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Special User Sections => Other Stuff => General Review Discussion => Topic started by: yacht_boy on August 21, 2005, 09:40 PM

Title: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: yacht_boy on August 21, 2005, 09:40 PM
Hi all-

How about a review of the best of the free PDF tools out there.  There are a ton of tools that will let you print to PDF, but very few that will do the more important stuff--splitting and merging, etc.  Anyone else like this idea?
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: mouser on August 21, 2005, 10:23 PM
review of pdf tools is a great idea - since buying acrobat is not feasible for a lot of people.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: zridling on August 22, 2005, 02:06 AM
Yea, it's a great idea. Lots are listed in various categories at PlanetPDF.com (http://www.planetpdf.com/tools.asp?webpageid=615&SearchType=Product&SearchString=&SearchPlatform=3&SearchCategory=8&CompanyID=&SearchApplicationType=desktop&SearchLicenseType=-1).
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Edvard on August 26, 2005, 06:27 PM
Not much of a review, but I have tried quite a few of these things, and this (IMHO) is the cream of the crop. Should I post more in 'mini-reviews by members'?

PDF995 (http://www.pdf995.com) is VERY easy to use and the trial version is only limited by popups that ask you if you are tired of the popups yet (and so pay $9.95) This is what I recommend for my CAD customers who can't afford Adobe. No complaints yet.

PDFCreator (http://pdfcreator.sourceforge.net) is what I use. Nice and techy, like I like it. Choose from GPL Ghostscript or AFPL Ghostscript for the encoding. Also does .ps .tif .png .jpg .eps .bmp .pcx. Free

PdfBlender (http://www.spaceblue.com/pdfblender/) I use for... DUH! merging multiple PDF's. Next version promises pdf splitting. Minimal, clutter-free but intuitive interface. Free

That's my two cents and in my honest opinion, a pretty darn shiny two cents.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: mouser on August 26, 2005, 06:59 PM
edvard i definitely invite you to post more in mini-reviews whenever you get the urge - we need to encourage more user mini-reviews, i think they would be very welcome.

pdfcreator sounds really nice, im going to check it out now (pdfcreator is open source, and author offers more of his open source software for download there - and he requests donations.  remember to support donationware!)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: rjbull on September 01, 2005, 08:08 AM
How about a review of the best of the free PDF tools out there.  There are a ton of
tools that will let you print to PDF, but very few that will do the more important stuff--splitting and merging, etc.  Anyone else like this idea?
-yacht_boy (August 21, 2005, 09:40 PM)

I mentioned this somewhere else, but here's a bit more blurb;

pdftk - PDF toolkit

http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/


=== begin quote ===
If PDF is electronic paper, then pdftk is an electronic staple-remover,
 hole-punch, binder, secret-decoder-ring, and X-Ray-glasses. Pdftk is a
 command-line tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents. Keep one in the
 top drawer of your desktop and use it to:

Merge PDF Documents
Split PDF Pages into a New Document
Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
Encrypt Output as Desired
Fill PDF Forms with FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
Apply a Background Watermark
Report on PDF Metrics such as Metadata, Bookmarks, and Page Labels
Update PDF Metadata
Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
Unpack PDF Attachments
Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)
Pdftk allows you to manipulate PDF easily and freely. It does not require
 Acrobat, and it runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD and Solaris.

Pdftk is free software (GPL).
=== end quote ===

The password feature didn't work for me the only time I tried it, but the splitting and merging features work a treat.  Although this is a command-line application, the Web site has a link to a WinGUI shell for most of the major features.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Darwin on September 04, 2005, 04:14 PM
I'd be very interested in this review. However, I'd like to see the "cheaper" shareware alternatives to Adobe Acrobat  - products by Fineprint, Nitro, Scansoft, and Jaws for example - reviewed as well. I'm curious about how these compare to each other and most importantly which is the best alternative to Acrobat.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Carol Haynes on September 06, 2005, 04:13 AM
I know you'll want to wait for the review but I have used Acrobat 5 (full version) and Jaws PDF Creator and Editor. I was lucky enough to get a free copy of Jaws PDF Creator as I had a registered version of their earlier software (which I got free from a magazine disk).

Jaws software is chearp, solid and reliable. The only places it falls down in comparison to Acrobat are speed (the Editor is quite S..L..O..W at loading and saving files - in fact sometimes with large files you may as well go and get a coffee) and updating. The updates for Acrobat are pretty regular and the file format grows and grows with time. So far I haven't felt the need to splurdge out on the upgrade to version 7 but I do now have some files that aren't fully functional in version 5. I haven't seen updates at Jaws which address all the growing options in the PDF format.

If you simply want to create PDF files and edit them, Jaws is well worth a look. If you want to edit files from other sources then you may need to look elsewhere. (Actually just been to their website and note that new versions are due out soon. For the new version of PDF Creator see the press release at http://www.globalgraphics.com/news/ggpress.nsf/PressReleasesPublishedCurrent/DCE37A1CCE750EE38025706E00688280 which is the enterprise version but new consumer versions of Creator and Editor are due soon and will be free upgrades if you purchase current versions now. See http://www.jawspdf.com/products.html for details of upgrading.)

Personally I haven't had very happy experiences with ScanSoft software. I haven't tried their PFD software (and have no wish to) but other software I have used (and purchased ... TextBridge, OmiPage and PaperPort) always promised much but the results are never as good as  expected. Their upgrade prices for new versions are always high (often higher than the cost of the new software if you keep your eyes open for special offers), and free updates (even for bug fixes) are few and far between ... not that there aren't bugs that need fixing.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: rjbull on September 06, 2005, 04:56 AM
Not sure if this qualifies.

Iceni Technology, makers of Infix PDF Editor.  Windows 95/98/9x users should check the demo for compatibility.  9 Mb download...
http://www.iceni.com/

This is a $99 WYSIWIG PDF editor which, in unpaid-for form, puts a watermark in every PDF it saves.  But if you don't want to pay that much, they will sell you a cheap (IIRC, $6 or so) one-time key that will remove the watermark on one document.  Doesn't have password features ATM but that's scheduled for next year.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: mouser on September 06, 2005, 04:56 AM
anyone try fineprint's pdf tool? their fineprint tool is one of those genius apps but i havent tried the pdf factory one.
(http://www.fineprint.com/)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: rjbull on September 06, 2005, 05:12 AM
Having just mentioned the Iceni editor, it occurs to me that thread title includes the word "free:" is that going to be exclusive?
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: mea1 on July 20, 2006, 11:20 AM
I've seen complaints that Adobe has become massive, slow and fills up the registry.
There are a lot of PDF reader/creator/editors available....
It would be nice to see a review of features/stability/speed etc.

For those that need to create PDF's, but don't require editting ability,
OpenOffice (freeware) converts documents to PDF:
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.3/contribute.html?product=OpenOffice.org&os=win&lang=en&version=2.0.3
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: nite_monkey on February 20, 2007, 01:54 PM
try Foxit pdf reader (http://www.download.com/Foxit-PDF-Reader/3000-2079_4-10313206.html) it reads pdf files, and it is pretty good.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: urlwolf on February 20, 2007, 09:18 PM
There is a big void in the segment of pdf READERS.
I simply want to read a pdf off the screen, and maybe mark (highlight) some sections, and add notes.

I don't need the entire enchilada that Acrobat is. However, I have to use acrobat, because no other program can do that.

Foxit comes close, but has no undo, the highlighter doesn't get the block correctly when the doc is a two-column doc, and the user interface is pitiful. No way to have all docs in the same window instead of the taskbar, for example.

Plus most docs look better in adobe.

When is adobe going to release a cheap version of acrobat that does only the few things that I mentioned (which is what most academics need, BTW)? We don't need all the pro features.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: tomos on February 21, 2007, 09:22 AM
Jaws [PDF Creator and Editor] software is chearp, solid and reliable. ..... I haven't seen updates at Jaws which address all the growing options in the PDF format.

If you simply want to create PDF files and edit them, Jaws is well worth a look. If you want to edit files from other sources then you may need to look elsewhere. (Actually just been to their website and note that new versions are due out soon. For the new version of PDF Creator see the press release at http://www.globalgraphics.com/news/ggpress.nsf/PressReleasesPublishedCurrent/DCE37A1CCE750EE38025706E00688280 which is the enterprise version but new consumer versions of Creator and Editor are due soon and will be free upgrades if you purchase current versions now. See http://www.jawspdf.com/products.html for details of upgrading.)
-Carol Haynes (September 06, 2005, 04:13 AM)

Now at JAWs 4.1 - anyone tried it out?

I'm thinking of getting it cause I need something to create press ready PDFs - going to install trial today
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Darwin on February 21, 2007, 11:46 AM
I'm using Nuance (Scansoft) PDF Converter Professional 4 and it works really well. I noticed a big improvement in performance, reliability and the "play nice" factor with other software when I moved from v.3 to 4. Anyway, definitely worth a look (IMHO)...

PS They've fixed the activation problems that plagued version 3 (any time you had to repair the installation it needed to be reactivated a major PIA and scary, too, because you only had - I believe - 9 activations). Note though, that there is no free support (bad - though they have a fairly comprehensive FAQ, and decent documentation. It may be better than decent but I've only superficially scanned it...). Finally, there is no trial BUT they have either a 30 or a 90 day no questions asked return policy, which I used when I purchased another of their products without any trouble (it was OmniPage Pro 15 - I wound up purchasing it afterall... long story. Love it).
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: dhuser on February 26, 2007, 08:51 AM
I use PDFCreator to convert my MS Word documents to PDF Format.

dhuser
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Laughing Man on February 28, 2007, 10:49 PM
If you use OpenOffice I believe it comes built in with something to convert/save to the PDF format.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Nighted on March 04, 2007, 04:06 PM
I believe doPDF (http://www.dopdf.com/) does what Fineprint does, and it's freeware to boot.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Darwin on March 05, 2007, 09:59 AM
Just to expand upon/refine what I said earlier about Scansoft PDF Converter Pro - love it. However, I can't recommend it. Scansoft's support is dreadful - you have to pay them to report bugs in their code! $9.95 a call/e-mail. This is truly unconscionable and I don't expect to see them remain in business with this model for very long. Further, their user forums are unusable - I can't load them at all in IE7, Maxthon, FF 2, or Opera (all latest builds). This isn't a transient thing - I haven't been able to load them since before Christmas. Finally, the knowledgebase is pathetic, so if you have a problem, you'll be shelling out for support.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: wnitzan on April 12, 2007, 02:08 PM
I use 4 PDF related programs, in concert:

1. GhostScript engine (free)
www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost

I have both the GPL and AFPL versions (you'll see why in a second). They usually get updated soon one after the other, but sometimes not.

2. CutePDF Writer (free)
www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

This is a printer driver (like many others) to print from any program into a PDF doc. It needs a PS2PDF converter, such as GhostScript.

3. PDFill (free and paid)
www.pdfill.com

PDFill has two parts, one free and one that costs $20, both rely on the free AFPL GhostScript engine (and it must be the AFPL version, not the GPL). PDFill detects whether an AFPL version is already installed, or else offers to download and install it for you, albeit an older version than what you can download and install yourself. So, I would install the newer version of AFPL GhostScript first, and PDFill afterward.

The free part is a GUI with 12 tools that merge, split, reorder pages, add watermarks, encrypt, convert to and from image files, and add header/footer info.

The paid part is a PDF editor ($20) that can be used to fill out and *save* PDF forms (what other readers won't let you do), add text and graphics annotations, and create your own PDF forms. It also allows you to add editable fields on top of a not editable PDF doc, so that you can fill in fields on a non-interactive form (instead of printing, filling it by hand, scanning and then sending it out).

4. PDF Image Extraction Wizard (free)
www.rlvision.com/pdfwiz/about.asp

This tool can extract all the images in a PDF doc.

Hope this helps...
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: lanux128 on April 12, 2007, 09:12 PM
I believe doPDF does what Fineprint does, and it's freeware to boot.
-Nighted (March 04, 2007, 04:06 PM)
i've tried out doPDF but it has some problems which i have mentioned here (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=7561.msg56659#msg56659), so i would like to know if anyone else has these problems..

btw, for those who convert images/text files into PDF, IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.net/plugins.htm) has also got into the act, via a plugin..
• IMPDF - (version 0.23): allows IrfanView to save PDF files (Portable Document Format)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: PhilB66 on September 16, 2007, 08:33 AM
Another useful and free pdf tool - PDFTK Builder (http://angusj.com/pdftkb/) (scroll down the page for the latest version).

     [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: mouser on September 16, 2007, 08:51 AM
See also: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=10014
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: PhilB66 on September 16, 2007, 08:55 AM
See also: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=10014
-mouser (September 16, 2007, 08:51 AM)

Is it possible to merge / consolidate these two threads?
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: tomos on September 16, 2007, 12:03 PM
I believe doPDF does what Fineprint does, and it's freeware to boot.
-Nighted (March 04, 2007, 04:06 PM)
i've tried out doPDF but it has some problems which i have mentioned here (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=7561.msg56659#msg56659), so i would like to know if anyone else has these problems..
-lanux128 (April 12, 2007, 09:12 PM)

they're (doPdf) at version 5.2 now, (you said 5.1 promised those issues were resolved)
I was just going to install - are those issues not resolved yet for you?

(didn't know which thread to post in..)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: lanux128 on September 16, 2007, 08:26 PM
yes tomos, the devs have fixed the problems (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=7561.msg65656#msg65656) that i had mentioned previously.. sorry didn't update here earlier.. :)

(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=7561.0;attach=19217;image)
• http://www.dopdf.com

Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 17, 2007, 01:46 AM
I bought Foxit Reader 2.1 as I thought it seemed like a good deal. But, alas, I find that I cannot trust the software entirely. I have experienced (once now, but only annotated a few PDFs) that the annotations made in Foxit does not show in Adobe Reader 8.0.0 and 8.0.1. Not only that, but Foxit left the PDF with annotations in it that were visible (but empty) in Adobe Reader but invisible in Foxit. Adobe Reader also gave me a error message: "Wrong number of arguments for a setcolor operator". Has anyone else here had this experience? I don't know if I can trust the software enough to continue using it. Worst case scenario is that Foxit Reader would make it impossible for me to move to my annotated PDFs to another annotating system if I wanted to as it seems to have issues with portability.

I wrote to Foxit's support about this problem a while ago in the hopes that they could (at least) give me instructions on how to avoid this while waiting for a new version of Foxit. This is what I wrote:


Hi,

I made comments in a PDF using Foxit. Now, when I open it in Adobe
Reader 8.0.0 or 8.1.0 and start scrolling it I get the error message:
"An error exists on this page. [...]" followed by another one stating:
"Wrong number of arguments for a setcolor operator." The uncommented
version does not cause Adobe Reader to exhibit this behavior.

I have attached two screen shots documenting this error in this mail.
I have also attached the commented and uncommented version of the PDF.

Why does this happen and what should I do to avoid this until you
create a fix for this problem?

With kind regards,
...


The answer I got was:


Hello,

We open the files in Foxit Reader,but there is no problem.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Your sincerely,
Kurica
Foxit Software Support
www.foxitsoftware.com


And, so I replied:


As I wrote to you before, the problem was not that Foxit Reader was
unable to show the comments, but that Foxit Reader's comments causes
problems in a PDF-standards compliant reader, namely Adobe Reader 8.

If you understood my problem as stated above and still chose to 
test the document I sent to you only in Foxit Reader, then that must mean
that you are encouraging the whole world to install Foxit Reader in
order to read comments generated in your software? When did "Portable"
in PDF (Portable Document Format) stop meaning exactly that? Thus,
given that PDFs are meant to be portable, I encourage you once again
to look into this problem.


And have not heard anything else from them after that.

Here's two of the screen captures that I sent to them.

First, the error message:
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And, here's one of the "invisible" annotations created by Foxit in the same document:
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: PhilB66 on September 17, 2007, 02:12 AM
@jzippo

Have a look at PDF-XCHANGE VIEWER (FREE) (http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/pdfx_viewer/). Main features

"View, Print, Export Text & Images and add content to PDF files, type on PDF's in any font, fill and save forms"

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 17, 2007, 04:15 AM
Forgive my scepticism :-[: what is the catch? Watermarks? Evaluation marks? Not compliant with the PDF-format in general? What exactly is it that makes PDF-XCHANGE unmarketable?  :huh:
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Carol Haynes on September 17, 2007, 04:32 AM
Presumably they want you to buy their other products - none of which are free (though they are reasonably priced).
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 17, 2007, 04:59 AM
Why would you want to name your company Tracker Software? :huh: Makes me think about spyware and those sort of things. Does anyone know if PDF-XCHANGE VIEWER is free from that kind of stuff?
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Carol Haynes on September 17, 2007, 05:43 AM
If you are worried check out:

http://www.snapfiles.com/opinions/pdf-xchange-viewer/pdf-xchange-viewer.html

Other free download sites have similar good reviews of their software and all that I looked at say they are adware/spyware free.

Why should it be surprising to find a company offering a PDF viewer for free? There are loads of free PDF viewers out there - most companies offering similar have companion products which they want to sell to offer full Adobe Acrobat style PDF creation and editing facilities. A free, good quality viewer is one way of encouraging purchases.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 17, 2007, 06:18 AM
My understanding was that PDF-XChange Viewer Free wasn't simply a reader but also useful for annotating PDF-documents. My experience of such software is that is not free, and if it is free it comes with some kind of limitation so as to provide an incentive to get the non-free version. I am of the opinion that one should always try to exercise caution when something seems to be too good to be true. The reviews from snapfiles seems to be extremely positive, and that too triggers my critical mind, but I guess I will have to find out for myself now. If it does provide good annotation capabilities for free and with no limitations, then that is all that I need.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: PhilB66 on September 17, 2007, 06:51 AM
PDF-XChange Viewer was featured on Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/software/featured-windows-download/fill-out-any-pdf-with-pdf+xchange-viewer-265271.php) on June this year, and the reviews (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pesala/Home/html/pdf-xchange.html) are good. Having said that, it might have the same compatibility issues as with Foxit (read the comments on Lifehacker), but hey it's free.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Grorgy on September 17, 2007, 07:01 AM
you are right it does do more than a reader, but given there are so many free readers out there they need to add something to make people want to use their software and, when needed, purchase their complete solution, just another marketing ploy, but hey, if it works in our favour, i'm all for it
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: PhilB66 on September 17, 2007, 08:56 AM
How about Jarnal - a Java Notetaker and PDF Annotator (http://www.dklevine.com/general/software/tc1000/jarnal.htm)?

Was mentioned in this thread https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=2362.msg24547#msg24547
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: katykaty on September 17, 2007, 04:13 PM
My understanding was that PDF-XChange Viewer Free wasn't simply a reader but also useful for annotating PDF-documents. My experience of such software is that is not free, and if it is free it comes with some kind of limitation so as to provide an incentive to get the non-free version. I am of the opinion that one should always try to exercise caution when something seems to be too good to be true. The reviews from snapfiles seems to be extremely positive, and that too triggers my critical mind, but I guess I will have to find out for myself now. If it does provide good annotation capabilities for free and with no limitations, then that is all that I need.
-jzippo (September 17, 2007, 06:18 AM)
I've used PDF-XChange Viewer for about a year now and I've had no problems with it.

The annotation tools seem to work fine for me, though I don't use them all that much and don't tend to share the annotated documents so I'm not sure how well other readers will cope.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: urlwolf on September 17, 2007, 06:01 PM
Can jarnal open a pdf? I have tried with no success.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: lanux128 on September 17, 2007, 07:36 PM
... I was just going to install - are those issues not resolved yet for you? ...
-tomos (September 16, 2007, 12:03 PM)

tomos, if you haven't installed doPDF yet, get it's beefier cousin - novaPDF Lite (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/novapdf-lite/) from giveawayoftheday.com.. :Thmbsup:

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: tomos on September 18, 2007, 01:46 AM
... I was just going to install - are those issues not resolved yet for you? ...
-tomos (September 16, 2007, 12:03 PM)

tomos, if you haven't installed doPDF yet, get it's beefier cousin - novaPDF Lite (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/novapdf-lite/) from giveawayoftheday.com.. :Thmbsup:
-lanux128 (September 17, 2007, 07:36 PM)

thanks Lanux, I was too late... -
did install doPdf though & probably will install PDF Creator/Gohstscript
so should be well covered !
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: katykaty on September 18, 2007, 12:53 PM
jzippo, here's a pdf with attachments made by Xchange Viewer so you can see how well they work in different readers.

As you can see, I've abandoned taste and slapped in lots of different styles  :D

Warning: this file is BIG - 660kb. The original pdf was only 16kb so the annotations do add a heavy load. Maybe that's why it's free  ;)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Carol Haynes on September 18, 2007, 02:11 PM
Opens fine in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional - you can even edit the stuff you added (except for the handwriting in the left hand margin).
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Darwin on September 18, 2007, 02:29 PM
Like Adobe Acrobat 7, everything, with the exception of the handwriting in the left hand margin, is editable in Scansoft PDF Converter 4 Pro as well. I can move the handwriting and managed to rearrange/add to it to make it say "Penicilin". Xchange Viewer is pretty cool!
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: katykaty on September 18, 2007, 02:31 PM
 :-[   That was the pencil tool - I didn't have my Wacom to hand  ;)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Clive on September 19, 2007, 07:47 AM
Anyone know if it's possible to run an app like DoPDF on a USB memory stick?
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: rjbull on September 19, 2007, 08:40 AM
I can move the handwriting and managed to rearrange/add to it to make it say "Penicilin". Xchange Viewer is pretty cool!
-Darwin (September 18, 2007, 02:29 PM)

can't spell penicillin, though   ;)

Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: PhilB66 on September 19, 2007, 08:57 AM
Anyone know if it's possible to run an app like DoPDF on a USB memory stick?
-Clive (September 19, 2007, 07:47 AM)

Tomahawk PDF+ (http://nativewinds.montana.com/software/tpdfplus.html) (http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=71), Swift PDF (http://www.derring.com/swiftpdf/index.htm) (http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1216), and PDFProducer (http://naramcheez.paraschopra.com/pdfproducer.php) (http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=142) are portable pdf tools. If you insist on doPDF, then MojoPac (http://www.mojopac.com/portal/content/splash.jsp) might offer a solution, but it's not free. Lifehacker article here (http://lifehacker.com/software/windows/geek-to-live--build-your-pc-on-a-stick-with-mojopac-208338.php).

Also, this thread HOWTO: create a portable application? (http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3795) might prove useful ???
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Darwin on September 19, 2007, 04:17 PM
can't spell penicillin, though

Yes I can! Just didn't do it correctly, that's all...  :-[
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: J-Mac on September 19, 2007, 11:18 PM
can't spell penicillin, though

Yes I can! Just didn't do it correctly, that's all...  :-[
-Darwin (September 19, 2007, 04:17 PM)
Like Adobe Acrobat 7, everything, with the exception of the handwriting in the left hand margin, is editable in Scansoft PDF Converter 4 Pro as well. I can move the handwriting and managed to rearrange/add to it to make it say "Penicilin". Xchange Viewer is pretty cool!
-Darwin (September 18, 2007, 02:29 PM)

I'm thinking of purchasing PDF XChange Pro. I've been using the free viewer since the last PDF viewer thread here a few months ago, and it IS cool.

By the way I decided not to go with Nuance's OmniPage/PaperPort promo. Nuance's non-support policy is just too irksome for me. I've put up with them for a few years now and I am not going to enrich them anymore.   ;)

Jim
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 20, 2007, 02:37 AM
Here's some small things that I have noted when comparing Foxit Reader and PDF-XChange:

You are able to add annotations with both, but the free version of Foxit Reader leaves an evaluation mark on the annotated page when you save the document whereas the free version of PDF-XChange does not.

Foxit Reader supports a type of text-hilighting that PDF-XChange does not: Squiggly underline. Nonetheless, PDF-XChange does display the squiggly underline both within the PDF as well as in its "Comments List"; however, PDF-XChange is unable to display text that you have used for describing the squiggly itself (and you are not able to add any text nor are you able to delete this type of annotation from the document). This may or may not cause problems (I have been using squiggly hilighting quite a lot in Foxit Reader, which quickly becomes an issue if one wishes to migrate to PDF-XChange viewer). The "Caret" markup tool is also missing in PDF-XChange. The caret is displayed in PDF-XChange but behaves in the same way as the squiggly underlines. Not having these markup utilities may also cause problem if you are asked to review PDF:s that have these types of comments/annotations.

PDF-XChange has a so-called Comments List whereas Foxit does not. The Comments list enables you to see where a PDF-document is annotated and allows you to quickly navigate to an annotation. But, it is still a cheap knockoff of Adobe Reader's comments list, which not only allows you to see how annotations are distributed within a document but also allows you to see the texts stored in each annotation.

Foxit Reader (as well as Adobe Reader) allows one to view a text of a pop-up note by simply hovering over the annotation whereas PDF-XChange does not. I think that such a feature is nice when you are reading PDFs. But, Foxit has a problem in that it will truncate longer texts before displaying it in the pop-up, which makes it much less useful than Adobe Reader in this department.

The typewriter tool exists in both tools. I use this tool quite extensively, but it is difficult to manage in PDF-XChange when typing longer texts. If you have a long text on one line you may decrease the width of its container to make the text in it split on multiple lines. But, if you try to edit the text in that container again, the container will resize itself automatically so that the text is once again shown on a single, very long line. Also, the typewriter tool in PDF-XChange viewer seems unable to remember what font I used with it, which is very annoying (I don't like courier new, it is ugly!!!!).

Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: katykaty on September 20, 2007, 02:30 PM
Wow, those are very specific comments jzippo. Are you sure pdf is the best format rather than tracking changes and comments in, say, Word?

Or alternatively - how valuable are the annotations? What's the risk/cost if they've not displayed correctly in another reader? High enough to justify paying the extra for Acrobloat?
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 20, 2007, 03:03 PM
The ability to comment PDF:s is very valuable to me. I read a lot of research papers and it is nice thing to be able to place comments in the PDF:s. When I return to a document with comments I am able to read only the comments and remember what it was about.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: J-Mac on September 20, 2007, 03:33 PM
Wow, those are very specific comments jzippo. Are you sure pdf is the best format rather than tracking changes and comments in, say, Word?

Or alternatively - how valuable are the annotations? What's the risk/cost if they've not displayed correctly in another reader? High enough to justify paying the extra for Acrobloat?
-katykaty (September 20, 2007, 02:30 PM)
If you use annotations extensively, I imagine this is a critical feature. However if, like me you never or hardly ever use them, then it is not so important.  :)

Jim
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Grorgy on September 20, 2007, 03:47 PM
Not free but PDF annotator prides itself on ummm annotating pdfs.  http://www.ograhl.com/en/pdfannotator/  its specifically designed for tablet use but does work on a normal pc, with a mouse and keyboard, i tried it briefly but it wasnt something I do enough off, but maybe just what you are looking for
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 21, 2007, 04:06 AM
I have tested pdfannotator. But I didn't try their annotation tools much as I wasn't too impressed with the rendering of the PDF:s. By far the worst rendering quality that I have seen on text. It was actually quite surprising for me too see something that bad in this day and age.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: katykaty on September 21, 2007, 02:48 PM
Much as I dislike Acrobat from my own perspective, it looks like that's the way you might be heading jzippo.

I get the feeling you'll probably feel uncomfortable using non-official software?

Adobe sells millions of copies; at least some of those sales must be to people who do actually need it  ;)
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Darwin on September 21, 2007, 09:09 PM
I don't think jzippo has to go the whole hog and lash out for Adobe Acrobat, there are myriad options in the $49.95 to $99.99 range that will more or less stand in for Acrobat Standard!
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jzippo on September 23, 2007, 09:32 AM
Thank you for all of your recommendations.

Right now I don't know if I will continue using Foxit Reader, and while PDF-XChange was indeed reasonably good, its not all the way there for me.

The deal breaker with PDF-XChange is the badly implemented typewriter tool (it would probably drive me insane after a while). However, its highligting tools are better in that they can be used to highlight text in columns correctly.

The deal breaker's with Foxit is its support who doesn't seem to regard broken PDFs as a problem. Moreover, its highligting tools are unable to deal with text in columns correctly.

So, the search continues, but, at least for now, I will be using both Foxit and PDF-XChange. I will use Foxit when I need to use the typewriter tool a lot and PDF-XChange for PDF:s that have a two-column layout. But, then again, using two PDF-annotators might screw things up even more for me.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jtbworld on October 08, 2007, 10:51 AM
I've developed using the PDF XChange API and I must say that I was quite satisfied with both the API and support. I also found that PDF's created with it was among the smallest in size compared to several other PDF creation softwares. Much smaller than Adobe's.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: majoMO on November 27, 2007, 08:48 AM
PDF XChange Viewer suport now Internet Explorer 5-7 plugin for opening PDFs into the browser.

 :up:
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: jlogic77 on December 17, 2007, 06:28 PM
used primo PDF for awhile.  www.primopdf.com

Simple, just use as a printer.  Works well, haven't really used anything else or much of any extended features.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Curt on July 15, 2008, 02:21 PM
Yet another free PDF tool I didn't know about: CABAReT Stage Home (http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en/products/stage/bundle_home/)

CABAReT Stage         Home (http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en/products/stage/bundle_home/) (Free)     Basic (http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en/products/stage/bundle_basic/) (€49)        Professional (http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en/products/stage/bundle_professional/) (€99)

Compare versions at http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en/products/stage/

CABAReT Stage Home

CABAReT Stage Home is available for private users to download free of charge for non-commercial use. The following table includes the functions available, without limitations, to you with CABAReT Stage Home:

General function overview:

Save PDF-forms

    * Open, complete, save with field entries, print, re-open and further edit PDF forms.

Extract texts

    * Mark and copy text within a document in order to use that text in other applications.

Edit pages

    * Delete single pages, import pages from other PDF documents into your current document and so re-organize PDF documents

Send documents per e-mail

    * Send completed PDF forms per e-mail

Validate electronic signatures

    * Validate signatures in accordance with PKCS#1 and/or PKCS#7 and view the results.

Manage certificates

    * Manage your own certificates and generate "self-signed" certificates.

Navigate within the document

    * Bookmarks and hyperlinks make reading PDF documents easier.

JavaScript® support

    * Standard support of program functions in JavaScript.


06/19/2008 - CABAReT Stage 3.2.7 released
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ] (http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en)
http://www.cabaret-solutions.com/en
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: pyrohacker on March 23, 2009, 09:24 AM
I don't know much about PDF's or the software that accompanies them because I don't use PDF's very often.  But my main computer is disconnected from the internet, so I had to go hunting for a PDF reader that wouldn't massacre my RAM (only 1 GB) like Adobe Reader.  Strictly speaking of free PDF readers:

I had tried FoxIt reader before, and I didn't like how many nags and ads it pushed in my face for getting the pay version.  The editing tools I did see were weak and didn't always work as I imagined.  I uninstalled it after about a day, using Revo Uninstaller's Advanced Mode to punt that thing off my computer for good.

OpenOffice claims it can read PDF's, and I know it can save them.  But every time I try to open a PDF in Writer, it comes out looking like Pork-and-Beans that went through a weed-whacker.  Never worked once.  I still use it all the time for everything else, though.  It's compatible and portable - two wins over MS Office.

Eventually, I came to settle with Sumatra PDF.  The thing is miniscule.  It took about a second to download, three times that to install.  It's quick, but the main problem is that it can't open links.  Or use internal bookmarks.  Pretty big limitation, but I find that it works well, anyway.

Especially if you're on a computer that can't follow any web links.   :(

If all you need is a light Reader replacement, I'd go with Sumatra (http://register.sonicdownloads.net/download/index.aspx?sx=32bb1333-bab3-4f58-ac85-93fcae2e3f1d).
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: grapeshot on March 29, 2009, 11:23 AM
I thought I might add some of my observations to this thread.

I found a portable application version of PDF-Xchange Viewer (http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/PDF-XChange_Tools/pdfx_viewer) (scroll down to find the link), and as far as I'm concerned it is The Bomb.  Yes, the program has some quirks, but this past week I had to to annotate a diagram of a machine to explain its functions to a non-technical audience, and it worked out better than I expected.


At work we cannot install new programs on our computers (they're locked by IT), and only a handful of people are allowed to get a purchased copy of Adobe Writer, so being able to use a portable version of PDF-Xchange Viewer has been extremely handy.  I was particularly tickled by my experience this past week, which allowed me to explain a machine's complexity to a far-flung audience by making a picture, rather than having to write a long, boring explanation.  (And without having to subject people to my messy hand-drawing and hand-writing!)  After this past week's exercise with PDF annotation, I was so happy with PDF-Xchange Viewer, that I decided that I'd like to buy their pro version.

What PDF-Xchange Viewer cannot do:

I mentioned using PDF Split and Merge (http://www.pdfsam.org/) and FREE PDF to Word Converter program (http://www.hellopdf.com/), but I haven't used either of these very much.  They are both adequate for my meager needs, and I haven't found any problems with them.

I like doPDF (http://www.dopdf.com/), but mostly what I use it for at home is to convert eCommerce receipts into electronic documents.  At work, where I installed it before a new, draconian IT policy of NO NON-APPROVED, USER INSTALLED SOFTWARE EVER, AND I MEAN NEVER EVER was enacted, I use it frequently to turn CAD drawings to PDF, or to make PDFs of MS Project schedules for people who don't have MS Project installed on their computers.  (If my computer ever goes toes up and has to be replace, it'll be goodbye doPDF, and I don't know what I'll do then!) 

I have also used portable IrfanView (http://irfanview-portable.10001downloads.com/) for creating PDFs out of graphics images, and it is another tool in my portable applications arsenal.  I haven't used it much, but it seems to have done a fine job for the times that I have used it.  My only wish is that IrfanView could let me view CAD drawings (.dwg and .dwg) as Autodesk's CAD viewer is a buggy, sucky, POS.


Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Curt on December 30, 2009, 09:12 AM
Thanks, grapeshot, for this thorough, vivid narrative :-)


Regarding IrfanView:

Plugins updated after the version 4.25:

# CAD Image Plugin (version 7.2.1.7) - Installer or ZIP - fixes init/registry problem on some systems (for SVG, DWG, DXF, CGM, PLT, HPGL files)


Edited:
# CADImage - (version 7.0.0.3): allows IrfanView to read DXF/DWG/HPGL/CGM/SVG files (Shareware, third party plugin).
Newest versions under: http://www.cadsofttools.com/download/irfanviewplugins.zip
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: fenixproductions on December 30, 2009, 11:27 AM
2Curt
Did you really check this plugin? Is it working nicely?
Last time I was trying to use it, previews were horrible! Non-registered version had no layers / opacity support so all of my files looked like crap.

2grapeshot
I may have bad impression from your post but I doubt your "IT guys" bought licences for it. So I advise to replace this viewer with something free for commercial use…
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Curt on December 30, 2009, 12:10 PM
Sorry, I should of course have written that I haven't tried these plugins.

---
Also, about the second plugin:

CS_CGM.DLL, CS_DWG.DLL, CS_DXF.DLL, CS_HPGL.DLL, CS_SVG.DLL (CS_xxx.DLL) and CADImage.DLL plugins.

!!! Pay attention that IrfanView does not use CS_xxx.DLL if CADImage.DLL is in plugins directory. If you need to use CS_xxx.DLL plugin please remove CADImage.DLL from plugins folder.
-cadsofttools
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: Dormouse on December 30, 2009, 12:18 PM
2grapeshot
I may have bad impression from your post but I doubt your "IT guys" bought licences for it. So I advise to replace this viewer with something free for commercial use…
-fenixproductions (December 30, 2009, 11:27 AM)

I thought that doPDF and PDF-Xchange Viewer were both free for commercial use.
Title: Re: Free PDF tools review?
Post by: tomos on December 30, 2009, 12:27 PM
I thought that doPDF and PDF-Xchange Viewer were both free for commercial use.
-Dormouse (December 30, 2009, 12:18 PM)

fully-free software for biz - image editing-viewing - PDF - printing  (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=18955.msg169844#msg169844)
says yes in both cases