When I bought my first Duplexing ADF scanner (English translation: Automatic Document Feed multipage scanner that scanned both sides of a document at the same time), it came with a copy of Adobe Acrobat Standard. I used mostly virtuaI printers to create basic PDFs but often found myself needing more functionality when creating PDFs than I got from virtual printers and from within MS Word (virtual printers often rotated pages and could not resize pages when a document had different sized pages). I first started using PDFs because graphics containing documents I created in Word 2003 couldn't be read in earlier versions of Word. It didn't become an open standard until 2008 but, by that time, Adobe office products were firmly entrenched in business settings, much like MS Office. It became a popular business office file format because of its stabilty when used crossplatform, such as Windows to Mac or even between versions of Windows.
When PDF was first introduced in the early '90s, it was a proprietary format controlled by Adobe. Probably even movies when you encode them using some basic codec. If someone sends me PDF, then I don't really know what I get - it can contains loseless compressed bitmaps, jpegs, vector, text etc. I can mix vector graphics with bitmap and text in Corel (for example) which is expensive too, but not that much (and I know what I pay for).Īnd yes - fully functional alternatives may be expensive too (like this one). I really want some day someone explain me why it costs so much. For sure Acrobat has some very useful functions and options that makes it so expensive, but I don't know what. It costs more than many other graphics editors (that can export PDF too) without even basic functionality of them.
It is for me most overpriced piece of software on PC. Personally, I never understand Adobe Acrobat "greatness". Why is it that I can get a free program that can handle almost any video file flawlessly (VLC Media player), a free program that can uncompress almost any compressed package, and compress files with extensive options and various formats (7-Zip), but when I just want to put a name on a character sheet, it's $300.
Some of the free PDF readers, such as Foxit, have limited PDF editing and creation abilities.Īll I wanna do is edit some character sheets for my tabletop game, but Adobe Acrobat is either part of a $15/mo subscription plan (WITH AN ANNUAL CONTRACT, $22 WITHOUT), or a 1-time purchase for 300 dollars! Why!? Even alternative programs average about $99.
I didn't upgrade when the next version came out because I ddidn't need any of the new features (and I'm cheap). I have version 12 and love it! It was well worth the money. Also, when a new version of PDF Studio comes out, you can still safely use the old version if you want. It's the equivalent of Adobe Acrobat Standard and then some for much less than Acrobat will cost in the long run now that you essentially rent Acrobat.
I recommend getting the Pro version even though it costs more. Whie it probably galls you to have to pay for a PDF creation/editing program, an excellent one is Qoppa's PDFStudio. I create most of my PDFs using LibreOffice now. That way, if you ever want to edit the PDF, just open it in the LibreOffice app it was created in and the embedded file will open which you can then edit. It also has an option to embed the file you are working on into that PDF. Some of its apps, such as Writer and Calc, will allow you to save work as a PDF. I frequently use it to create PDFs of receipts of online purchases than can only be printed instead of downloaded.Īnother free way to create and edit the PDFs you created is to use LibreOffice.
A virtual printer, when installed, appears in the the print window as a printer but, when you select it and click on print, it uses the data that normally goes to a physical printer to create a PDF. If all you are doing is just creating a PDF from a document, such as an online receipt, you can use a program called a virtual printer (PDFCreator is my favorite).