As I mentioned in my other reviews, Nuance, the company that makes PDF Create! 4, has scant information on its website about the company itself. Instead, Nuance relies on marketing lingo to convey its message. Therefore, if you're the type of person who likes to know a bit about the company you're buying a product from, take heed.
Price to Value
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PDF Create! 4 is extremely affordable compared to other PDF creation products. For about one-tenth the price, this program is functionally the same as Adobe’s Acrobat and offers an extensive array of features. It is well worth the price and comes highly recommended.
Installation & Setup
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What's Hot:
The installation and setup of PDF Create! 4 was easy, but only to a point. That is, the initial steps were trouble-free and used dialog boxes that had both pleasant and professional looking graphic designs. This made for a good experience that tended to build confidence. The functionality of these initial steps was also straightforward and the process went smoothly. The final steps of the installation were not qualified for this section, to say the least.
What's Not:
The following was performed using a secure computer with no Internet connectivity. It was assumed that this was a worst-case scenario that would reveal the most about the installation and setup of PDF Create! 4.
As with PDF Converter, once the initial stages of installation were complete, the final stages quickly become a nightmare. Again, in order to complete the installation, one soon discovers that they have to go to the Nuance website to retrieve an 18-character serial number that is not accessible unless one has their order number handy. After obtaining the serial number the user is asked to type it into a dialog box. More often than not, this causes the appearance of an “invalid number” warning. This is because the character system on the Nuance website only microscopically distinguishes between a zero and the capital letter “O.” Thus, absent a strike-through zero, an “O” looks like a zero and vice versa. This wreaks havoc on the user until the correct combination of zeros and Os can be typed in, and until then, the installation process is stalled. However, once the user makes it through this debacle, there is yet another surprise in store.
The user is asked to produce a 60-character activation key, which of course requires another trip back to the Nuance website. In order to obtain the activation key, the user has to type in their serial number again. This is not a happy prospect, especially if the user has to go through the process of figuring out the correct number of zeros and Os a second time. At any rate, all of this could have been avoided if Nuance hadn’t over-managed the process in the first place. They could have at least put a standard “Print this page” message on their website with a note letting the user know what they were getting in to. Lastly, as was mentioned above, this same nightmare has been replicated in Nuance’s other products such as PDF Converter, which I also reviewed.
User Interface
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Nuance has standardized its user interface as much as possible, which has resulted in a simple and straightforward design. Beyond PDF Create! 4's appearance, it’s easy to use and friendly in every respect. For example, The Add button functions just like File -> Open in Word and opens the usual menu hierarchy for the the user to locate whatever files they wish. This makes for a very comfortable experience.
What's Not:
The default settings for the window size on startup are such that only a portion of what a user might want to see is showing. For example, the central pane displays the column headings Name, Size, and Date Modified, but Type and Location are not visible. Also, after a successful program run, both the PDF Creation Result pane and the Creation Status pane (which contains post handling information) are truncated. To remedy this, a user might try to maximize the window but that cannot be accomplished with a usual single mouse click, as one would expect. As a result, the user has to drag the window open to the desirable size more or less manually. Lastly, when the user attempts to minimize the window so that other tasks can be performed, the application closes and has to be restarted.
Product Features
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What's Hot:
Besides simply creating PDF files, PDF Create! 4 includes an attractive set of advanced features as follows:
- The user can combine 17 different file formats in one PDF file. PDF Create! 4 can merge Word, PowerPoint, Excel, JPG, TIFF, PDF, and several other standard file types into a single multi-page PDF document.
- Users can share private content securely by adding passwords to PDF files.
- Users can put limits on what others may do with PDF documents such as editing, copying, and printing.
- There are many other features including file compression, 128-bit encryption, batch conversion of multiple files, watermarks, bookmarks, and hyperlinks.
PDF Create! 4 is also compatible with numerous applications and Microsoft operating systems. That is, Adobe, Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007, and Microsoft Windows 97/2000/XP/Vista, as well as Citrix and Window Terminal Services.
Considering all of the above, it’s safe to say that PDF Create! 4 is extremely well equipped and versatile.
Performance
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PDF Create! 4 contains an impressive number of performance-related selections. For example, 17 different file types are supported, including PDF, BMP, GIF, HTML, JPEG, JPEG 2000, Metafile, Microsoft Office, PAX, PCX, Photo CD, Photoshop, PNG, Targa, text, tiff, and TLA. Other options to create, combine, and make overlays as well as different quality selections are also supported. The Profiles button opens a window that displays six different quality selection categories. These are Standard, Draft, Publishing, Company Confidential, Tagged PDF, and My Profile. Each of these contains lower-level configurable selections such as “Compatible with PDF,” where the user can select different versions like Watermark, Security, Font Embed, Compression, and Tag PDF.
In the application window, the user can select “Create a PDF for each input document,” “Combine files into one PDF document,” or “Overlay files as one PDF document.” The program will also handle a large list of different input files taken from the file types mentioned above.
Regarding all of the above, I tried to cause errors and or slowdowns. I used various combinations of file sizes and file types, along with various configurations of the above selections, and was unsuccessful in causing any detectable problem. While slowdowns in particular are certainly possible, no actual measurements were made because no slowdowns were visually discernable. Overall, therefore, PDF Create! 4 appears to do everything that it’s supposed to do quickly, efficiently, and without error.
Help & Support
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What's Hot:
All Nuance products have at least both online support through their website and support by phone. The online support consists of “E-mail” button selections in two different categories. The first of these is Desktop Products, with selections to email either Technical Support or Customer Service. The second of these is Dictaphone Support (N/A here) with one selection to email Technical Support. The same is true for phone support; within Desktop Products, there are selections to obtain phone support information for either Technical Support or Customer Service. Dictaphone Support also has one selection to obtain phone support information, but only for Technical Support. The reference guide that comes with the program is very well done. It contains attractive graphics, screen captures, and text box pointers. It is written and presented in a very clear and concise manner.
Overall, help and support coverage for PDF Create! 4 and other products by Nuance is adequate.
What's Not:
Firstly, whatever you do, don’t use their phone system. It’s very expensive, costing a whopping $19.95 per minute after one initial free call. It doesn't seem to matter if a customer finds a bug; Nuance is essentially asking customers to pay them in that case. Moreover, they don't indicate whether there is a "no charge" policy if this happens, either. Therefore, with these things considered, phone support is effectively non-existent. Secondly, and a much lower priority, is the support section on the Nuance website. It's a little busy and hard to look at. This would tend to slow down someone who needs to get something done quickly.
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