Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Best Prices Today: PDFpen 9
You ca n’t fend off handle PDF ( Portable Document Format ) files : every site and program seems to generate them , either as a opt pick or an option . And , often , you need to make some tweak or change in a PDF or fill it out when it has n’t been coiffure up by its creator to have preset form element .
But I ’ve rule in my own work and in correspondence with both design professional and unconstipated user that Acrobat is obscure and punishing to master , and Preview typically insufficient .
It ’s into this gap that Smile developedPDFpen($75 ) andPDFpenPro($125 ) , which have maturate for many years as an option . PDFpenPro is as full featured as Acrobat in closely every esteem and PDFpen just a little less so , while Smile offers each at a standalone cost that ’s fairish . It ’s much easy to master either app than Acrobat , and Smile has retained a uniform but routinely better user interface for the software over years , unlike Adobe ’s giant shift in approach for Acrobat that leave behind farsighted - time users like me reeling .
Powerful OCR works even with rough original , like this example from 1917 . you could easily fix failed recognition , too .
The macOS software is both thoroughly featured and mostly intuitive . Both editions can make and edit the mental object of PDFs , allow soak up and supply text on top of Indian file , and include excellent opthalmic lineament acknowledgement ( OCR ) software . The Pro flavor is also a brilliant room to design forms , retrofit existing document to turn back cast W. C. Fields , and to fulfill out anatomy . There ’s a tenuous awkwardness in picking , setting values for , and interchange among the app ’s several tool , but it ’s small-scale compared to its utility and ease of use once you ’re using a tool .
translation 8 of both apps added many elements find out in Acrobat that were still missing in PDFpen , like digital - signature management and validation , and new variety of export method acting from PDF to other formatting , include Word . Version 9 is n’t nearly as big an upgrade , but it ’s packed full of enhancements and additions , notably a large miscellany of image exportation pick and better annotation direction , utile when nock up a PDF .
The Pro version differs from the even by adding to its features some options that are vital to niche audiences , including Microsoft Excel , Microsoft PowerPoint , and PDF / A yield and table of contents and imprint instauration and editing .
( In this recapitulation , I ’ll refer to both apps ’ core functionality as PDFpen , call out feature that require PDFpenPro . )
What’s new in version 9
For those who already use or know PDFpen , let me jump to the chase about new feature of speech in version 9 . grin has focused on improving note used to point out on a PDF , export data format and ascendancy , and tabular array of content support ( Pro version only )
Table of table of contents edit in the Pro edition of PDFpen brings it close to Acrobat parity .
For those who involve a table of content ( TOC ) or ask to work with one created elsewhere , Acrobat has been your best choice until now . PDFpenPro leave considerably more forward-looking TOC options for more sophisticated and less clunky fundamental interaction . It also now merges TOC entries when combining files .
While Preview and Acrobat have had relatively robust way to export page from PDF into other formats , it ’s one arena that PDFpen has incarcerate in . This a la mode interpretation does a act more , adding a host of image formats and options that let in 1 - number TIFF ( black - and - white ) , grayscale exportation , and JPEG and PNG files . It also allows a kitchen range of image closure ( really density valuate in dots per inch ) in making the conversion .
Most of the remain version 9 alteration are fiddly things everyone will apprize ( like showing resizing hold for items that are off the edge of the pageboy ) , or for which people with specific needs will suddenly breathe a sigh of relief ( such as horizontal OCR for ideographic languages , like Chinese , in PDFpenPro ) .
The rest of PDFpen
PDFpen has seemingly nearly as many features and options as Adobe Acrobat , but I consistently notice myself able to figure out how to achieve what I want in PDFpen , while I often have to consult web documentation and sack around in Acrobat to get to where I ’m go . That ’s partly because Smile chose to apply a straightforward toolbar ( introduced a few versions back ) mirrored in a Tools bill of fare to import it all out .
Like Acrobat , PDFpen is a copious PDF editor , letting you work with text , images , fastening , and annotations , and edit out anything that appears on a page , let in all of those elements . you’re able to also delete aim , or redact parts of a written document — this is true editing , where the underlying datum is removed , rather than just a inglorious streak being overlaid . This toolset is also useful when you ’re throw a PDF , instead of generating it yourself , or when you ’re working through revisions on a papers that you ’re handing back and forth among a team .
One rough spot in PDFpen is its difficulty in leave “ meet - up ” editing in the same font , which lead in this instance to a case explosion of form .
you’re able to choose text to copy it out , or apply a Correct Text feature to edit it . PDFpen ’s one drawback relative to Acrobat is how it handles dropping in revised text . Acrobat can read embedded fonts , even ace that are subsetted ( including only the fictional character used in the document ) , and your “ spot ups ” come along in the aboriginal baptistery whenever potential . This preserves the coming into court . PDFpen swing in a nonpayment case , which make it impossible to use to make an esthetically useable unseamed fix . you could correct this by selecting fount set up in OS X , but it ’s not near as useful . In one papers I test , PDFpen splay the edited school text all over the page in dissimilar fonts ; Acrobat handled blue-pencil the same schoolbook just fine .
Both version let you fulfil out configuration field created in other software . If you need to make your own form , the Pro versions can autogenerate form fields , or you’re able to drop them in manually and format their appearance . Autogeneration is quite astonishing : I threw scanned images — not just PDFs — at PDFpenPro that had uninterrupted lines with labels underneath for first , middle , and last name , and other alike entries , and it right broke those into separate fields . Pro can even embed a clit into a PDF that allows someone meet it out to submit the form data point or the meet - out PDF to a WWW waiter or send either via e-mail .
PDFpenPro distinguish complex flying field arranging when mechanically creating filling - in forms .
I regularly use PDFpen to convert the text of scanned documents or images using its built - in OCR locomotive engine from OmniPage . The software instigate you when you open a text file that has images that could be analyzed , although you could disable that prompt . ( Here ’s a tip : The * Edit > OCR * option is often dim when the app does n’t think there ’s text edition to realise ; hold down Command and Option and take the Edit menu , and you may force OCR . )
The OCR software is highly precise , even for extremely degraded school text . I tried it on old newspaper pages with very humble type , and it did remarkably well . On typewritten or computer output , it ’s near perfect in my testing . Once converted , you’re able to search on the document or expose the textbook in an isolated layer . The Pro version let you castigate the schoolbook , too .
rendering 8 added digital signatures , verifying cryptographically that a written document is unaltered since the Maker lock it . PDFpen shows that a PDF is signed by displaying a triangular pass in the upper - right box . If the triangle is dark-green and has a checkmark , the app has verified it ; clicking the corner brings up extra technical item .
I found it wonky to ratify in PDFpen in version 8 , and it remains so in version 9 . You have to select * instrument > touch Field * , select a written document , draw a signature ( or at least click in a drawing off field ) , and then click * employ Digital Signature * , at which distributor point you may select an existing certificate or generate a self - sign one .
PDFpen can make use of measure , a characteristic that ’s part of the PDF spec , but is typically incorporated only when architectural and other computer - aided excogitation ( CAD ) software export a PDF . With a PDF that engraft scale and units , the measuring putz displays those consequently . But you’re able to also expend it with any PDF , where PDFpen use the document ’s denotative measurement ( like 8.5 by 11 inch ) as the fundament of dimensions that you’re able to opt to show in points , inches , or millimeters . The measurements can only be made one at a time , ca n’t be store , and ca n’t be edited — only dragged from a start to terminate stead , make them somewhat less useful than they could be .
PDFs can patronise data file attachments and annotations , and PDFpen lets a PDF act as a kind of portmanteau or a sticky - note festooned marked - up copy . PDFpen can extract file attachments and annotations , and also preview them . The basic PDFpen is more of a viewer while the Pro version can tote up and delete bond and annotation . Both interpretation also allow you enter audio note you’re able to contribute to a PDF as well as play them back .
adaptation 8 add local exportation of text and graphics as a Word file ( both reading ) or Excel ( Pro only ) , where former releases transport the PDF to Smile ’s server for processing . I export a complicated PDF that admit a very elaborated table and the resulting rendering in Word was almost pixel consummate and in full editable . The same PDF export to Excel in the Pro release with equally well preserve tabular particular , including unite and spanning cells . Even a PDF with little tabular data and image exported to Excel just fine .
The host orotund - trip is still required in reading 9 for PowerPoint and PDF / A ( an archived data format of PDF ) . This is a security risk , as your file wind up being disclose to Smile — irrespective of how trusty they are and how well secure their systems are — and also necessitate being on-line .
Crashing bugs
Unfortunately , during my testing of the 9.0.1 passing , I experienced several clangor when performing quotidian tasks , some of which were “ destructive , ” losing changes I had made since the previous save . This encounter while trying to prefer annotation option in the Print dialog , while printing annotations , and while adding a digital key signature field to a pageboy .
Some of the clash seemed to occur on one pass , but after relaunching and attempting the same project , it worked without a rub . I expect that Smile will fix whatever bugs have led to these clash , of course of study , and I ’ve reported them all to the company .
However , more broadly , my expectation with software system in 2017 that fudge documents is that they will habituate some physical body of journaling or continuous save , much as we see in Pages , BBEdit , InDesign , and other business and professional software . With those apps , even a system crash often loses no more than the last key stroke after launching the app , as it can recover the intermediate changes .
This deoxidize my score for the app overall , and it ’s an orbit I hope Smile puts attempt into in the future , given the all-embracing backing for medium uninterrupted saving in other apps .
Pricing
grinning sells single - drug user licenses for $ 75 and $ 125 for the regular and Pro versions , respectively , whether instantly through the company site or through the Mac App Store . The MAS does n’t support upgrades or syndicate and multi - user line licenses , which can be purchased at once .
smiling charges $ 30 for upgrades to either edition , and $ 50 to move from PDFpen to PDFpenPro 9 . Those who bought a previous version via the MAS should leave that transcript installed on their Mac , and then download version 9 directly from Smile ’s internet site . On launching , the Smile version will identify the previous MAS written matter and tender rise pricing .
Bottom line
foresightful - time users may sit around this raise out ifthe lean of new features is n’t compelling , although the $ 30 upgrade monetary value is n’t hard to warrant . New exploiter will see very petty light in the gap between Acrobat and PDFpenPro or even the veritable PDFpen edition .
