alternatives to Acrobat
March 25, 2009 2:55 PM

What is the best low-cost alternative to Adobe Acrobat Standard? I'm trying a couple out but would like to hear from other users before making a purchase.

Without going into detail, let's just say that I hate Adobe and if I had the chance I would fling poo at whoever runs the software activation department for them.

But, I have needs, and when I am not being driven insane by Adobe's activation rigamarole, Acrobat seems to get the job done. Unfortunately, buying a new license for the current Acrobat is too expensive for my organization.

Specific needs:

Add footers and headers, inc. somewhat customizable page numbering (a la Bates stamp)

Crop

Save changes made to fillable forms, then make additional changes, then save them again, etc.

Combine pdfs

Dis-combine pdfs

Multiple page printing (2 in 1, 4 in 1, etc)

Typewriter

Less critical use:

optical character recognition

I am testing out CutePDF writer and pro, and PDFiller. So far, CutePDF is winning the contest on the basis of its being less confounding than PDFiller.

Between CutePDF pro and writer: I think I'd have to get CutePDF pro in order to do everything I need, and I understand that if I buy pro I'll get writer for free - but it seems like they are separate programs, which seems weird. Anybody have any comments on that?

Anyway, before I buy, I'd like to know if any of you have tested these out, and what you think I should know. Also if you have experience with other PDF editors I should be considering, I would appreciate it.
posted by plague to Computers & Internet (3 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
I was going to recommend CutePDF...
posted by xammerboy at 3:13 PM on March 25, 2009


PDF Exchange...
posted by notyou at 3:20 PM on March 25, 2009


At work we have been trying out http://www.docudesk.com/...
posted by mokeydraws at 7:32 PM on March 26, 2009


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