pdftools.htm

Last Update: 22 May 2007

This listing is a collection of various tools for manipulating Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

An article that briefly explains many of these functions can be found here: PDF Tools Article

Note: I have not tried most of these tools. I cannot vouch for any of the compaines or the products. This list was simply compiled through the use of Google Searches. As always, use caution when trying demos and purchasing software on the Internet. Some free and demo programs print a banner on the bottom of each page, some may contain "adware". I'm not aware of any of these being actual "spyware", but I haven't checked them all...

Note: these tools are listed in roughly alphabetical order by manufacturer or author

http://www.abbyy.com: ABBYY Software (Russia).
Abbyy PDF Transformer Pro V2: ability to un-PDF with OCR; convert image PDF to text searchable PDF. Also supports HTM, Word, etc. $100; Also has PDF creation tools; Tied to single PC. The OCR function for converting image PDFs to searchable PDFs worked great.

www.acropdf.com: AcroPDF Systems, France
PDF SpeedUp 1.42: freeware to tweak Acobe Acrobat Reader for faster loading time
AcroPDF 2.0 Printer: Free for personal or non-commercial use. Commercial version $69. Free version prints "AcroPDF - A Quality PDF Writer and PDF Converter to create PDF files. To remove the line, buy a license" across the entire bottom of every page.

http://www.cutepdf.com Acro Software
CutePDF Pro 3.4 $49.95.
CutePDF Writer: Free for commercial or personal use. Printer driver. No watermarks. Utilizes Ghostscript. Not very adjustable, but embeds necessary fonts for highest quality. Works well.
CutePDF Writer Companion: Ad supported. Adds Merge, Secure, Modify MetaData, Extract-Reorder-Duplicate pages, Insert/Delete Pages, Rotate/Crop pages, Resize, Header/Footer (from www.pdf4me.com)

http://www.primopdf.com: activePDF, Inc.
Primo PDF 3.1: free print driver, based on Aladdin AFPL Ghostscript. No ads and includes merge capability, pre-print screen.

http://www.adobe.com Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe Acrobat 8.0: $449 and up. Full features Adobe PDF editor
Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0: Free. Edit Document Properties(?), Save As Text, hyperlinks supported, Read PDF to you (digital audio)

http://www.a-pdf.com A-PDF.com
A-PDF Info Changer: freeware, change Author Title Subject Keywords in PDF files;
A-PDF Number: Freeware. Add page numbers to PDF files
A-PDF Restrictions Remover: only $10, removes owner password only, you must know the user password
Also: PDF Split, Merger, Text Extractor, each over $20...

http://www.bcltechnologies.com; www.pdfonline.com BCL Technologies
BCL AllPDF Converter 2.01: $49 PDF Print, Merge, PDF2RTF conversion. 15 day demo
BCL Easy PDF: V4.3 $14.95. Printer driver with Word Macro; demo never expires, prints banner. Works well and low cost.

http://www.pdfmachine.net Broadgun Software, Australia
pdfMachine: V12.02 Printer driver. $29. Demo version prints large banner. Works well, lots of options, nice preview window.

http://www.bullzip.com Bullzip V3.0.186
Bullzip PDF Printer. Freeware. Ghostscript based. Works fine, allows you to merge with an existing PDF upon saving

http://www.bureausoft.com Bureausoft Corporation: France
Business PDF Writer: Printer driver, Includes PDFInfo, PDFCompress, PDF Layout, PDF Split & Merge, PDF Encrypt & Decrypt. $150
PDF Split & Merge: Can specify pages to split $49
PDF Encrypt & Decrypt: User/Owner, Printing, Changing, Content Copy/Extract, formfilling, Signing, Content Accessibility, Assembly $49
PDF Layout: Set startup options $49
PDF Info 1.0: free for personal use - Edit PDF Document properties/metadata.
PDF Compress: Free, does not specify what it is doing
PDF Page Number: Add page numbers to PDF $49
PDF Filler: fill in PDF forms without Acrobat $49

http://www.cad-kas.com CAD-KAS Kassler Computersoftware GbR
PDF Reader 2.4 Freeware. Add, change, delete text and pictures and print it out (but not save).

http://www.coolpdf.com CoolPDF Software, Incorporated, Spain
CoolPDF Print Driver: $99
CoolPDF Tweak: Free. Tweak Reader View; Set version; Compress; Modify Info
CoolPDF Watermark Creator: Free. Add text watermark or number pages
CoolPDF Thumbnail Generator: Free. Set left column thumbnails
CoolPDF Bundle: Free. Attach any file (Word, Excel, etc.)

http://www.pdf2exe.com CoolPDF Software, Inc, Spain - different web, different product
PDF2EXE: convert PDF to EXE for distribution to everyone
PDF2EXE Pro: adds security functions $79
CoolPDF Reader: View, Print, Convert to BMP, JPG, others, Extract to TXT (preserve URL), small size

http://www.ctdeveloping.com CTdeveloping
PDF Typewriter 5.5: Create, Edit, convert PDF to Word (Doc/RTF), etc. Includes PDF Converter, Print Driver, remove password (if User pw known), etc. $50
PDF Converter 2.1: Convert PDF to HTML, images, text $35
PDF to Doc 1.2: $10
PDFEncrypt 1.0: Encrypt or Decrypt (if user password known) PDF files $20
PDF Text Reader 1.1: Free for personal use. Preserves layout; nice!

http://www.docudesk.com: Docudesk
DeskPDF Standard/Pro: Printer, Explorer Context Menu, or Drag 'n Drop PDF Creation. Pro adds Watermarks, Stamps, Bookmarks, Hyperlink, 128 bit security, Document merging. $20/$30
DeskUNPDF Standard: Convert PDF to WORD or TXT only with "Accu-Text" technology, images remain as images. Inexpensive (tied to single PC) $40
Bundle of DeskPDF Pro and DeskUNPDF for $60.

http://www.acropad.com Dreamscape (Italy)

http://www.elfima.com, France
Elfima Notepad: 1.62 free editor save as PDF, SVG, XML, or XHTML documents
Elfima Memo 1.2.8 Create and Modify PDF or XML memorandum

http://www.exp-systems.com: EXP Systems, LLC
PDF reDirect 2.1. Printer Driver. Supports Merge list, Encrypt (40 bit only), Optimize, Preview; no pop-ups or watermarks. Uses Ghostscript.
PDF reDirect Professional: Adds enhances preview, 128 bit encryption, hyperlinks, batch processes, font settings, e-mail/FTP, Stamps, attachments, etc. $14.99

http://www.ocrtools.com File Innovations.
OCR Desktop: Free (ad supported) image to ASCII Text OCR. Commercial version $39
OCR Folder: Free (ad supported) batch folders. Commercial version $149

http://www.pdffactory.com FinePrint Software, LLC
PDF Factory v3.16: printer driver with preview and page level editing (highly recommended; I use this)

FinePrint 5.70: Printer tool allows n-up printing, stationary, booklets, multiple jobs, insert blank page, delete pages, etc.
They make a great combination!

www.foolabs.com: Foolabs
XPDF Open Source (GPL) viewer for PDF files, runs under X Window System on UNIX, VMS, OS/2. Also has MS Windows command line tools.

pdfimages.exe: extract RAW images, can handle passwords through command line
pdfinfo.exe: title, subject, keywords, author, creator, producer, creation date, modification date; tagged (yes/no), page count, encrypted flag (yes/no), print and copy permissions (if encrypted), page size, file size, linearized (yes/no), PDF version, metadata (only if requested)
pdftoppm: Convert each page of PDF to a PPM image
pdftops: convert PDF to Postscript format
pdttotext: extract Text from PDF file

http://www.foxitsoftware.com : Foxit
Foxit PDF Editor: $99
Foxit PDF Creator: $35
Foxit PDF Reader: Free and Add-Ons. Free functions include View, Print, PDF Forms (w/save with watermark); View PDF as text (no save)
Foxit PDF Reader Pro Pack: $39 adds annotations, convert to text

http://www.fytek.com FyTek PDF and XPS Software
PDF Meld: modify existing PDFs. Select pages, insert overlays, merge PDFs, etc. Demo banner on each page. Works well, good price. $25
PDF Un-Secure: free password remover, but you must know the owner password.
PDF Briefcase: free merge files into one PDF
PDF File Save: Save form filled PDFs for use later
Has other PDF tools as well

http://www.paologios.com: Paolo Gios
Gios PDF Spliiter And Merger. Free & Open Source Split & Merge in .Net. Simple interface: drag & drop documents, resort, can specify page numbers.

http://www.hillbillysoft.com: Hillbilly Software, Inc.
PDF Reverser: extract images, text/html. Can also clear Owner password even if not known (not user password though). $59

www.finddesktop.com Idea Solutions
Find Desktop V1.75: Doucment Management software. Includes OCR capabilities to search text in PDF, Word, etc. $149/$299 (pro adds LAN and Batch capabilities). Note: not a PDF converter.

http://www.investintech.com: Investintech.com, Inc.
Able2Doc: PDF to Word conversion. Pro version includes OCR; $30/$60
Able2Extract Word, Excel, PPT, HTML, Text. Pro version includes OCR. $90/$120
Sonic PDF Creator 2.0. Printer Driver. Supports Merge, Split, Bookmarks, PDF to Text, Batch, Watermark, Stamp Image, Add/Delete pages, header/footer. $75

http://www.clicktoconvert.com Inzone Software Limited.
Click to Convert 5.5: $89 Create PDF or HTML
PDF Toolbox 6.0: $89 Split, Merge, Append; Encrypt/Decrypt; Bookmarks; Stamp, Header/Footer, Meta-data

http://www.iteksoft.com: Iteksoft
eDocPrinter PDF Pro v6.3 Mar06: $29 compression, font embedding, meta-data, N-Up, security, link detection, bookmark, watermark text & image, e-mail, merge/overlay, Word Add-on
Add-ons (additional cost): Drag2PDF, Advanced toolbox (scramble text), etc.

http://www.llion.net llionsoft
Advanced RTF2PDF: $29. Convert Text and RTF documents to PDF
ProfPDF Protection Manager $60. Add, change, remove security.
ProfPDF Information Manager $45. Change document information.
ProfPDF Page Numberer: $50. Append text string to each PDF page
ProfPDF Stamp: $50. append an image to each page of PDF files.

http://www.nicepdf.com NicePDF Software, Inc., Italy
Nice PDF Creator Gold Version 3.02. Inclues Office buttons. $100
Free PDF Compressor 1.12: removes duplicates, uses compression options of Acrobat 1.6. Can also decompress for better conversion of PDF to other formats.
Free PDF Version Converter V1.0: Spec ranges from 1.0 to 1.6. Does actual conversion, not just stamp

http://www.nuance.com Nuance Communications, Inc. (formerly ScanSoft)
PDF Converter Professional: PDF to Word, etc. With OCR capability to convert image PDFs to Word or other formats. PDF-A support; Standard (conversion only) $50 or Professional (create, convert, some edit) $100
PDF Create! 4: Convert any file to PDF. Good feature set $50

http://www.paehl.de Dirk Paehl, Germany. Freeware for Private and Commercial Use
GUI for PDFTK
DOC2PDF
more...

http://www.pdfaction.com PDF Action (Australia)
PDF Action Creator: V1.6. One-click PDF creaton from Windows. Security supported. Not much detail provided. $59 AUD (about $50 US)
PDF Action Reader V1.6: Free. Fill & Save forms, Delete Pages, Save PDFs.

http://www.pdfpdf.com PDF Bean, Inc. France. Not Reviewed
PDF Ripper: PDF extract image, text, chart to HTML, RTF, text $49
PDF4U: printer driver, no encryption $49
PDF4U Pro: encryption $89
PDF4U TSE/Pro: Terminal Server Edition $500/$950
Batch Converter $29

http://www.pdf-to-html-word.com PDF Converter Software
Easy PDF to Word Converter: 2.0. RTF format. $40
Easy PDF to HTML Converter: $40
Easy PDF Converter 5: Print Driver or Explorer Context Menu; $24
PDF Camp: Print Driver. $38
Image to PDF w/OCR: $38. PDF includes hidden text OCR'd
PDF Password Remover: User password must be known. $30
Easy PDF to Text Converter: Free; preserves layout, batch processes Text converter works okay; quality depends on the quality of the text in the PDF. Generally keeps links and format.

http://homepage.oniduo.pt/pdfe PDFE
PDF Explorer: 15B56: Beta version 1.5.0.47 is Free for noncommercial use. Scan all PDFs, show info, extract images. $60
PDF Shell Tools

http://www.pdfforge.org PDFForge.org Open Source PDF Tools
PDF Creator 093 GPL: to PDF or image file. Supports encryption, merge. Uses Ghostscript. Nice.

http://www.pdfsam.org: PDF Split and Merge by Andrea
PDF Split and Merge. Open Source. Written in Java using the iText Library with a launcher front-end for Windows users. Can merge entire documents, or partial documents (from page aa to page bb). Can re-order or delete selections before executing the merge. Split options include Burst into single pages, Split after these pages, Split every "n" pages, Split odd or even pages (typically used for manual-duplex printing, or if you have a document that was printed every other page, like some old books from the 1800's).Distributed under the Gnu General Public License (free). Well done, but does not handle password protected files.

http://www.processtext.com/abcpdf.html PDF to Word, etc. (no OCR) $12.95
Convert to HTM, RTF, CHM, HLP, TXT, DOC, and more. Supports Bookmarks and Hyperlinks, Extracts text only, not images.

http://www.plotsoft.com; http://www.pdfill.com PlotSoft LLC
PDFill PDF Editor 4.1 $19.99: PDF Form filler. Insert, fill, edit,
PDFill PDFTools: Free. Includes Merge, Split/Reorder, Encrypt/Decrypt, Reformat Multiple Pages into One Page, Header/Footer, Watermark Text/Image,Convert Images to PDF/PDF to Images, PDF Form Field Ops, PS to PDF
PDFill PDF Writer: Printer Driver based on Ghostscript simple, fast operation. some hyperlinks supported

http://www.rarefind.com/paperlessprinter/downloads.html; http://www.pragnaan.com Rarefind Pragnaan Software Group, Bagalore, India
Paperless Printer: Virtual printer for PDF, HTML, JPG, more! Free for non-commercial use. $29 for business use. Registration reminder pops up after each use (not too irritating)

http://www.documalis.com/free/us-index.htm Scanpoint Software, France
Documalis Free Printer: Free for personal use. Printer driver for Ghostscript. Limited. Standard $15 and Pro Versions available. Did conserve hyperlinks, printed bottom banner right edge w/page numbers
Also has a Free Scanner tool

http://www.pdf-analyzer.com; http://www.is-soft.de V3.0 by Ingo Schmoekel, Germany
PDF Analyzer: PDF browser that shows Document Information, allows Text Extraction, Text Analysis, and launching of PDF files. Freeware and pro versions ($34). Pro Version adds: resetting unknown owner password; modify document, security, layout properties, insert/append images & txt files, merging PDFs, search functions, watermark, and more.

http://www.sheelapps.com: Sheel Khanna
PDF Tools V1.2 freeware: merge, encrypt, split, etc. Written in Java, using iText Library and has a Windows front end. Mozilla, Freeware licences.
PDF Creator: XML to PDF conversion

http://www.softland.ro: Softland, Romania. Sponsors:
http://www.dopdf.com : DoPDF Printer Driver. Free for personal or commercial use. No Ghostscript required, resolution adjustable, no links supported
http://www.novaPDF.com: NovaPDF V5. $19.95, $29.95, $39.95 versions. Lite version is almost like DoPDF but with editable meta-tags, Std version adds graphics compression, font embedding adjustments, watermarks; Deluxe version adds security features. Not tested.

http://www.omniformat.com : Software995
Omniformat: convert many formats including PDF. Supports OCR capability. Requires free PDF995 to also be installed. Free, but add supported. $30 to remove adds with lots of other software included as well. I could not get it to work right in my quick evaluation and decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

http://www.topocr.com Topsoft, Ltd.
Topocr 2.4: Image to searchable PDF! only $30; multiple PCs supported.

http://www.transcom.de/transcom/en/2004-pdf-t-maker.htm Transcom. German with rough English translation.
FreeWord PlugIn. Headings into bookmarks, Links to hyperlinks, contents into PDF hyperlinks, footnotes/endotes, comments, text boxes to threads, document info to PDF info, Index entries into bookmarks.

http://www.verypdf.com VeryPDF.com, Inc.

PDFcamp/writer: printer driver. $29.90
VeryPDF editor: write documents, save to PDF
PDF to Word, Text, HTML, Converter, etc.

Image To PDF OCR: convert image files to text searchable PDF files $299!
PDF Password Remover $29.90
document PRinter: n-up, etc. $38

http://www.visagesoft.com Visagesoft Scalable Business Solutions
Easy PDF: WYSIWYG PDF editor. Free version available
eXPert PDF 5: Printer Driver with editing, PDF reader, security, e-mail, batch support. 49 or 69 Euros
eXPert PDF Reader 1.5: Free. reader, smaller? Seemed to work okay. Small (Acrobat is now 35Megs compressed!). Modify document outlines, insert rubber stamps, modify annotations.
Visual Printer: kind of like FinePrint. 20 Euros

PDF Tools: