT 15%
Curt -
how do you mean dont accept their offer ?
(usually Ctrl+W is my way of not accepting an offer  :D - i guess you mean something else ..)
Tom

tomos

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #18 on: March 28, 2007, 04:28 AM »
BTW, the Expert PDF feature-page is
http://www.visagesof...pertpdf/features.php
Tom

Curt

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Re: free eXpert PDF 3 - Full commercial app, as sold for £40
« Reply #19 on: March 28, 2007, 05:39 PM »
BUT DO NOT ACCEPT THIS OFFER, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LEAVE THEY WILL OFFER YOU A FURTHER CUTDOWN AT 15%
Curt -
how do you mean dont accept their offer ?
(usually Ctrl+W is my way of not accepting an offer  :D - i guess you mean something else ..)

The listed price is $50. The sales offer is $40. If you follow the link and close it again wityhout accepting their offer, a popup wil ask you to wait, offering you a $6 rebate:

2ComeBack.png

-and so making it $34:

1UniBlue.png

As for the second offer on this thread, eXpert Pro 5, the listed price with VAT included is £19.95, $37.76, or €29.54.