Customer Reviews

ScanSoft PDF Converter 4 Professional [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I've recently been reviewing PDF creation & editing software, with a specific focus on creating/editing PDF Forms. I was hesitant to try Nuance PDF Converter Professional 4 because of the reviews I read regarding version 3, but I figured version 4 must be an improvement. I should have listened to my gut, and to the other reviewers.

I used their "FormTyper" to convert an existing PDF into a "Forms" PDF. That actually worked reasonably well, placing Text and Checkbox fields on the PDF, however it did miss a few. Here's where the real problems begin. There is no way to access the Properties of each Form Field (properties like Field Name, Border & Background Colors, Orientation, ToolTips, Field Actions, and so many more properties that are available in other - all cheaper - programs I've evaluated). So, after running FormTyper, that is what you are stuck with ... you can't change/edit/add what it does. Additionally, there is NO WAY to place a button, combo box, or list box fields on a PDF form. Where is all this functionality? Almost every other program can do these things. I searched the Program Help; the on-line knowledge base (VERY little information - mostly about defending their software activation process and policies); all on-line documentation (of which there is very little regarding version 4); and I tried to find a user forum or community - of which there are none.

[..]

I installed PDF Converter Pro 4 and was generally pleased with its performance enabling me to edit PDF documents. The big problem I have with it; however, is that in normal Internet browsing, when I click on a PDF document, more often than not, the document does not come up on the first try. It freezes my browser (Internet Explorer) and I have to go to Task Manager to shut it down. Repeated attempts at opening the document have to be made, but eventually the document opens. Because of that, I uninstalled PDF Converter. On the occasions that I will want to edit a PDF document, I will reinstall it, do what I want and uninstall it again. It is quick to install and uninstall, and since I don't do a lot of editing of PDF files, it will do what I want from it. As a previous review stated, tech support is very expensive; however, customer support is free and they are responsive.

I recently upgraded to MS VISTA and MS Office 2007 and I upgraded to the VISTA version of PDF Converter Pro 4. BIG, BIG MISTAKE!! The program installed some sort of pdf "add-in" to MS Office that caused Excel, Word, and Outlook to CRASH. As soon as you opened one of the programs it would give an error message and close. It took hours on the phone with Microsoft to figure out and correct the problem (THANKS MICROSOFT!). However, I got ZERO help from Nuance, they wanted to charge me to even REPORT a problem! BEAWARE YOU WILL NOT GET TECHNICAL SUPPORT WITH NUANCE PRODUCTS! Before I upgraded, I used PDF Converter Pro at home whereas at work I used Adobe Pro. There is no comparison, PDF Converter Pro while considerably cheaper, does not do near as good a job of producing pdf files. I'm still looking for something that works but is cheaper than Adobe.

I have previously written a review of 3.0 which exhaustively details its limitations (don't buy 3.0 no matter how low the price!), so no need to restate them here. PDF Converter 4.0 does what it promises: (1)conversion to PDF; (2) conversion from PDF; (3) completion of PDF files with FormTyper; (4) creation of PDF files; and (5) edits to existing PDF files. My only caveat is that if anyone should have a problem with a trial watermark (was a major problem with 3.0), it means that they have not properly activated the product (i.e., upon installation ScanSoft's computer gives the user's computer some kind of 'key' removing the trial watermark) and should do so again -- while connected to the Internet. You cannot activate this product without connection to the Internet, so you'll also need your firewall and anti-virus enabled, as well.

For $90 this is a bargain compared to Adobe Acrobat. I am very happy with this product. Highly recommended.

I would rate this a minus 1 star but 'tis not allowed.

1. PDF converter does NOT convert Word hyperlinks into the PDF file it creates

2. There is no customer support available for simple questions, like "why the heck aren't my hyper links converting?". (Unless you want to pay $10).

3. There is no meaningful content in their so called "knowledge base".

4. There help documentation does not match the application. They instruct you to click on menu options, etc. that do not exist.

I suspect they do not have a support forum, or decent knowledge base, or documentation, so that you are forced to subscribe to their expensive technical support plan.

Stay away from this piece of junk.

I deinstall the product after two weeks of use. It did not allow me to select Adobe Reader as my default program and was not able to open many PDF documents. If a document was opened it was often incorrectly formatted for viewing. Also, the feature to allow editing of the documents in Word or Excel was most often non-functional.

This has caused serious technical errors on my systems--all new laptops, desktops. It will cause MS Word 2007 to crash and also cause a number of errors on your file system, possibly requiring you to re-install your Vista OS.

Worked well in Windows XP and Office 2003 environment, and they claim this is Vista compatible, along with Paperport 11.

The company will not offer me a refund. I will pursue.

I tried this product at work for a while. Fortunately I didn't have to pay for it. I found the open source PDFCreator to be superior. You can download PDFCreator for free from SourceForge. PDFCreator just installs like a printer, so you can create PDFs from any application that supports printing. I've never had a problem with it.

I bought this product in March 07. It loaded and worked great till 3 days ago. I woke up to find all my PDF's unusable. The program was unusable and just like others I quickly found that there was no way to get answers or a fix without spending money...19.95 or 9.95 to email tech support. The one free call got me a tech who had an accent so strong I could not understand him and when he couldn't fix my problem (after messing up my registry) he told me it was my spyware that was to blame..."disable your spyware and reinstall." I tried ...no luck. Funny the parent company Zeon who is holding everything up, is offering an upgrade,hmm! more $$. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!!! I wish somebody had warned me.

After looking at the other reviews, I was a bit puzzled. I haven't had any of the problems other folks mention. PDF Converter Professional 4 doesn't do everything that programs costing FIVE TIMES as much money. But, WHO CARES? Background colors in a business form? WHY????

Don't buy a Camry and say "gee... I liked my Lexus better."

Most of you are going to buy this program to do one - or both - of these two things:

1)CONVERT PDF DOCUMENTS into completely editable Word docs, Excel Worksheets, or one of dozens of other formats...

2)COMBINE documents of various formats into a single pdf. Picture a CUSTOMER MANUAL that consists of Word, Excel, SolidWorks, Quicken, PowerPoint and Project documents. You want to put them all together in ONE document complete with Table of Contents, Bookmarks and Thumbnails. VOILA! This is the proram for you!

And for these purposes, PDF 4 Professional is SUPERB. It is EASY to use. We have SEVERAL users, and not one has had to refer to a manual or on line support.

To put PDF Converter to the test, we recently scanned, then saved-as-a-pdf a crooked, not highly legible fax. We THEN converted it into a Word document, and roughly 90% of it came through perfectly. AMAZING.

HIGHLY Recommended!