I'm looking at PDF Expert app. Opinions, Recommendations??

[Greg_ghp]

PDF Expert One-Time Purchase-Lifetime License $69.99 for 5 more days ONLY

I do not work with PDF files a lot but I have had some frustrations when I have wanted to. So what do you folks think???

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If you don't work with PDFs a lot, then Preview should be fine. Why opt to pay for an application?

 

[Greg_ghp]

Maybe the new Preview will do more than it could in the past...

I'm looking to be able to just Copy the parts that are pertinent to my needs, change, and otherwise manipulate them.

Heck as I was earlier trying to do a search about PDF apps, this Forum removed the "pdf" from the search and that search turned up a series of posts about iMazing taking up 200GB of drive space! These posts were from July of 2019, I may never have had occasion to see those posts since I did't even have that app at that time, the posts were not of interest to me.

Saving those 3 pages of posts as pdf files that I will peruse much more throughly and maybe take excerpts from, but not the Terminal parts, heck NO!! Well beyond me.

And the reference to "Find Any File.app" (I thought I had it, at least I thought I had it, maybe an older 32 bit version. But all I found when I searched was "File Search Machine.app" which I don't seem to be able to make work right, bummer! I'm rambling, sorry.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

If you don't work with PDFs a lot, then Preview should be fine. Why opt to pay for an application?

I don't know what the original poster's needs are, but PDF Expert has some very advanced abilities that Preview can't match, and which are invaluable in some use cases.

PDF Expert is a true PDF editor (and a potential replacement for the expensive -$538.80- Adobe Acrobat Pro) in that it can erase existing text in a PDF document and replace it with text of matching font and size. Preview can't change any existing text in a PDF document, and it can only add text somewhere in a document where text doesn't currently exist.

PDF Expert can do OCR on a PDF that was originally created from a scan (i.e. the PDF is entirely static, like a graphic file), and it can turn that PDF into an editable word processing document. Preview has no OCR capabilities.

PDF Expert has advanced forms capabilities. Preview barely has any forms capabilities.

At $70, that's half of PDF Expert's normal price. That's an excellent deal considering that most true PDF editors for the Mac (other that Adobe Acrobat Pro) currently go for between $130 to $180.

 

[Jimmysb]

PDF Expert One-Time Purchase-Lifetime License $69.99 for 5 more days ONLY

I do not work with PDF files a lot but I have had some frustrations when I have wanted to. So what do you folks think???

Thanks,
Greg

Is this a license with Adobe, or another PDF software company. There are lots of companies that provide PDF editing software, and some are "free". For very occasional use why buy if you don't need to.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Is this a license with Adobe, or another PDF software company. There are lots of companies that provide PDF editing software, and some are "free". For very occasional use why buy if you don't need to.

PDF Expert does not come from Adobe, it comes from Readdle:

https://pdfexpert.com/

It is usually $140. It's on sale for half price currently from various sources, such as:

https://deals.bleepingcomputer.com/sales/pdf-expert-one-time-purchase-lifetime-license

The PDF editors that you are referring to, some of which offer their products for free, aren't what are called "true PDF editors." That is, they don't allow you to completely erase text in an existing PDF document and replace it with different text in the same style. They also don't have OCR capabilities. And they usually don't have advanced abilities to create or work with forms. True PDF editors currently are in the $130 to $180 price range.

It's true that for very light work with PDF's, you may be able to make do with some less expensive, and even some free products.

Apple's own Preview (which comes with the Mac OS) has a surprising number of features for working with PDF's.

Preview.app allows you to:

a) highlight (in yellow), strike through or underline text
b) encircle anything on the page with a lasso of any shape, size or color
c) add marginal notes (in a side column) of any length, anywhere in the document
d) add new text in any font, any color, any size, anywhere in the document where there is space
e) individual pages can be dragged out of or into the document or deleted from the document
f) convert to a PostScript file (which can be edited and re-converted to PDF with the right software)
g) add and edit hyperlinks in a PDF file
h) combine multiple PDF's

What you CANNOT DO in Preview (and in other free or low cost PDF editors) is move or alter any marks on the page whatsoever.

 

[Greg_ghp]

Randy,

Thank you for your comprehensive reply, good listing of features and comparison to Preview features!


Thanks, and BE Well,
Greg

 

[djdawson]

The Draw module in the free LibreOffice suite of tools can do basic PDF editing, including deleting, changing, and adding text. It's briefly described in this LibreOffice Help page so it might be adequate for occasional use that doesn't require anything too advanced.

 

[Greg_ghp]

Interesting, I'll Check it out, thanks!

 

[krs]

PDF Expert does not come from Adobe, it comes from Readdle:

PDF Editor and Reader for Mac | Free Trial | PDF Expert

It is usually $140. It's on sale for half price currently from various sources, such as:

PDF Expert One-Time Purchase: Lifetime License | Bleeping Computer

The PDF editors that you are referring to, some of which offer their products for free, aren't what are called "true PDF editors." That is, they don't allow you to completely erase text in an existing PDF document and replace it with different text in the same style. They also don't have OCR capabilities. And they usually don't have advanced abilities to create or work with forms. True PDF editors currently are in the $130 to $180 price range.

I have been looking for better OCR software (for English, French and German) than what my current, old Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro provides.
A friend of mine has a much later version of Acrobat and that OCR oes a much better job but for just my private use I'm not willing to pay Adobe's pries.
PFExpert sounds like a good alternative - does anyone have firsthand experience how well their OCR works?
And I assume the discount is also available to Canadians.....

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I have been looking for better OCR software (for English, French and German) than what my current, old Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro provides.
A friend of mine has a much later version of Acrobat and that OCR oes a much better job but for just my private use I'm not willing to pay Adobe's pries.

There are only a handful of OCR engines that everyone else licenses and uses.

Currently the best available stand-alone OCR program for the Macintosh is:

ABBYY FineReader ($69)
http://finereader.abbyy.com/pro_for_mac/

However, the best OCR engine available for use on the Mac is "Omnipage OCR." Several companies license it and include it in their PDF programs. The most notable one being this true PDF editor:

Kofax PDF Standard for Mac ($129)
https://www.kofax.com/Products/power-pdf/standard-for-mac
(Note that this product used to be known as PDFpen Pro. Also, Kofax currently owns the rights to Omnipage OCR and they are the ones who license it out for other companies to integrate and use.)

If you want something that will do a quite decent job of OCR, but which is very reasonably priced, check out:

PDFify ($25)
https://pdfify.app/en/
(Relies on the open-source OCR engine "Tesseract.")

 

[IWT]

I notice that no one has mentioned PDFpenPro. It's certainly not cheap, but does everything I could possibly think of.

Even its lesser counterpart, PDFpen, has OCR but with fewer "bells & whistles".

Ian

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I notice that no one has mentioned PDFpenPro. It's certainly not cheap, but does everything I could possibly think of.

Even its lesser counterpart, PDFpen, has OCR but with fewer "bells & whistles".

PDFpen has a new owner (Nitro), and all-new pricing ($130/$180, but currently on sale for $104 and $144).

https://www.gonitro.com/pdf-pro

I'm told that the latest release has gone badly in the wrong direction. Most of the PDFpen users in my user group are jumping ship and are actively looking for an alternative. So far PDF Expert is the most often cited new favorite. With it currently being half price, it has become extremely popular.

 

[IWT]

Gosh! Didn't know that Randy. Thank you for the info.

Ian

 

[krs]

I just activate the 7-day trial for PF Expert to run some OCR test but now can't fin the OCR option.

The simple instructions google brings up are:

1. Download PDF Expert for free and launch the app.
2. Drag & Drop your PDF file into the app to open it.
3. Click on the Scan & OCR option at the top of the app window.
4. Click on the Recognize Text option.

I get to step 3 but don't see a "Scan & OCR" optipn, just a set of different editing options on the top of the window.
The option says "Scan & OCR", the pdf I want to use to run OCR is already scanned.
Is the OCR feature on PDF Expert require I use PDF Expert to scan the document?

 

[Randy B. Singer]

WARNING!: I’m now told that the half price offer is a rip off!

It’s a stripped down version of PDF Expert without such features as OCR, which they want to sell you as an add-on on a subscription basis.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Another update. The Stack Social half price offer says that the version that they are selling includes OCR. I'm wondering if it's just the free demo that doesn't include the OCR feature?

Someone needs to contact Readdle and get them to clear things up:

[email protected]

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I've now heard from someone else who has told me that the Stack Social half price offer IS for the full version, with OCR, but that they may send you the wrong license. They fixed things quickly with an e-mail to Readdle.

 

[MarkDaPDFGuy]

PDF Expert One-Time Purchase-Lifetime License $69.99 for 5 more days ONLY

I do not work with PDF files a lot but I have had some frustrations when I have wanted to. So what do you folks think???

Thanks,
Greg

Hey Greg

I completely understand that working with PDF files can become quite cumbersome if you're not well versed in them. However I'm pleased that you're actively seeking solutions to simplify this aspect of your work! Regarding the DF Expert One Time Purchase Lifetime License currently being offered for a limited time at $69.99 – its definitely something worth considering since a single purchase offers lifelong benefits without having to worry about renewal costs or subscriptions down the line.

Now while I cannot officially endorse any product out there on the market right now – let me suggest taking a look at PDFSimpli as an additional option in your search efforts! This offering is known for its simple to navigate interface and robust feature set covering editing/annotating capabilities as well as merging/conversion support – which makes handling those pesky PDF tasks easier than ever before! Before diving into any one product in particular though- do make sure you conduct diligent research, peruse user reviews compare it with competing options and validate to ensure it meets your work related needs. As you set out on the hunt for the right PDF tool for you don't forget about crucial aspects like customer service availability, security capabilities, and operational compatibility with your device of choice.

After all what matters most is finding a solution that streamlines all of ones dealings involving PDFs while enhancing work productivity levels. Take adequate time examining every option so that ultimately you're making an informed decision.

Best regards,
Mark

 

[Jimmysb]

@MarkDaPDFGuy I have the trial of PDF Expert (now expired) and found it very good, however, not sure for the limited use that it is financially viable. Windows did have a couple of free (totally) with ads that would do what I needed, but not available for the Mac PDF Simpli maybe the solution I need