Product Description

PDF Converter Pro ... Read more

Features

• Automated batch creation; merge documents; watermarks and stamps
• PDF Create! and PDF Converter for Microsoft Word combined
• Create industry-standard PDF files; password protection
• Convert PDF files into editable Microsoft Word documents and forms
• Easily extract charts and graphs from PDF files for use elsewhere

Reviews (10)

Waste ofmoney
First of all, the required registration and fingerprinting of your machine is quite intrusive and cumbersome.
Second, in converting pdf to Word files, it doesn't really do any useable formatting that can be easily editted, instead it creates a bunch of text boxes all over the page (rather then using tabs or tables). I was tring to convert a resume to a different format, working with a pdf original. In the end I had to convert it to plain text and start formatting from scratch, which I could have done just using the Adobe Acrobat text copy tool. Save your money, I wish I had done some research first.

You get what you pay for
I have Adobe 6.0 professional. Most of the time I use Adobe to convert file to PDF. I bought this software hoping to get cheaper product for our company new computer with the comparable quality. The software does convert the file to PDF. However, it considerbly increases the file size.
I convert some documents using both Adobe and this software to compare.
Adobe compressed the file from 200 KB to 20 KB
This software increase the file size from 200 KB to 688 KB!
Changing the settingalso makes no difference.

Not recommend this software if you're looking for the product to compress the file.

Absolutely Terrible License Management...Lousy Service Too
ScanSoft has been nothing but difficult to deal with in resolving a problem that their own license management system created.

Every few weeks the application manages to forget that it is not an evaluation copy and begins dysfunctionally labeling every page it generates with that annoying "Evaluation Version" diagonally laced across every page it produces.

I paid fully for my copy of this product and naively assumed that a call to customer support would resolve this issue.It didn't.Instead, I was told that I'd have to call technical support (not an 800 number -- but not to worry, the "first call" is for no charge... oh yipee...)

Note to all customer service departments:NEVER, EVER, send a customer away with instructions to call someone else in your company instead.Make sure your customer service people can call and patch through customers on their own.The only thing more annoying to a client than having to work through a phone menu system ONCE to reach a flesh-and-blood person is having to do it TWICE with no guarantee of being closer to the solution than before.

So I called "technical services."After answering enough questions to fill an autobiography from the person who picked up the line, it was suggested that I "try" reinstalling the software (as if I had nothing better to do with my time and as if I had not been through THAT exercise enough times before).I suggested that whatever the solution to this issue was, it was definitely NOT THAT.Then the gentlemen indicated that he'd need a copy of the receipt (why did he not say so in the first place instead of suggesting I find yet more ways to waste my time?)

I suggested to him that he'd best put his supervisor on the line as he had a very angry customer on his hands.After a prolonged period of being on hold, on my own long-distance dime, I hung up.

That friends, is ScanSoft's approach to customer relations.They treat you like a questionably legitimate user by default and if their license management system screws up -- it must be (in their view) something YOU did.Nice, huh.

As for the product itself, it's okay.I noticed that it seemed to have issues with some graphics, whereas the original version with some graphics would print crisply directly out of Word, the PDF version was a bit jagged (even on the screen).

If ScanSoft had not wasted so much of my time with the license issue and completely lost my goodwill, I might have had more time to more seriously explore the product and say more.

The review below about the faulty design does echo a few things I noticed too.

Suffice to say that I doubt that I'll ever be considering ScanSoft products in the future.This experience has left a sufficiently bad taste in my mouth that I'll probably recommend my clients stay away from them too.

Glitches and shortcomings in software products is something I can learn to live with (if they aren't too bad).But contempt and indifference toward paying customers is unforgivable and inexcusable.

Another Poor Software Design
Interesting product, but just another one that has been added to the long list of software products that lack the fundamental design principles.The product's sales people try to make up for the lack of fundamental design flaws with unfounded and inaccurate claims. i.e.

1. "Turn PC files into optimized, small file-size PDF documents".I believe the person that wrote this did not have a strong understanding of the English language.I purchased the product to allow a PowerPoint slide file (file size 578K) to be emailed in a "small file-size".ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 2.0 turned the file into a five (5) times larger file!Even with ScanSoft technical support on the phone with me for almost an hour, the smallest size was over 2000K!

2. "System Requirements...Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 or above".What I did not see listed was a requirement for a active internet connection.What a surprise to find that I actually have to be actively connected to get the activation process to work.What private information is ScanSoft collecting off my computer?I purchased a legitimate retail version from a Office Depot, a legitimate retailer.Why is ScanSoft so paranoid?What other design flaws have they included, due to their paranoia?

Here are some other interesting concerns:

3. During the installation process, there is no option to tell the software not to install in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.What a surprise when I open up my PowerPoint to find that it takes five (5) times longer to load! Instead of 2 seconds, it now takes 10 seconds!Why did it take so long? Well, ScanSoft has now decided to load itself into every Microsoft product on my computer!It was not happy with just loading itself as a printer driver, it loaded itself on all my Office main menus and in my submenus!What else has it done without me knowing?Is it also sending my private information off somewhere?ScanSoft looks more like a SpyWare program than a PDF converter.

4. Now for the software return process...if you like to jump through hoops, try a return.I call up to return the product and I get what I think are the requirements.FAX a copy of the receipt and wait for a check.Sorry, the next day I get five (5) emails telling me five different things that I have to do from three (3) different people.Does this sound like out-sourcing?Yes!!!This explains it all to me.(I digress, this is a review of ScanSoft PDF Convertor 2.0, not of out-sourcing!)

5. Well, I think that I have jumped through all their hoops, now I will wait for a check.Does "check is in the mail" sound familiar?I wonder how long it takes a check to travel from India to the US?

6. The adventure is not over yet.Now, I have to clean up all the garbage on my hard drive and in my registry that the ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2.0 Uninstaller program left.What no Uninstaller program? I sure hope that the Windows XP Add/Remove program can work properly!But it relies on an installation list provided by ScanSoft!I am in trouble.Yes, it is time to manually edit my System Registry (Do not try this at home.This a job for a technical professional.)

7. ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2 is a great example of how not to design and implement software!Yes, it is only $99 which looks like a lot better deal than Adobe Acrobat.How many dollars have I wasted trying to get ScanSoft to do what the sales people wrote on the box?How many dollars am I going to waste trying to get ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2.0 off my computer?

Here is my advice:
A. Buy software products with caution
B. Do your research (read reviews)
C. Beware of software products that have major software design flaws.
D. With poorly designed software the total cost is not what you paid the retailer for it!
E. Outsourcing is not the answer for technical support!

What a value compared to Acrobat!
Our school just bought 10 copies of this product instead of Adobe Acrobat - we are a small private school and couldn't afford what they were charging.We use this product to create PDFs when we send out grades.It is perfect becuase we can "lock" the files so only the parents can open them to see their children's grades.Before we began using this we were sending out paper ccopies that frequently got lost by the (K-6) students.This so so much better.Thankyou ScanSoft! ... Read more

Features

• Enfocus PitStop Professional, an Adobe Acrobat plug-in, is the industry standard for PDF preflight, auto-correction and editing.
• Its award winning features and technology guarantee successful output.
• Powerful Certified PDF technology enables immediate visual feedback and allows you track every edit made to a PDF.
• Add/edit text in PDF documents
• Move, rotate, scale or shear objects

Product Description

A solution for instantly turning PDF files into Microsoft Word documents and forms that you can easily edit - complete with text, columns, tables, and graphics. PDF Converter 2 contains powerful new features that allow you to quickly convert proposals, contracts, letters and more into Microsoft Word documents for editing, saving valuable time and money. ... Read more

Features

• Processes PDF image files into Microsoft Word documents
• Instantly converts PDF files into Microsoft Word documents and forms
• Delivers an exact rendering of the original document's content
• Unmatched ease-of-use via the PDF Converter Assistant
• PDF passwords and encryption; PDF thumbnail preview and page ranges

Reviews (12)

doesn't work for scanned in documents
This only works on documents that have been electronically turned into pdfs NOT PDFs that have been created through scanning. So since nearly all the PDFs I work with are scanned in from books or journals, this product is worthless.ABBYY's PDF Trnasformer WILL do OCR on scanned in PDFs.It isn't perfect, but at least ABBYY's product is usefull for me.

Worse than useless
I bought this based on a Scansoft e-mail ad that made wonderful claims for the accuracy of the PDF to Word conversion capability.Boy was I disappointed!I have yet to see the first accurate conversion of anything more complicated than a simple non-letterhead typed page.I tried to use it to update a manual of about 70 pages and found that it took over twice as long to fix the mess that Scansoft PDF Converter made, than it did to completely re-publish the manual grahics and all.If this product was free it would be a poor bargain.

Save time reytyping PDF information
I bought this product on the positive recommendation at this site http://www2.vnunet.com/Products/Hardware/1158407 and agree with their assessment of it.

What's all the griping about this product's lack of support?No software company has excellent support - let alone ones that have $50 products.PDF Converter works fine for me on many different types of files.I haven't experienced any problems.I'd be happy if it got 75% of the conversion right, but it usually gets close to 100%.It saves me a lot of time retyping stuff from PDF files.I am using it almost every day.

Can't get along without it!
I work alot with PDF's and MS Office applications and this latest version converts from Word docs to PDF's perfectly.Converting PDF's back again in Word docs is pretty darn good with almost no corrections necessary most of the time.Its fast and stable as well. I also like to being able to "add" to PDF's by dragging and dropping into the PDF Create window.This makes it very simple to combine documents and email just one PDF to clients.

Great Product!
I just upgraded to version 2 of this product.I didn't have any problems with installation or activation.All of this carping over support.What do you expect for a $100 product?Get over it!In a few years all software will need to be activated.

That aside, the product itself works great.I can see why Adobe hates it.The PDF creation process is really simple and for $100 it is a great value.I originally bought this product for the PDF to Word convesion capabilities of technical manuals and have been very happy with the job it does, especially on large (over 100 pages)and table intensive files.The conversions are usually right on with only a minimal amount of corrections.The PDF creation is just a bonus as gar asI am concerned. ... Read more

Product Description

Scansoft PaperPort Pro 9.0 Office.PaperPort Pro 9 Office is the most efficient way for everyone in your office to organize, find and share paper , PDF, and digital documents. PaperPort Pro combines the efficiency of document management, the convenience of network scanning and the power ofcreating PDFs,to bring a new level of productivityto your organization . Try it and find out why millions of users rely on its all-in-one search to quickly find important documents, and its visual document desktop to organize and assemble documents - just as if they were paper.Youâll see why PaperPort Pro Office is the simply best way to work with all of your paper and digital documents. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Scansoft's very low grage product
Whatever we read All that Manufacturer's describtion On this SOFTWARE as an advertisement, does not work fully. It just like a bait. I was using Paperport 8 Deluxe which was almost thousand percent good enough in compare to PaperPort Pro 9 Office. So after I upgraded Paperport Pro 9 Office from Paperport 8 Deluxe, I feel myself a very stupid.

PaperPort 9 is a Great Productivity Tool!
PaperPort has changed the way my company does business.With it's scan to PDF and PDF creation abilities we have turned piles of paper credit applications into electronic documents that we can easily email, store and quickly retrieve when needed by using the SimpleSearch feature.My word processors use batch processing to perform tasks on groups of documents to save even more time when reviewing the applications before we send them to their respective card issuers for approval or denial.We used to process about 2,000 applications a day, now with the help of PaperPort we can easily process over 10,000 a day with the same number of staff!

New Version of PaperPort is The Best Yet
I have been a dedicated PaperPort user for many years.I was surprised when I went to purchase the product and saw all of these terrible reviews.Since I had such a good experience for so many years I decided to give it a try.ScanSoft offers a 30 day refund policy there was no way I could loose.After using the product for a few weeks, I have found that this new version is the best yet.The software is much easier to use and faster when scanning large batches of documents.I have been using the FormTyper feature and found it very useful for completing paper documnts with information and saving a copy for my records - much easier than completing them by hand and then making a copy.I also have been using the tools to edit pictures from my digital camera.

Better in every way
I am a long time user of PaperPort, and I think this verison is by far the best. By basing the entire product on the PDF file format, PaperPort is now one of the most useful products on my machine. The speed and stability issues mentioned in reviews above have all been ironed out in 3 service packs released over the last several months, and the last pack seems to fix all the major issues. Why is this version so godd?

- I can create PDF files from any type of document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and combine them right on the PaperPort desktop by right-clicking and stacking.

- I can scan paper documents into PDF, add electronic annotations and then email them to lawyers, accountants, mortgage brokers and all the other people who ask me to fax them things. It is so much faster and reliable to email instead, and with PDF files, I know they can open it on their computer and see it just as I did.

- The new "batch processing" feature lets me clean-up multiple scanned documents at one time and also apply a clean-up operation to all the pages of a single document. This is way better than it was in v8.

These are just a few of the reasons why the new verison is great. As further proof of this, PC Magazine named PaperPort one of the top 100 technologies for 2003 (one of only 6 productivity software titles along with Microsoft Office 2003 and QuickBooks.) Smart Computing put PaperPort on its top 50 list, and there are numerous other great reviews out there as well.

Don't let the few angry people here give you the wrong idea about PaperPort 9. It's great.

Too Slow by far
I am comparing Paperport 9 to Paperport 8. My major use is to store documents for future viewing and to maintain a record of my trading cards. I have no use for scanning into Adobe for later editing so I use the .max format. I own two scanners - a SCSII A4 scanner and a Parallell port A3 Scanner. Scanning documents is easy, especially with the ability to keep on scanning pages which are automatically stacked into a single file. However saving the document is very slow. Loading documents appears to take far too long. Loading a 200 dpi A4 page takes about 3 seconds with Paperport 8 and about 10 seconds with Paperport 9. Loading a 600 dpi trading card (6cm by 10 cm approx) - in Paperport 8 the picture starts to appear after 3 seconds and completes in steps in about 10 seconds - in Paperport 9 nothing happens for about 30 seconds and then suddenly the whole image appears.
Editing the document in Paperport 9 - enhancing, rotating, straightening - is fast about 2 or 3 times as fast as in 8. But after straightening, all straight lines become jagged - something that didn't happen in Paperport 8.
Saving is again very slow taking about 20 seconds to save a trading card. However try loading an A4 document at 600 dpi. My system hung 3 times (which isn't bad in XP). I gave up. ... Read more

Features

• Use MS Office files on handheld devices
• Create and synch new Word, Excel and PowerPoint files
• Work with graphics, PDFs and more
• E-mail compatible
• Easy to install

Reviews (5)

2 Must Have's - Security and Native Files!
I've been a Docs To Go user since version #4, and it's a program I wouldn't want to live without.I recently upgraded to the Palm Tungsten T-3, and Docs To Go #6 Premium looks great on the high resolution color screen - especially when viewed on the wider horizontal format when my T-3's slide-out cover is fully extended.

I originally didn't buy the Premium Edition of Docs To Go #6, but I upgraded as soon as I learned that it had two new features - both of which I had always longed to have!

The first is SECURITY.In MS Word, one can save documents that are openable only with a password.(When saving a document, use "save as" and then click "options.")This security feature carries over when the files are transferred via Docs To Go #6 Premium.To activate this feature on my Palm, I need simply to tap on the "Options" tab in the upper menu bar on my screen, followed by "Security," and then "Hide Records."

The second essential feature is Docs To Go #6's ability to save documents in NATIVE MS WORD format - which means that the file can be opened directly in MS Word!I can now save a document on my Palm's SD card - and then open it straight away on my PC in Word - without having to sync my Palm using Docs To Go before hand.This enables me to work remotely on my Palm (using my ultra-portable Stowaway Palm keyboard) and then open, edit and print the document on any computer that has MS Word.(To facilitate this, I carry a USB SD Card reader with me, which is plug-and-play for all Windows XP computers.)

Since a Word file is much larger than a Palm Memo file, this allows me to take notes in a long meeting - which I can then edit on my PC and distribute almost immediately to my other team members via email!(Before Docs To Go #6 Premium, I would take notes in Memo, and then cut-and-paste the text into a Word document - after I had transferred the Memo file to my home PC by syncing.What a pain!)Also, taking notes during a meeting using a Palm + keyboard is still kind of cool - whereas doing the same using a laptop isn't even close!

As another useful tool, I've also installed the latest version of BtPrint from ISComplete on my Palm, which allows me to print wirelessly to the infrared (IR) or Bluetooth (Bt) capable printers available to me at my home and in my office.MS Word documents printed via BtPrint look almost letter quality.For work, since my new company wouldn't provide me with a desktop printer, I went ahead and purchased a very used HP 990 cxi (which has IR) - along with a hardly used Bluetooth print adapter - both from eBay, which put me into business very inexpensively.

(As a final pair of tips, if you search very carefully using Google, you can even find the HP website which will send you a print driver disc for $10, which makes trying to bypass your company's firewall to download the software unnecessary.I've also installed PrintBoy 6.0 available from Bachmann software on my Palm which will print my To Do list -- by category -- which makes me look super-organized!Hey, in times like these, it's important to have every possible advantage, right?)

With the Security and Native MS file saving capabilities of Docs To Go #6 Premium, my Palm is even more indispensable than ever.This is one program I definitely couldn't do without! Why should you?

Avoid the demo at least
I tried the demo v.6.005 on my Treo 600. Very impressive for the most part, but unlike the free bundled viewer it crashed very badly on an e-mailed native Word doc attachment. I actually had to do a hard reset and reinstall all my apps and data from scratch. This is a very impressive piece of software, but hard crashes like these (which I subsequently re-tested and found repeatable) aren't really acceptable. Verdict: don't use this if you plan to travel away from your hotsync PC for any length of time!

unsuable
documents to go compresses my power point slides to the level where the graphics and text are literally unreadable.space on my memory stick is not tight so I would rather have the raw data, but i found no way to change this.a 15 meg document is compressed down to 580k, of course the quality is terrible.

Beware of versions!!!
I recently bought a Palm Zire 71 and found it to be everything I could ever want out a PDA, except for the fact that it lacked the proper software to load Microsoft Word Documents. Happily, I found the DataViz website, downloaded a trial copy of Documents To Go Premium 6.0, and all was well... until the trial period ended.

Not wanting to make a transaction over the net (they only accept credit cards on the site!) I had to find a local vendor that sold the software. And thus, the nightmare started. This product isn't easy find. It took me months to find a store that actually sold the dang thing, but when I finally purchased it, I found that it turned out to be version 5.0!!! Now, here is where things go horribly wrong...

Version 5.0 is a mess. There were multiple times when my Palm had to be reset, and there was even an occasion when the document I was working on simply vanished. Add to that, there's no such thing as a BOOKMARK even on that older version!

So be careful when you make the purchase. Better to just buy it here at Amazon.com and save yourself the trouble that I had to endure.

My advice; Palm better think VERY carefully about shipping any PDA without Documents To Go 6.0

Looking back, I could have saved myself a lot of pain, by buying a Pocket PC instead!

This program kicks butt!
If you want to bring your Office documents around on your you Palm or Sony handheld, this is the product for you.Sweet new user interface that gives all file info, allows for selective syncing of documents, easy SD card management. ... Read more

Features

• Flowing text mode for easier editing; enhanced Autoformat technology
• Powerful OCR application with unbeatable speed and accuracy
• Convert paper documents and PDF files into editable text
• Output to Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, WordPerfect, and more
• New user interface; high-quality display of the document image

Reviews (2)

DISILLUSIONED
It's difficult to rate the product, as I never managed to complete a successful download. The support e-mail was no use at all, and after 35 (yes, 35) e-mails backwards and forwards I've given up any hope of getting a CD or my money back. I've told them to give the money to the tsunami appeal.

The product may be excellent, but the support - oh dear.

From a disllusioned Brit

great for scripts
This software allowed me to convert a script that I did not have a digital copy of in a few hours.It was simple and kept almost all the correct format.Unbelievable!I did not even know something like this was out until I bought a new printer/scanner and OCR software was on the CD. When I got this job I purchased ReadIris 9.0 and it more than paid for itself the first time I used it.Thank you IRIS! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

AppleWorks features six applications for your core tasks: word processing, page layout, image editing, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations. This version of AppleWorks opens and saves Microsoft Word and Excel files using DataViz translators, and converts your documents to PDF using Print Preview in Mac OS X. You can add text, images, sounds, movies, spreadsheets, charts, and tables to any document by dragging and dropping. For presentations, you can include titles, captions, pictures, music, and video, sort your slides using drag and drop, and prepare speaker's notes for each slide. You can also use an assistant or template to get a head start on your document, and tap an expanding library of Internet-based templates. There are also over 50 fonts in a variety of styles. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

AppleWorks is a hands down better value than Excel
AppleWorks is a hands down better value than Excel for 99.9% of the people 99.999% of the time. Excel has become so bloated with unneeded features that it is ungainly. More over the Excel interface changes significantly from version to version and Microsoft has to do things in their own special way rather than following standards. AppleWorks reads in and uses almost all of my old spreadsheets from Excel as well as docs. AppleWorks is much more stable and not a processor hog like Excel.

Go Elsewhere
I'm a huge Apple fan and have been using computers for spreadsheets, graphic design, and word processing for years.I have never in my life found a more poorly considered and executed program than Appleworks.It's translation software from MSWord does not work at all--it deletes large chunks of text, rearranges them, and, all in all, causes more work than simply retyping!Its other features are counter-intuitive and frustrating.If you're thinking about saving money by buying this piece of software, think again.There's far better stuff on the market.You'll regret this purchase. Trust me.

In terms of value, best productivity suite available
Like some of the other reviewers, I'm rather surprised at the number of negative reviews that Appleworks has received.While it is true that Appleworks is not as powerful as Microsoft Office, it is much less expensive and clearly represents a better value.The word processer part of it (the part that most people will use) is more intuitive and easier to use than Microsoft Word.True, Word is more powerful; but it costs $350 and requires a manual to use.I have never needed to use a manual to use Appleworks.You have complete control of your documents and you don't have to summon up the help application to figure out how to do common tasks like formatting paragraphs or adding links.Those who have mastered the complexities of MS Word and who require its special features may not like Appleworks.But for the rest of us, it more than meets our needs.

Also, one thing more: I have never had any trouble with Appleworks' translators from cwk to word format.I'm not sure why so many people have reported having trouble with it.I translated an entire book from Appleworks to PC MS Word, preserving the formats and special lettering instructions without any trouble at all.In any case, this wouldn't be a problem if people would show more courtesy to non-MS users (Macs and Linux) andnot insist on sending them doc formatted files.PDF and rtf are far better cross-platform alternatives.

What's not to like?
Ok, I'm am sure that there are features in Word or Excel that some of you might use and the key word is might, but for the other 98% of us. Apple Works is a complete program that is full featured and easy to use. It can save and all of latest Microsoft Office file formats and that is half the battle most of the time with some of the attachments that I receive. Other than that I've been using it for about two months now and it has done everything that I have asked it to do and done it with ease. I have no problems with crashing or quiting unexpectedly under OS X. I start it and it runs and runs and runs. It's a great value even if just to open and looks at an Excel spreadsheet or Word doucument.

Chris

Great Value Suite of Software
I have been using computer word processors extensively since 1986.In 2001, I switched from being primarily a PC user to being a Mac user.And Appleworks is one of the programs I use the most.

I cannot understand the reviews on this page which slam Appleworks (especially the OSX version) for not being compatible with MS Word.I covert files back and forth from PC to Mac with no problem whatsoever.The best printer I have access to is on a PC at work.I usually write documents at home, convert them to a MS Word document, and email them to myself at work.Then at work the next day I print them.No problem.

There seems to be one glitch if you save files as a rich text file.The translator doesn't know the following characters: " '

But if you save it as a MS Word for Windows 98, 2000, ME file, you don't have this problem.

Apple, keep up the good work.The average Joe or Jane should not have to pay hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to get a solid word processor.

Tom Paine
Benton, LA
ATPaine@Lycos.Com ... Read more

Product Description

ScanSoft PDF Create! is the fast, reliable and affordable way to turn all of your PC documents, drawings and images into industry-standard PDF files. ... Read more

Features

• Compatibility with PDF 1.5; does not require Adobe Acrobat
• Quickly turn PC documents, drawings, and images into PDF files
• Compressed file sizes; batch conversion of multiple files at a time
• Advanced font embedding, graphics, and page-size controls
• Password security with 128-bit encryption; watermarks and stamps

Reviews (5)

Horrible for Saving Web Pages
One of the common uses for a pdf conversion program is to save snapshots of web pages (for archiving, etc.). However, Create 2.0 does a HORRIBLE job of converting webpages to pdf format - a lot of graphical information is lost. Just try creating a snapshot of yahoo.com - you will end up with something noticably different from what you would see in a browser. For "website to pdf" conversion, use one of many free online services such as at http://www.easysw.com/htmldoc/pdf-o-matic.php. If Scansoft Create can't even handle web page converson, which is pretty simple, I'm not too hopeful that it will do a good job with other formats.

Works well, and as advertised
I'm very happy with this. This product allows you to create a pdf file from any printable document. I've used it so far with Word and Excel, and it worked very well. It also allows you to combine multiple existing pdf files into a single pdf document. It works by either "printing" to the Scansoft printer; clicking a toolbar button in MS-Office applications; or right-clicking on an existing document. There are also a number of standard and advanced settings for your documents, such as including various watermarks or changing the compression ratio.

The only annoyance is that after you install it, you must activate it online (there is a telephone option also). Without the activation, you get a watermark printed across any pdf you create. I suppose this is necessary though, since so many people pirate software. I installed it on my two computers and was able to activate both times, but I don't know what the limitations are.

I do not have experience with the Adobe Acrobat product, so I can't compare it to that. And of course, you cannot edit existing pdf files like the full version.

All in all, this product works as advertised and is reasonably priced. Five stars.

Adobe look out!
I work at a legal firm and we bought this product instead of Acrobat.The pricing was unbeleiveable.Why does Adobe charge so much for the same thing?Maybe because there was no competition.This reminds me of what happened we Lexus started making luxury cars - BMW and Mercedes were forced to take notice.Isn't being a consumer in this kind of market great?

Great alternative to Acrobat
This gives me PDF 1.5, passwords and other full-Acrobat features at a fraction of the price.I did read another review on its toolbar shortcuts in Outlook - PDF Create! and Adobe Acrobat have the identical behavior and limitation of Word is the editor for Outlook.Overall, I think the batch processing and merging of many documents into a single PDF as the best feature.

Does not work with MS Word!
Scansoft's PDF Create 2.0 does not work with MS Word when MS Word is used as the email editor in Outlook.The PDF Create toolbar and buttons do not appear in this situation, so there is no way to create a PDF document that has links.You can still print to the PDF print driver (which is Scansoft's "solution" to this problem).But printing does not preserve heading information for creating proper PDF files that have bookmarks.Scansoft's other "solution" to this problem is to stop using MS Word as the Outlook editor. ... Read more

Product Description

Channel SOHO Business Cards - Complete Product - Business - Complete Productstyle="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">SOHO Business Cards is the fastest way to design and print professional business cards on your Macintosh. Its a complete business card kit that includes card stock, 13,000+ designer graphics, 50 Bitstream commercial-grade fonts, and 3,000+ ready-made designs covering more than 400 professions. It supports virtually all business card stocks including Avery, PaperDirect, Idea Art and more. Print horizontal, vertical, double-sided, folding, and CD business card formats for the entire company (integrates with Mac OS X Address Book). Powerful design tools include 20+ shapes, 100+ image masks, 150+ fields, transparency, shadows, rotation, auto-text scaling, smart-guides, iPhoto integration and more style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">n and moreNice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theChannel C11003 - CHRONOS SOHO BUSINESS CARDS CREATE PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS CARDS and all other Channel Software - Misc ... Read more

Reviews (1)

no customer support
Beware that there is only e-mail customer support for free. All telephone support is for a fee and they are usually not there, nor do theyreturn your call. ... Read more

Product Description

Truthfully, you've been actively "planning" your business for months. You know your objectives and have a very clear picture of how you'll attain them. Still, the prospect of committing that plan to writing seems more daunting than any of the real business challenges that lie ahead.

Well, the entire process has just become a whole lot easier with Business Plan Writer Deluxe for 2004. This version combines powerful new features with proven techniques to cast your vision in terms that bankers and prospective investors understand and expect. By answering a series of questions in an "interview format", you'll be able to express your ideas cohesively and concisely - and win the praise and support of your readers.

Best of all, with example text for every section and so many real business plans to draw on, the toughest part of the writing job is behind you. The upshot: you'll complete your plan quickly and with absolutely no writer's block. ... Read more

Features

• Business planning guidebook, The Winning Business Plan included.
• Walks you through the planning process.
• Hundreds of sample business plans.
• Import financial data from QuickBooks Pro and Microsoft Excel.
• Includes Kiplinger's Business Attorney with 75+ essential legal documents.

Amazon.com Product Description

Abbyy Fine Reader 5 Pro for Mac is optical recognition software developed especially for the Mac and includes many features, some unique to the Mac version of the software. Toolbars, icons, and dialog boxes are all designed to work seamlessly with the Mac OS Appearance Manager. All core Apple OS technologies are supported, including QuickTime, Apple Speech Recognition, AppleScript, Drag and Drop, and Navigation Services.

A built-in editor lets you edit the image layout manually. Edit recognized text while looking at an image of the source text in the Zoom window. The built-in spell checker will search text for misspelled words in mere seconds. Version 5 supports batch document processing, allowing you to save source images, batch options, and recognized texts in the same folder. The system supports direct launch from Microsoft Word and background recognition. You can also train the system to recognize new characters. ... Read more

Features

• Mac-like user-friendly interface
• Superior recognition quality with ABBYY's new IPA (Integrity, Purposefulness and Adaptability) technology
• Full retention of source document layout including columns, tables, pictures, fonts, and more
• Convert documents into Web pages with fast Internet publishing
• Save documents in PDF format

Reviews (1)

OCR alternative
... It scans fairly quick, has simple directions, and sends the pages to Claris Works. It picks up drawings well and is a really great OCR program. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

TextBridge Pro incorporates powerful optical character recognition (OCR) technology and an easy-to-use interface so you can quickly convert paper documents into fully editable text files, complete with the original layouts. Files produced by TextBridge Pro are compatible with many word-processing, desktop-publishing, database, and spreadsheet applications. It comes with recognition for English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swedish. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Easily create, convert, and share digital forms. OmniForm Premium 5.0 significantly reduces the time and expense associated with creating forms and collecting form data. It streamlines the process of editing, managing, and distributing forms, while making it simple for companies to collect data from employees, vendors, customers, and prospects. It also simplifies the process of filling in forms, automatically filling in data that has been provided previously, thereby saving time and reducing keystrokes.

OmniForm is a form designer, too. It includes easy-to-use tools to create forms from scratch. Determine the size, position, and color of every element. Add a new field, logo, or edit text. Reorganize entire sections. Use DesignerToolkit to add and reuse form components, or use the predesigned templates to create a new form. Fill in forms faster and easier. Filler/Data Manager lets users fill in forms fast and accurately. It will use data from previous forms while typing, reducing valuable input time.

Automatic Web posting allows users to save forms in HTML and post to a Web site for data collection. Or with OmniForm's SSL-based eOmniForm.com service, users can post their forms and collect data without any programming or HTML experience. Forms can also be made more secure and legal by including a digital signature. For a higher level of security, passwords can be assigned to forms. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Program is only as good/bad as its technical support
I have just learned that there is - for all practical purposes -no technical support for this over-priced software.
I have used OmniForm since its initial version, and it has improved with each permutation. Improvements could be made, but it does what it says it will do fairly well. It should...for the price of this software, which keeps climbing.
When I experienced a problem with a vital database, I looked for support, and learned that I have only a one-time opportunity to receive free support on this software that costs close to $700.00. Since I had not used my available support, I called tech support, had difficulty being understood, and was told that the problem would be passed on to Research. Research eventually responded with input from two techs (the same solution) - containing suggestions that had already been employed, and inviting me to contact them if I need further support. There is no way to reach them directly.Access to their support is through a trouble page.
I have submitted two further requests for help that have been ignored so far (this is 14 days after the original contact.) I have offered to send my database to see if they can extract the information, and I let them know that I was facing a county audit of the information locked in the database.
I have since discovered, on Scansoft's online "community" that the problem I experienced was being reported in v. 4.0, so it is not unknown. The people I contacted echoed my complaint about the lack of service and assistance.
I am told that there is a Developer's version that might open the database, for only $1495.00. If that is so, and if Scansoft doesn't choose to use that product to open the database, I find it unconscionable.
BTW, this file was backed up twice, but the error didn't show up until the file was reopened and all files were corrupted. ... Read more

Features

• Enfocus Instant PDF closes the communication gap between the creative and production process.
• InstantPDF provides document creators and receivers the functionality to achieve consistent PDF output and quality control.
• Enfocus Instant PDF 3 removes the uncertainty and technical complexity from the PDF creation process.
• No other application so intuitively and reliably creates Certified PDFs that comply with your print or advertisement vendors’ specifications.

Product Description

Knowledge Point Performance Impact Workplace - Complete Product - Performance Management - 1 User(s) Complete Product - Standard - PCDeveloped for small to mid-sized organizations, Performance Impact Workplace transforms employee review writing into an effective, year-round performance management solution for your entire organization. An intuitive, easy-to-use interface guides managers through every step of the review process, while our exclusive Intelli-text Designer gets managers past the "blank page" syndrome, ensuring proper language and guaranteeing professional, effective results. Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theKnowledge Adv PIWS - PI WORKPLACE - SINGLE USERand all other Knowledge Adv Software - Office ... Read more

Features

• Reminders help maintain consistent interaction with employees
• Quickly and easily communicate and reinforce desired goals and behaviors
• Enjoy the simplicity of using 55 competencies written by human resource experts
• Review forms are provided to save you time and can be easily customized
• Set goals with employees and track their progress with progress notes

Reviews (3)

Please don't buy this
While I realize that it is probably difficult for HR departments to find appropriate software to make the review process easier for everyone, Performance Impact is not the software that they are looking for!

First of all, the technology is outdated. The instructions ask you to download Microsoft Virtual Machine, which I had to figure out on my own doesn't even exist. It also won't work on my Mac, so I had to sit at a terminal in the HR department to fill everything out, thereby missing many phone calls. It also wouldn't work with any browser other than Internet Explorer.

Secondly, the software is anything but intuitive. It is pretty complicated and required everyone in the company to attend training sessions. Things that should exist just don't. There aren't default settings or helpful tutorials.

Thirdly, the system is SLOW. It takes nearly a minute to load a page. This is hosted on their webserver, not ours.

Fourthly, there are so many problems with the system. Entire paragraphs dissappear. HR told everyone to be sure to save the review elsewhere.

Please don't buy this. Your employees will hate it. Maybe I will start a software company to build better software for HR.

Terrible user interface.Keep looking.
We've been using this software for the past two years and it is not by the choice of the managers or the employees actually using the product.The user interface is simply not acceptable in 2004.It is difficult to copy and paste, you need to be careful not to hit the backspace button on your browser or you may lose data, you drill down numerous levels to get to some views, then must find the "done" button to exit back -- and the location of the done button varies from one page to the next.

There must be better packages available.If you have a choice, keep looking.If you have been given this software to use, you have my sympathy.

Helps me manage more effectively
Major upgrade from KnowledgePoint's Performanace Now Enterprise software.Simple Outlook-like interface makes it fast and easy to manage people.My problem is following-up on goals set with employees.Now I just put a Task in Outlook to check PI Workplace every 2 days for reminders.PI Workplace reminds me when to follow-up on the goals and makes it easy to jot down notes on progress.Performance reviews take less than half the time, yet are much more comprehensive.Super solution I recommend to anyone seeking to be more effective in managing their team. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

(Zero Stars if I could) The worst font software ever!
As a graphic designer, I bought this software for use with my freelance work.This software boasts 750 fonts.Nowhere on the box does it happen to mention that the fonts can ONLY be used for personal use.I had to open the box first, after I had purchased the program.Now, all 750 fonts in the software are completely useless to me.Heck, they could offer 10 million fonts in their software packages if they want, but what good is it if I can't use them for my freelance work?Aside from being deceived about the fonts, the FontManager software they boast about requires the CD be inserted into your computer for it to work.That means that if you're designing something (as you would presumably be doing with this font software) you couldn't insert other CDs, like for instance, stock art CDs -- all because this inferior piece of junk software must use that CD drive in order to work.I wasted $30 on this useless piece of junk.Please don't make the same mistake. ... Read more

Product Description

Adobe® Acrobat® 7.0 Professional software is the advanced way to create, control, and deliver more secure, high-quality Adobe PDF documents. Assemble electronic or paper fileseven Web sites, engineering drawings, and e-mailinto reliable PDF documents that are easy to share with others using free Adobe Reader® 7.0 software.

Features:

• Enjoy improved performanceWith improved performance you can quickly convert, collect, and organize Adobe PDF documents.
• Extend commenting capabilities Enable anyone who uses free Adobe Reader® 7.0 software to actively participate in reviews.
• Easily design Adobe PDF forms Use Adobe LiveCycle™ Designer 7.0 software (now included with Adobe Acrobat 7.0 ProfessionalWindows® only) to create PDF forms that look like the paper forms they replace. Incorporate business logic, such as calculations and data validations.
• Organize Adobe PDF documents Quickly find a list of Adobe PDF documents you have recently opened. View them as thumbnails, and drag and drop files into related collections.
• Enjoy improved attachment capabilities Easily attach source documents such as spreadsheets, multimedia files, images, and drawings to an Adobe PDF document.

Features

• Enable anyone with free Adobe Reader 7.0 software to use highlighter, sticky note, pen, and other commenting tools
• Protect documents with passwords, certificates, and other security controls
• Create PDF files with the click of a button from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer
• Create a single Adobe PDF document from multiple sources, including portions of Web pages and previously combined Adobe PDF documents
• Easily attach source documents such as spreadsheets, multimedia files, images, and drawings to an Adobe PDF document