Best PDF writer


RGWhite
 Share

Recommended Posts

I just up graded to Windows 8.1 and found out that my Adobe Acrobat 8 will not work with 8.1.    So I need to get some feed back for a new PDF program.  There are some free but I know nothing as to how they work with CA or other programs.   Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are just using them as a "printer driver" most of the free ones seem to be Ok. you need to try a few and get one where you can change the resolution to enable smaller file sizes. I currently have Cute, Primo, PDF995 to play with.

I use Foxit phantom for preparing written con docs but it has an incompatibility with CA X6. CA has its own print to PDF built in but I am yet to expirement with that as it used to create huge files, hopefully that has been fixed in latest release.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used CutePDF for quite some time and it worked great. Recently switched to PDF24 though in order to add and delete pages and combine multiple files. It works really good. They're both free programs that as someone else suggested may come with some risk, however I haven't had any problems with either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In terms of any "freeware" you are better served to not wiz through the installation process, otherwise you might miss the check boxes or choices to also install that extra "toolbar" or "Feature" that helps pay for the "Free" software. If one will squarely look at and study each dialog page during installation, you should easily avoid the bloatware and add-ware junk that actually "pays" for the free stuff.

I use CutePDF for years, it serves my needs.

 

DJP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In terms of any "freeware" you are better served to not wiz through the installation process, otherwise you might miss the check boxes or choices to also install that extra "toolbar" or "Feature" that helps pay for the "Free" software. If one will squarely look at and study each dialog page during installation, you should easily avoid the bloatware and add-ware junk that actually "pays" for the free stuff...

DJP

You're absolutely right David. For what it's worth, the reason I chose PDF24 is that after much research, it's the only free program I could find that was able to combine the ability to print PDF, add and delete pages, rearrange pages, and combine files that didn't also come with a lot of "baggage".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before I switched over to macs, I used Bluebeam. I still use it via Parallels. Hoping they'll come out with a mac version soon! It's very similar to Acrobat in many ways, but a bit cheaper. A few of the many features I like about it are:

 

- You can markup plans and take measurements of exisiting plans

- You can add 'stamps' to a pdf (I use this to add a watermark to my plans to e-mail to clients for review)

- You can combine files, extract pages from a file, add/delete/rearrange pages, etc.

 

I tried a few freeware programs before I settled on Bluebeam, but like Michael said, a lot of them come with "baggage", or the freeware version has limited features. To me, Bluebeam was well worth the price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not upgrade to Adobe X or XI never any problems with that. I use X and it work great.

 

Maybe because it cost quite a bit - $450 from the Adobe site. I use Bull Zip and it's been pretty good - and free. I don't highly recommend it but it's been pretty reliable.

 

I tried a different one on the recommendation from another thread - I think it was PDF Writer - but had to uninstall and actually got my money back. Just didn't work on my system.

 

Blue Beam sounds interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just up graded to Windows 8.1 and found out that my Adobe Acrobat 8 will not work with 8.1.    So I need to get some feed back for a new PDF program.  There are some free but I know nothing as to how they work with CA or other programs.   Thanks

Chief support led me to pdf995 it works just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not upgrade to Adobe X or XI never any problems with that. I use X and it work great.

I have X11 and that is the problem for me. Won't print from X5, or X6. I downloaded pdf995 and it worked just fine. Its time for adobe to get with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share