PDF-Exchange Pro poor value

[Jarosite]

So, I did my research and thought that I made a great purchase. PDF-Exchange Editor Plus did a great job in my testing, appreciating that full functionality would be provided with the paid version.

However, the full version revealed a disappointing lack of integration with MS Office. The Support guy (helpful ) then advised that I needed to upgrade to Pro to get that. After upgrading to Pro I discovered that it won't convert MS Word TOC page numbers to clickable links and it seems that the current version of the Office plugin crashes Word.

$95.04 + $49.00 + $4.90 (VAT) USD = $148.94 USD = $225.95 AUD for one seat. That’s expensive!

Just shows that it's very hard to compare apps when there are add-on modules.

One thing is for sure - this will be a one-off purchase from PDF-Exchange. I won't make this mistake again.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Jarosite,

Welcome to our forums.
I believe you exchanged a few e-mails with my colleague Jordan.
You had a .docx file with table of contents that was not converting to the PDF the way you were expecting it to.
I did show you that the issue was with the ToC itself, as a newly generated ToC on my end was converting properly.

I hope you would be able to adjust your word template so that when you convert in the future you also get the correct and expected PDF results.


Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

Fortunately, a minority view.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello,

I do need to clarify for anyone reviewing this. The prices in Jarosite's math are not applicable to most users. You can find the correct product pricing here <https://www.pdf-xchange.com/products> or on your account page.

• A new single user PDF-XChange PRO license is 121 USD (at this time, before taxes)

The 144.04 USD which Jarosite's math states (before local taxes), would only be the case if you held a license for a long period of time, and had to pay for a partial maintenance renewal, on top of the upgrade pricing. In short, this is a personalized price, based on an aged license, not a base product cost. Currently, any product upgrades in the first 90 days after a purchase are essentially the difference in license price.

For comparison, purchasing a single user license today for each of the 3 components of PRO separately, would collectively be ~207 USD before taxes. (Note also that the EOCR in PDF-Tools, and SharePoint web integration, both require a PRO license specifically in order to function, and would not be included in this theoretical "separate purchase" situation).
From this perspective, the PRO bundle is amazing value (and that is before you compare to much of the competition and offered features at this price point).

We do also strongly recommend that anyone considering a new purchase or an upgrade of any sort, to download and test the software first. This way you can be sure that the upgrade will fit your needs before spending. All features are available in evaluation mode, with EOCR being the only feature that has a time limit, due to our license agreement with ABBYY.

Kind regards,

[Jarosite]

Thanks for clarifying Dan but I do need to provide more context - in a non-belligerent manner.

Firstly, I don't understand what you mean about 144.04 USD only applying if you held a license for a long period of time. I have only just bought PDF Exchange for the first time.

Secondly, the reason that I moved away from Adobe Acrobat Pro was largely because of their subscription pricing model and high price (approx. $230 USD annually. I was looking for something as good but cheaper so PDF Exchange Pro is marginally better in that regard but higher than what I was expecting.

Thirdly, I DID download and test the software first but with the Plus version, assuming that the Microsoft addin - or at least the ability to translate Word TOC page numbers into clickable links - was not available because it was a limited trial version and would be included in the full version.

So, then I was advised by your team that I needed Pro which I bought but which failed - initially - to convert TOC page numbers into clickable links. In discussion with the Support team, I have determined that this is due to the TOC Base bookmark not being set on by default, perhaps because it initially used settings from the Plus version?

In any event, as a VERY experienced Word and PDF user this process has not been smooth and I suggest it would be helpful to make clearer on your product selection page that the non-Pro versions don't integrate with MS Office.

Regards, Peter.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Peter,

Your price also includes extra maintenance - that's why it is a bit higher.
In any case - that is a price for a permanent license + free upgrades and maintenance for a specific period of time. After the maintenance period ends - you can continue using our products if you are happy with them and the build that you have at the end of the maintenance.

As for the actual issue at hand - I am continuing to work with you to make sure that your ToC are created in a way that we can then process and convert to clickable ones in the resulting PDF. I do believe this to be an issue with how the ToC was set up on your side, as the ones we create on our end are converted fine. If you want we can continue the conversation on the ToC generation here or over e-mails where we've already exchanged a few files.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

I have PDF-XChange Pro and it is absolutely worth every cent. I just extended my maintenance plan by two years for $45 (I get TWO years for less than the cost of a three months for Acrobat DC). And PDF-XChange Pro is FAR superior to Acrobat DC (I dumped Acrobat when I adopted PDF-XChange a couple of years ago).

And, if that isn't enough, PDF-XChange maintains a software forum where users can ask questions, report bugs, and request features. And, the people running the forum take the users seriously and answer every post instead of relying on "SuperUsers" or the like who copy/paste the same garbage over and over. In this day and age of rampant software en****ification, it is almost unbelievable.

[PHK]

I have PDF-XChange Pro and it is absolutely worth every cent. I just extended my maintenance plan by two years for $45 (I get TWO years for less than the cost of a three months for Acrobat DC). And PDF-XChange Pro is FAR superior to Acrobat DC (I dumped Acrobat when I adopted PDF-XChange a couple of years ago).

And, if that isn't enough, PDF-XChange maintains a software forum where users can ask questions, report bugs, and request features. And, the people running the forum take the users seriously and answer every post instead of relying on "SuperUsers" or the like who copy/paste the same garbage over and over. In this day and age of rampant software en****ification, it is almost unbelievable.

Hear, hear.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK, mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap, and all,

Many thanks for the kind words!
We do appreciate when one of you helps a new forum member, however as you said we do not rely just on the 'power users' to answer and template replies are rarely used!
We will always be happy to hear your thoughts and recommendations. We might not approve all feature requests, but those that do make sense and are not too niche are always getting the attention they need!

Thanks for being around and supporting us and you can be sure that we would do the same from our end!

Kind regards,
Stefan

[BigMike]

Well, to shorten it:
- Even Microsoft Word (Export as PDF) or the free version of PDF-XChange Editor (Open a docx file) will create a clickable TOC if you're creating your Word document in the right way ( https://superuser.com/questions/1712197 ... -from-word )
- The (mighty) Office addins are not a feature of the Editor, but Printer Standard, so if you want both, you need to purchase Editor (at least 56$) and Printer Standard (53$)
- If you want all Editor features (I guess so, as you'd like to replace Acrobat), you need Editor Plus (at least 72$)
- 72$ + 56$ = 128$ > 121$, which is the minimal price for Pro, which is a bundle of all PDF XChange products. So you have Tools on top now.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, BigMike

Thank you for the summary!
I made a small edit to your post, as we don't have a product called "Editor PRO" (I think you meant "Editor Plus")

Anyway, have a great day!