Customer Reviews

Nitro PDF Professional V6

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

The best of the bunch I tested for home office use.

I use PDF creation way more than I thought I would. I hardly ever print out web pages anymore, I've possibly saved enough on toner to pay for the program, if not, I will.

I purchased Nitro PDF Pro 6 after I tested the trial version. I also sampled trial versions of Adobe Acrobat Pro, ABBYY PDF Transformer, PDFill, gDoc Fusion (a unique, very cool application) and Nitro PDF Express. I came to the conclusion that THERE IS NO PERFECT PDF PROGRAM, and suggest you make your choice on how much you will use the program.

Adobe Acrobat Pro is the original. It is the largest, most complete, most complex, and most expensive. It is fairly intuitive if you have used a lot of software. Of all the programs I tested, it would require the most time and effort to become a power user. It is the Big Boy PDF program, but it didn't convert to Word any better than Nitro PDF Pro 6. Actually, none of the programs convert with 100% accuracy. You can get Adobe Acrobat Pro for $125 at a number of sites. If you want the biggest tool box spend the additional $50 and get this one.

ABBYY PDF Transformer works and it come with an add on screen capture utility that allows you make a PDF file of whatever is displayed on your monitor. I thought less of its user interface than the others, I wasn't able to just jump right in and start using it. My biggest dislike is that the program's menus that plug into Word and Excel float on the desktop rather than on Word or Excel's tool bars. I did not check to see if there is a way anchor it.

PDFill did not interest me at all. I didn't test it enough to add comments.

gDoc Fusion is very cool. It is unique in that its interface is like touch technology, and it will work with touch screen monitors. I think it did the poorest job of converting PDF to Word. To be fair, though, it worked OK at converting PDFs generated by gDocs to Word. It is exceptionally good for scrolling through the pages of documents; better than all the rest. Check this one out just see how it works. Its price is comparable and there is a home user license option.

As a home office user, Nitro PDF Pro 6 is the program I liked the best. The interface uses ribbon menus similar to Office 2007. I was able to jump in and start using it. It opens with a tutorial asking what you want to do, create something new, convert something, edit something, combine or split something, sign or add security, or review, etc. Then it opens the instruction on how to do the chosen task. It won't take long for you to turn that opening tutorial off; the program is easy to learn. It converts as well as Adobe Acrobat Pro; though in all it is not as big and powerful (the program is about 1/10th the size). Regarding the files size issue mentioned in other reviews, Nitro Pro PDF6 gives you options. I converted a 98KB Word document using the Web Quality setting, the PDF file was a smaller 35KB. Using the Office Quality setting, the PDF file was a smaller 34KB. Using the Print Quality, the PDF file was a much larger 1.14MB. Nitro PDF Express does the creation and converting as well as the Pro version, but the interface I thought was much weaker. I searched and found a coupon and purchased a license for the Pro version for just $25 more than the Express version. I think the Pro version worth the extra expense.

My primary interest in a PDF application was to get my own documents onto my Kindle (to do so, set the document's font to a 20-24 pt font size and convert it to PDF/A, then, with the Kindle connected to a USB port, copy the PDF document to the Kindle's Document folder), but I have found I use it for saving info from web pages most of all.

UPDATE: Nitro has released a free update to v 6.1.2.1 which has significantly increased the speed of the program. It is noticably faster now.

I see some rather negative reviews whose experience with this product were clearly different from my own. If you want to experience the product first-hand, go to the Nitro pdf website and download it for free. You will have 14 days of functionality (no watermarks on converted files) to give it a good go.

So--how did it work for me? Very well. So intuitive that I really didn't need any of their detailed instructions, which were there for the using anyway. I first used it to convert a pdf file that was originally created in Adobe InDesign to Word, so I could edit it. Now, was the conversion perfect? Well, perfect is a very relative term when it comes to pdf files, because there can be no way that the program can figure out exactly where you want your tabs, page breaks, etc. and it depends also on how the file was created in the first place, the fonts that were used (they may not be on your computer), etc. Bottom line: It was converted well enough so that I could edit all of the elements, re-format it to a way that was convenient for me, and save it back as a pdf file that was indistinguishable from the original except for my edits, which were many. To do this, however, I had to use Powerpoint on some illustrations to do things like add the correct borders and shading to pictures, then put the modified things back into my Word document. I've used it more recently to convert published journal articles downloaded in .pdf format that had multiple columns, illustrations and graphs, running headings, and titles that crossed both columns. Surprisingly, those conversions were perfect and required no editing.

I then got busy and converted a lot of other pdf documents to Word. This was a breeze with their batch conversion feature. You can select a whole slew of files from different folders, and it will save the converted files back to the multiple original folders.

Another nice feature was the "extract images" feature, which very rapidly extracted all of the images from selected pdf files and saved those images to the original folder locations--a very fast batch process.

Bottom line: TRY IT YOURSELF WITH THE FREE TRIAL VERSION. It may not work on everything, but it worked well for me. Expect some editing and re-formating after conversion; that's just the nature of the pdf game. Good luck--hope it works for you too!

Acrobat and PDF have been a mainstay in our electornic document workflows for many years.

Since Nuance's PDF Converter and Nitro PDF were both released earlier this year, I have had them both installed within our organisation in order to rate them for prospective roll out through many more seats than what we currently have Acrobat installed on.

The first thing we noticed was that they both used the same base technology that provides the viewing, creation and editing functionality. (As such some of the reviews comparing the two seem somewhat odd!)

There were however differences.

Nuance PDF Converter includes a tool called 'FormTyper' which basically assists you in adding form fields to your PDF documents. The upside is that it can save you some time when building your interactive PDF forms, but you can also use the standard form tools to add form fields (I found this to also be in Nitro).

Nitro PDF includes a comprehensive set of neat new plug-ins that we have found really beneficial to our business. The Optimize Document feature (like the PDF Optimizer in Acrobat) allowed us to dramatically reduce the size of our PDFs, and the Split File feature breaks down some of our massive PDF files into smaller individual files.

Furthermore, Nitro PDF has released a number of updates to their product since we purchased. Some have fixed bugs and others have added functionality. The next to last release led to us having trouble with activation even though we had the product for more than 5 months. Since then they have released a new update which has rectified those problems and added further functionality. Not all updates have been perfect, but we prefer to have software that is continually being improved. There have been no updates to Nuance PDF Converter since we purchased.

FWIW We have just decided to roll out Nitro PDF because the feature set worked better with our day to day requirements for PDF workflow.

I would recommend trialing both products in order to decide which you would use.

Hope this helps.

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Update: Jan 2008

Nitro PDF released a new version (5.3) of the software late last year. I have been testing the new version since. The biggest difference is that Nitro PDF is no longer based on the same technology as it previously was. While the functionality is little changed, there are some major differences:

1. The product is far more stable than both the previous versions of Nitro PDF and Nuance PDF Converter that we had tested. After speaking to the Nitro PDF support team on a regular basis (they were helpful) over the last year or so, it is obvious that the developers have taken note of some of the issues with the previous version. This is a big tick!

2. The interface has changed. Frankly, I am somewhat lukewarm to what they have done. It does use the new Vista ribbon interface though, so some may find its progression a good thing ....

3. This version runs a lot faster on my PC than the previous version. Particularly when creating PDF files which is a good thing.

All in all, it is well worth upgrading to this version. Nitro PDF continues to work hard on improving their software

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Update: May 2010

I recently took the opportunity to upgrade to Version 6, after testing it and finding that there were a couple of serious improvements to the software:

1. PDF to Word conversion is now *seriously* improved. This was one area in which I still needed to use Acrobat occasionally. I've tested both against each other and have to say that Nitro PDF produces Word documents of at least equivalent quality, and sometimes better

2. OK, I've used the new ribbon inteface for long enough now. It is more intuitive than the old interface

3. PDF creation continues to get faster

The only gripe I had about the upgrade process was the new requirement to activate the software. I completely understand why software companies need to do this. The changeover was just not as smooth as hoped.

I am happy I made the change.

I've tried the 14 day trial of 6.2.1.10 (Windows). I'm a long time user of Acrobat (>10 years) and other pdf programs.

1. If all you are interested in is creating pdf files from other documents, you do not need to buy a pdf program. There are several free programs that will do that for you, such as pdfcreator or bullzip pdf. These work by installing themselves as a "printer", and you then "print" to that "printer" to generate a pdf. They work well, and are more likely to get you a response to a support question than Adobe.

2. The latest version of Nitro (above) has 2 different renderers available. It defaults to the "old" renderer, which is based on Foxit's pdf product. I found numerous bugs with using this renderer. They have also included, however, a new renderer which you have to enable. The new renderer I found to be free of the bugs I noticed with the old one, and also has far superior performance. It is enabled via: nitro button > preferences > interface > enable nitro renderer[...]

In addition, I found Nitro's customer service -- as a trial user only, not a paying customer, mind you -- to be excellent: responsive, fast, and correct the first time.

UPDATE 6/4/11:
Have to downgrade 2 stars, because NitroPDF installs a license authentication server which it does not uninstall when NitroPDF is uninstalled. This is called Nalpeiron Licensing Service (NLS Service), copied into your system32 directory as nlssrv32.exe. NitroPDF does not inform you that it is installing this product during installation. The naming of the service and executable is reminiscent of virus naming, since it is easily confused with Microsoft's National Language Support (NLS) system component.

This was for version 6.2.1.10 trial.

Update 6/1/2011: I figured out that Threatfire AntiVirus was conflicting with Nitro PDF Pro and creating the failure to launch problem. Once I removed Threatfire, a lot of my issues were resolved.

I really liked the tabbed interface and the price. I needed 3 licenses and would have spent a small fortune on Adobe.

I increased my rating from 2 star to 4 stars and will update this review again if necessary as I do more testing.

I wanted to like NitroPDF - it seemed fully featured, well designed and at a price that put Adobe Acrobat to shame. However, as at least one other commenter has noted, "caveat emptor" (buyer beware). Simply put, NitroPDF just fails too often for it to be considered usable. Immediately after purchasing it (I took a leap of faith - silly me for not evaluating it more extensively), I had a problem converting a PowerPoint file (and a fairly simple one at that) to PDF. I contacted support, and emailed the PowerPoint I was having trouble with. I received no response whatsoever, to that email, or to the follow-up email I sent.

Since then I have tried to use it on a number of other resources, and have met with mixed success. Unfortunately, it fails (often enough to make it frustrating) creating PDFs from webpages which other products/technologies (e.g. doPDF, or Microsoft's competing XPS format) have absolutely no problems with.

Updates are infrequent and with the lack of support this can only earn a "do not buy" recommendation.

Background: I'm an experienced (22+ years) software developer/IT business analyst. This is my first product review on Amazon (I tend to stay anonymous). I just don't want anyone else to waste their time and money on this product.

I use Microsoft Word 2002 and have not had any trouble converting my files (including graphics and multiple pages) into PDF files. However, I have not located the "shortcuts" that were to appear in Word and have not yet had enough time to check their online database for a solution. The interface that opens when you start Nitro is very easy and quick to operate, so I don't really miss the shortcut. I have also converted PDF files into Word without difficulty. I'm happy with this program and feel the price was fair.

Don't expect to edit a PDF as if it were a Word document. It's pretty painful to make major edits to a typical PDF. But if you need to make a correction, or create fillable form fields in a document, or add/delete an image, or assemble several documents into one PDF, and so on, this tool works well and it's far cheaper than the Adobe product. The ability to print to PDF means that you can create a PDF from virtually anything you can print. I also like the feature that lets you pull out all of the text and all of the images from a PDF.

It comes with an Office plug-in. I suggest not installing that. In Office 2003, the resulting toolbar doesn't behave quite right (repositions itself every time you open Word.) For the rare occasion you need to convert a PDF into Word format, just use the Nitro program directly (and remember, the resulting Word document won't be that easy to edit.) To create a PDF, just print to PDF. If you have Office 2007 or 2010 then you already have the Office option to Save As PDF. The Nitro plug-in is not needed and it just slows the startup time of the Office apps.

There are a few glitches and deficiencies, but if you do a lot of document prep where you need to deal with PDFs and you don't want to spend the big bucks for Adobe tools, this is the program to buy. It's not perfect but it's excellent value for money.

The product is OK but support is horrible. If you have any problems, good luck finding anyone or anymethod to get help. There are no phone calls to answer the smallest question. I had to purchase a $10 query to be allowed to email a question and then I could not get it to work at their web site. I lost the program use and I lost the $10 to even get ahold of any one. HORRIBLE.

I had Nitro PDF 5. It worked for 18 months then it would not print, then more functions started failing. My attempts to deal with Nitro's so-called customer support were never answered. I bought Nitro 6 as a replacement. It failed immediately after installation. I threw it away and bought its competitor.