Several products for working with PDFs are available, but as with many categories of technology, different companies’ products are not identical and a product good for one firm is not necessarily the best for another.
The author describes the highlights and drawbacks of four PDF products – Acrobat, Nitro Pro 8, PDF Converter Enterprise 8, and pdfDOCS – that have many law firm-appropriate features. A detailed chart lists and compares the features of each product reviewed.
The author’s choice? Nuance PDF Converter Enterprise 8, because its feature set strikes a good balance between functionality and price. Your preference will depend on your particular needs.
|
Acrobat |
Nitro Pro 8 |
PDF Converter Enterprise 8 |
pdfDOCS |
Creating PDFs |
Word - Printer |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Word - Tool Bar Add-on |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Excel - Printer |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Excel - Tool Bar Add-on |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
PowerPoint - Printer |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
PowerPoint - Tool Bar Add-on |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
WordPerfect - Printer |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
WordPerfect - Tool Bar Add-on |
N |
N |
Y1 |
N |
From Scanner |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Drag and Drop to Open Program |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Drag and Drop to Desktop Icon |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Watched Folder |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Toolbar Add-on |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Right Click Context Menu |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Combine Multiple Files in Single PDF |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Binders/Portfolio |
Y |
N2 |
Y |
Y |
PDF/A-1a |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
PDF/A-1b |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Outlook Ribbon Integration |
Archive Outlook Message/Folder |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Searchable Archive |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Attachments in Native Format |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Convert non-PDF Attachments to PDF |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
Append to Existing PDF |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) |
Native to Program |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y3 |
Make Searchable |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Convert to Word |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Convert to Excel |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Convert to PowerPoint |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Convert to WordPerfect |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
Convert to RTF |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Convert to TXT |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Convert to Image |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Editing Documents |
Editing Text |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Add New Text |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Replace Text |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Text Reflow |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Strikethrough |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Underline |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Subscript Text |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Superscript Text |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Highlight |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Comments/Notes |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Callouts |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Stamps |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Bookmarks |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Links |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Native Compare Capability |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Compare 2 PDF Documents |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Compare PDF Document to Word |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
Compare Any Doc Type to Any Doc |
N |
N |
N |
Y4 |
Working with Pages in PDFs |
Auto-rotate |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Rotate |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Extract |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Delete |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Split |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Insert |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Insert from File |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Insert from Scanner |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Insert from Clipboard |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Insert Header/Footer |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Bates Numbering |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Working with Forms |
Add Form Fields |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Form Wizard |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Typewriter Tool |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Applying Security to PDFs |
Redaction |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Metadata Removal |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y5 |
Digital Signature & Certificate |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Create Self-signed Digital Certificate |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Restrict User Actions to Change,
Print, Edit, etc. |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Document Encryption |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Password Protect Documents |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Connectors |
Worldox |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Other Document-Management Software |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Evernote |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Dropbox |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
Box.com |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
Google Drive |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
SharePoint |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Share PDFs from within Program |
Email |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Ease of Use (Rating scale: 1 (low) to 10 (high) |
8 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
Feature Set |
9 |
8 |
10 |
6 |
Value for Cost |
8 |
9 |
10 |
7 |
Manual/Help/Online Resources |
9 |
8 |
7 |
8 |
|
34 |
35 |
35 |
31 |
|
|
|
|
|
Cost |
$449/$1996 |
$119.99 |
$149.99/$125 |
$2507 |
Notes
1 Installs PDF Converter Assistant to Open PDF/XPS command in File Menu.
2 Nitro Pro 8 will not create portfolios but can open individual PDFs inside a portfolio using the attachments panel. Documents will open using the associated program, that is, Word for a Word document, Excel for Excel worksheets.
3 OCR module is now included as part of pdfDOCS base package.
4 Requires optional CompareDocs.
5 Metadata that can be removed is limited compared to the other products reviewed.
6 CompareDocs adds $400 per user to this price.
7 Upgrade from Acrobat 7 Standard or Pro or newer for $199.