PDF Converter Professional 8.0

• Effortlessly create 100% industry-standard PDF files
• Reduce file size before sharing or storing PDF files either one at a time or as a batch
• Make changes to PDF files with the fluidity, flexibility and interactivity of word processing
• Get accurate document conversion complete with columns, images and tables saved as editable Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents
• Scan paper to PDF with superior one-click scanning

After waiting for a response from Nuance, no luck there, I decided that I had to try to fix the problem with broken PDF creation (see below). It did not help to "Repair" in Windows. I did get it to work by uninstalling PDF Converter Professional 8, deleting the Program folders and reinstalling the software.

I am now back in action, but there are clearly issues with this software. So add a star, but not as many as I would were it defect free. You should not have to go through this rigmarole to make it work.

UPDATE ON THIS REVIEW

Following comments on the Nuance self-support forum, I have just carried out a few quick experiments.

It turns out that this version of PDF Converter Pro is, for some people at least, seriously broken. So much so that it is useless.

The problem area is in scanning to create searchable PDF files. These are files with a text overlay on top of an image of the scanned page. This software is supposed to be able to do that. A couple of people, including me, find that it does not work.

I scanned a page and tried to turn it into a "Searchable PDF". All I get is the error:

"Failed to convert the document"

That's it, no clues or further explanations. And this is a file created by scanning into PDF Converter.

I had not noticed this defect because I usually scan into PaperPort. That does produce searchable PDF files.

Because this is a serious bug, I reckon that this is now worth just two stars, if that.

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If you look at the reviews of PDF Converter Professional 7.0 you will see lots of tales of woe, especially around the issue of activation, Nuance's mechanism to prevent piracy. The good news is that version 8.0 has an activation system that is much less sensitive. It does not complain when you mess round with USB drives for example. I haven't tried anything more drastic.

Apart from that, PDF Converter Professional 8.0 is a reasonable step forward from its predecessor. It adds Cloud connectivity if that matters to you. And at least they manage to get it to work with both PaperPort Anywhere and Nuance Cloud Connector, which is more than you can say for PaperPort. But that hardly makes it startlingly improved software.

Bugs remain in the software itself. In particular, integration with Firefox is wonky. It leaves bits of stray toolbar hanging in mid air. It is also very slow to let you select text for copying. You have to wait some seconds before that bit kicks in. This seems to be much slower than version 7.

Nuance has also not fixed the failure to create thumbnails in Windows. You still have to install Adobe Reader to get that.

The final complaint is that the "Optimization" process that should reduce the size of PDF files is not up to the batch process that I am used to in Acrobat 7. It does not reduce file sizes anything like as much. "Reduce File" gets some space back, but it does not seem to shrink images and generally achieves a pathetic level of shrinkage.

It does a reasonable job of saving PDF files in Word format. I had trouble with multi-page tables, but that is mostly down to Word's shortcomings when you try to merge tables.

Once again, Nuance has changed the names of bits to confuse users. The printer driver to create PDF files is now called Gaaiho PDF. It still seems to be a Zeon thing.

In all, a small step forward but no great revolution. Still significantly cheaper than Acrobat.

Finally, Nuance has quietly beefed up its support area by relaunching its forums where users can share problems and experiences. If you get stuck, try that.Look for "PDF Products (Windows/Mac)".

Or visit the Google PaperPort Group, which also covers Nuance's PDF products.

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I've used a number of PDF programs including Acrobat since Version 3. For small office use we wanted something cheaper than Acrobat that would still have the strength to edit PDF documents. PDF PRO is easy to learn. We have used version 7 and recently upgraded to version 8. However, after two weeks we are still unable to get PDF Converter Pro 8 to activate. We have an active support ticket and have spent hours on the phone with Nuance offshore technical support trying this and that... Endless, no solution yet. Very trashy company to deal with.

System: Dell Precision M6500, Win7 64bit

Read Best Reviews of PDF Converter Professional 8.0 Here

I have several versions of several of Nuance's products. They cannot be used because of the draconian activation system. Nuance will tell you that you can "deactivate" or uninstall the programs to re-install it on another computer. This is not the case. Their "activation" server seems to work flawlessly, but their "deactivation" server not at all. They do not care about repeat business and their customer service is non-existent, unless it is to sell you the newest version. I have recently purchased this program and it is now useless because I had to install a new hard drive on my computer. When it was working it was a difficult to work with. I will never buy another Nuance product again. I also have the same activation problem with Paperport and Omnipage (which is a resource hog). They do this on purpose, as it would be easy to provide an alternative system that did not rip their customers off. MS Windows, for instance has a telephone activation system for reinstalling the operating systems on a new hard drive when you have already activated it.I have been a Scansoft/Nuance customer for over 10 years, but no more.

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I have been using PDF Creator for years. In my opinion, the company has gone through a couple of poor versions of the product. Version 7 for me, was a disatster. It was unstable, slow, and unpredictable. We had to bail on Ver 7 and go back to Adobe. But Nuance is back on track with Version 8. We create, read, and edit Adobe PDF files extensively at our office every day. After some frustration with Adobe, I switched back to Creator Pro 8 and have been very pleased. The interface and features are more intuitive than Adobe's product, and Creator Pro 8 seems to everything that I could do in Adobe. I also like that the program connects with Evernote and Dropbox directly (although it is missing SkyDrive connectivity at this point). The PDF Converter feature is still available and is a great tool. It also me to convert PDFs to a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WordPerfect, or RTF file. I can pick the format... Standard page, legal size, or Excel. Accuracy, especially for converting to Word, is excellent. There is a lot of other functionality, such as advanced editing, secure signatures, note dictation, and others; but the main thing is that Converter Pro 8 is very stable and has been an excellent Adobe replacement. No crashes or unexpected results yet.

UPDATE after a few weeks: Using it every day at work. Holding up very well. No compatibility issues, nor freeze-ups or bugs, and just as fast as Adobe. Happy with it.

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Received the package with no issues. CD had the proper manufacturer's printing. CD envelope had the license numbers. When examined there were no files on the CD; properties showed a blank CD.

Contacted Nuance realtime on the internet only to be given a phone number on who to call. Their Customer Service is "open" 1st shift only. Left an email msg using their web site email. When contacted I was told to return it to Amazon. I guess getting a download and using the license on the envelope was not possible although they sell software for download. I was not happy with their customer service on this issue so I decided to return the product for refund and use a competitor's product instead.