 |
||
| Home | Forums | Article Search | Subscribe & Shop | Contact Us | Log Out |
| ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 3 |
 Email This
 Print ThisView My Personal Library |
|
Loading Zone May 2005 • Vol.5 Issue 9 Page(s) 75 in print issue |
|
|
ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 3 |
 PDF Converter Professional 3 $99.99 ScanSoft www.scansoft.com 4 CPU’s Just because Adobe invented the PDF format does not mean it’s the only game in town. Wedged comfortably between free open-source PDF creation apps and the expensive Adobe Acrobat 7 is ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 3, which combines powerful and useful features with a friendly price. Converter Pro converts regular files, such as Word, Excel, and Web pages, into PDF files, usually by just printing to the ScanSoft PDF print driver. Unique, though, is its ability to convert PDF files back into Word, Excel, and other files using a built-in OCR engine. In my testing simple documents converted without errors, and even multicolumn documents with tables and inline graphics converted surprisingly well, requiring only minor touch-ups. Converted spreadsheets required a bit more massaging, as formulas, of course, can’t be inferred from the OCR-ed digits. Working with the conversion, however, is probably faster than retyping a whole file in most cases. The app includes a multipurpose PDF-reading program that looks and feels like Acrobat. Ironically, though, Converter Pro creates PDFs faster than Acrobat. The reader does take longer to open and redraw PDF files, though, which gets annoying on slower machines. Still, the app is filled with interesting features missing from Acrobat. Form AutoTyper is the best. When you open a PDF file, it appears as if there are blanks to fill in, but click AutoTyper and you can TAB your way through the blanks and start typing. This works even when the PDF’s author didn’t create a PDF form. Unlike the free Acrobat Reader, Converter can create PDF forms, set PDF security, and edit PDF file text and graphics. It lacks Acrobat Pro’s groupware markup features, though. Thus, it probably isn’t appropriate for corporate PDFing environments, but if that isn’t what you need, Converter is a worthwhile tool.  by Warren Ernst |
| User Reviews | Be the first to write a review of this product |
|
 |
| Home Copyright & Legal Information Privacy Policy Site Map Contact Us |
| Copyright © 2010 Sandhills Publishing Company U.S.A. All rights reserved. |