Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

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StuartR
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Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

I have an old copy of Adobe Acrobat Pro XI, and I have just heard that they are going to stop releasing security and other patches for it on October 15 2017. I think it would be too risky to keep using it after that, as I often use it to work on PDF files created by other people.

I looked at alternatives from Adobe and they are all far too expensive for me, so I need to find a replacement tool. The most essential functionality I need is:
  • Add text to Adobe documents, and edit text in existing documents (mostly for filling in forms)
  • Shrink PDF files created by my scanner to a usable size (scanner files typically 2-4 MB per page, Acrobat reduces them to around 250Kb per page)
  • Convert PDF files to greyscale (one of my customers insists on greyscale and I have colors in a logo in my word documents)
  • Create high quality PDF files from Word documents, including links, bookmarks, etc.
Does anyone use a product that can do all of these things? I don't mind paying for software if it is not too expensive, but I really can't afford Adobe prices.
StuartR


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HansV
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by HansV »

I don't use such a program myself, but the following have free trial downloads:

Foxit PhantomPDF
Wondershare PDFElement
Nitro PDF (more expensive than the other two)
Best wishes,
Hans

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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

Thank you Hans. I am currently trying out a trial version of PDFelement. I will try the ones you suggest next.

I did forget one essential requirement. The ability to password protect PDF files.
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HansV
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by HansV »

Each of the three programs that I mentioned can do that.
Best wishes,
Hans

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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

I tried all three of these. The only one that let me convert to greyscale was Foxit PhantomPDF. I tried the business version, I'll give the cheaper version a try out now...
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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

BOTHER. What I had thought was a conversion to greyscale was just an accessibility feature that displayed colour as greyscale, without modifying the document. I guess I will have to convert my problem image to greyscale in Word before I create PDF files in future then.
StuartR


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HansV
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by HansV »

For non-sensitive documents, you could use an online grayscale converter, for example Free Online PDF to Grayscale Converter.
It's not suitable for documents containing private/sensitive/proprietary information, of course.

A program that I hadn't found before: Sejda PDF Desktop offers conversion to grayscale.
Best wishes,
Hans

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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

Sedja is a very strange product, but it does do a quick and simple greyscale conversion. The most odd feature is that it can convert Word .docx files, but not .doc
StuartR


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jonwallace
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by jonwallace »

One solution is to print the final copy to a PDF printer. The free Foxit reader Version: 8.3.1 installed a PDF printer on my PC. In the print dialog for this is an option to print to grayscale. (or indeed black and white, if that's what you want.) The resulting PDF is genuinely gray (or black)
John

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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

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Thank you Jon. that worked well. I like Foxit PhantomPDF, and I will almost certainly buy a copy when the trial license runs out.
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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

How very frustrating. I printed a single word document to greyscale. Now whatever I convert to PDF using FoxIT comes out as greyscale. I have reset the printing preference back to color multiple times, I have even rebooted my laptop. I guess my only remaining hope is to deinstall and reinstall the software!

EDITED TO ADD

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Since I printed one document to greyscale, the FoxIT software had decided that I wanted to turn on the accessibility feature that displayed all colours as grey.
StuartR


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AlanMiller
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by AlanMiller »

Just curious if you ended up finding a solution, Stuart.

Alan

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StuartR
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by StuartR »

Sorry for the delayed reply, I'm travelling again and just wound up my laptop for the first time in two days.

I am now a happy use of Foxit PhantomPDF Professional
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AlanMiller
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Re: Replacement for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Post by AlanMiller »

Glad you found a solution. Happy trails.

Alan