Alternatives to Acrobat
 

Hi All,
Just got my laptop back from service and repair. I have lost the copy of Adobe Acrobat I had installed (but I'm back to XP - much better than Vista).
I have reviewed the alternatives to Acrobat such as CutePDF, NitroPDF and PDF Sign & Seal and they all look pretty good. I'm willing to buy the upgraded versions of software but unwilling to pay Adobe's high charges. Has anyone experience of any of these alternatives? I have to convert PowerPoint and other formats to PDF and assemble files and documents as one would with the full Adobe programmes.

Have you looked at Foxit?

If one needs to use the advanced features of Acrobat, then it's a case of put up or shut up. However, if one merely wishes to export to PDF from one's Windows application there is an excellent free alternative available:

PDFCreator | Get PDFCreator at SourceForge.net

Sorry if this sounds ignorant but computers are not my game. My scanner (which cost about £40 and for its price is probably one of the best buys I've ever made) came with Adobe software on the disc.

If I need to make a .pdf of something I just scan it, that's all I need it for. Does that serve your purpose or not?

To read PDFs, use Foxit. It's free, not bloated (i.e. loads instantly) and works well.
To create PDFs, use CutePDF. I've used/tested/recommended lots of others in the past, and CutePDF is the PDFer du jour.
Obviously, for PDF manipulation you might be SOL, but that's the only reason i'd buy a pukka copy of Adobe these days.

If you're using Office 2007, Microsoft supply their own PDF writer now, and I found it works very well. It had no problems producing a complex report from a Word doc with embedded tables and Excel charts. For a reader, I also recommend Foxit.

Totally agree with Mike-Bracknell.

I've used the free versions of those products for years with no problems at all. :ok:

Thanks all. Have reviewed Cute and I think it'll work for me. Great to have the resource of experience through PPRUNE.

:ok:

CutePDF Write and CutePDF Pro
 

If you just want to create PDF's, then thoroughly recommend CutePDF Writer - installs as a printer and (over the years) has saved me a huge stack of paper (and laser toner as well) since I save things like bank remittance receipts as PDF's rather than hard copy.

Apart from Foxit, there's also a simple and straightforward PDF reader called Sumatra (which can also be run off a memory stick). Useful!

For editing and manipulating PDF's, CutePDF Professional is a damn sight cheaper and slimmer than full blown Adobe Acrobat. Useful little trick I use often with CutePDF Pro is the "Text Stamp" tool which enables me to stamp a downloaded reference document with the url of where I downloaded it from - very useful if you need to refer to the source of a document long after you actually downloaded it.

Another reason to try and avoid Adobe is that they have been rather slow to patch some of their security exposures in the not so distant past.

Cutie Pie
 

I'd also endorse CutePDF - the only thing you need to remember if you don't use it often is that it pretends to be a printer. To use it you need to go to the file, print, menu...
Other than that it's great. Converts MS Word, Excel etc to pdf instantly. And by default leaves the original s/wares name in the filename.