Free PDF software - Round two

Hi all,

Some more PDF software - mainly because of your recommendations! We have the second article introducing a range of free PDF tools for Windows, including readers/viewers, distiller/printers, and other utilities.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/pdf-software-more.html


Thanks to: InfinityAz, Bob_D, the_Tester, zapjb, Arup, Longboard, Saraceno, ruinebabine, klivda for their suggestions.

Cheers,
Mrk

 

Thanks for the list of utilities. I use Foxit Reader and Nitro PDF maker and both are excellent. The only problem with Nitro is that sometimes it messes up MS office (Office XP version) created images. If I make a figure in PPT or Word that contains color gradients, it's not able to handle them accurately. For normal JPEGs it works perfectly...nonetheless it's just a minor irritant, and for all practical purposes Nitro is indispensible to me.

May have to give Open Office a serious look just for the pdf conversion feature..

 

I forgot about my little input. I had to search to remember what I said. lol. Thanks for the thanks.

Btw I am now using CutePDF as my PDF reader in Vista64. Imho Foxit has lost their mind trying to install ****ware with their latest reader. With no option (that I could find) to deselect.

 

Foxit lets you choose after you complete the install. Deselect the toolbar and that's it, without anything wrong installed.
Mrk

 

Wait, what? I'm having a hard time with what you wrote here. What I'm reading is: Install the toolbar/spyware, then uninstall it when you're done (which sounds like a positively terrible idea)? But then you go on to say nothing you didn't want is installed?

The crapware packed with Foxit is the main reason I've been avoiding it. If there's a legit way to get the reader without the malware, I'm interested.

 

I've posted it before, but what about doPDF?

http://www.dopdf.com/

Screenshots:
http://www.dopdf.com/screenshots.php

It's the best PDF converter I've found (for consistency with images/text/resolution) and not mentioned in the additional resources you posted (gizmo etc). Installs as a virtual print driver, so anywhere where you can print, you can create a PDF.

Main benefits for using this free PDF converter:
It’s free - PDF converter free for both commercial and personal use.
32-bit and 64-bit support - can be installed on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems.
No GhostScript or .NET - doesn’t require 3rd party programs to do PDF files such as GhostScript or runtime environments like the .NET Framework. This makes the setup file to be incredibly small compared to other free PDF converters.
Customizable resolution - you can choose any resolution from 72 to 2400 dpi.
Predefined/custom page sizes - choose a default page size (Letter, Legal, A4, A5, A6, ...) or enter your own custom page size.
Searchable PDFs - you can search for text within the created PDF file (and search engines will also index the text from the PDF).
Multi-language - choose a language for the user interface from the 20 languages currently supported (credits).
Do your part in saving the planet - instead of consuming paper to print your document, why not create a PDF file out of it and spare a couple of planet-saving trees?
Barely uses any computer resources - compared to other free PDF converters, doPDF barely uses any memory or CPU resources when doing the actual conversion to PDF.


I've used that and XChange viewer for yonks!

 

You can uncheck the toolbar during the installation and it doesn't install. You do lose a couple of features by not installing it (can't remember which ones).

I've been avoiding it because I've found it to be very flakey when printing a PDF. I've had things printed as mirror images, a page in the middle upside down, forms with only the frames printed and minus the text, etc.

Try out PDF XchangeViewer (also free). It's not buggy like Foxit and has no crapware at all.

 

GAOTD

Simpo PDF Creator (I've never used it - don't know a thing about it.)

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/sim...: giveawayoftheday/feed (Giveaway of the Day)

 

FWIW- I have pdf-xchange working inside google chrome. It just opened inside chrome and I never added any plug in. My chrome version is 4.0.223.16 and pdf-xchange is version 2 (build 42.8 ) .

I have KIS- and pdf-xchange is not trusted- so when I try to download a pdf I get a warning message from KIS. Once I allow it to execute I see that the download has opened in chrome instead of downloading to my desktop. From pdf-xchange in crome there is a bottom that allows the pdf-xchange viewer on the desktop to launch. Both are in the pic below.