Trial Version Limitations are not detailed, ANYWHERE!

[VinceS]

Hi, so I discovered PDF-Xchange out of frustrations with a 15 yo version of Acrobat (Pro XI), looking for a non-SAAS solution. Undoubtedly, I will buy a copy of PDF-X Pro, after 2 days the trial seems fine.

The problem one encounters is there is absolutely no declaration re what the limitations of the trial software may be, and therefore I understand how I can use it. Is it time constrained? Watermarked? Feature limited? Other stuff? Do I need to switch back to Acrobat to do particular tasks, until I commit?

This info should be easy to see at https://www.pdf-xchange.com/products and the referenced comparison page.

What can I, or can I not, rely upon while deciding to spring for a full license, or uninstallation as the (unlikely) case may be?

Even searching these forums or the web doesn't find answers (not saying they're not here, just eluded me). It is a truly astonishing omission. Whilst an answer here would help me, this fundamental oversight needs to be rectified at the platform level, which hopefully a moderator here can get appropriate focus. Thank you.

[BigMike]

- You can try all features
- If you're using a non-free feature, you'll get a warning, that watermarks will be added to your document, if you continue
- There's an option to hide unlicensed features if you like to keep the free version (but as you intend to replace Acrobat, you probably won't)

For the Editor, you can look at the features here, at the bottom of the page: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello,

Beyond the simple statements BigMike made, which are all correct, I should note that these are referenced in the header tile on the product page, and under the "general info" dropdown, there is a page detailing these limitations:

image.png

Here a link to the page in question: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/product/pdf ... imitations

We don't offer more details on the "limits" becuase beyond the demo stamps, which are explained while you use the software, there aren't really any to mention. No time limit, for example. It is as simple as the product page states, "download the free version, and test it out".

Kind regards,

[Willy Van Nuffel]

Hi all,

There is also a major "Feature comparison chart" that can be reached via the link at the bottom of the "Products" info-page:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/products

Direct Link:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/pdf-xchange ... ison-chart

There, you can compare the licensed version of PDF-XChange Editor with the free version.

Kind regards.

[rakunavi]

Hello VinceS,

Is it time constrained?

There is no trial period. The only exception is the Enhanced OCR (EOCR) feature, which has a trial period restriction of up to two weeks (14 days).

For your reference, past comments from support staff are quoted below.

The EOCR engine is a 14 day trial for the "First-time-ever" installation of any of our V9 or later products, not 1 month. Beyond that, when this is disabled, the OCR plugin is not removed, only access to the EOCR engine is, the OCR function immediately and silently switches to the older "tesseract" engine, and OCR remains fully accessible. Under no circumstances would we do anything that adjusts your active plugins automatically.

The Enhanced OCR has a time limited (14 days from your first installation of the software on your device) trial. This is part of our Agreement with ABBYY in making use of their Enhanced OCR engine. If you have not yet had it installed for 14 days, than the Enhanced OCR is likely already enabled. Simply head to the "convert" tab, and click the "OCR pages" button. If the Enhanced OCR engine is available, you will see "OCR Pages (Enhanced)" in the title bar.

Once 14 days passes, the EOCR engine will be disabled automatically, and you will lose access to it until a license key covering its use is applied and activated in the software.

In the future, our software is free for use in an evaluation mode at all times, this gives you access to all features, with the only limitation being Demo stamp application when using premium features, and the EOCR engine (on a 14 day trial).

Best regards,
rakunavi

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

[VinceS]

Thank you for these explanations. Some of those limitations are (probably designed to be) quite annoying (eg page dragging of "combine in" images, necessitating image pre-numbering), so I have bought the Pro license and used Revo to uninstall all Adobe products; still needed to clean up all the data directories manually. .PDF nirvana awaits, one anticipates...

Regardless, the reasoning behind my OP is that the real issue is "Do I download this one?" (from the many out there), and the lack of any clarity around what will happen once one does is a big red flag all by itself. I am expecting lots of nag screens (guess that happened!), time limitations (of which I still don't actually know what the difference is between the ocr and plus time limited versions, should be part of the explanation), and maybe, just maybe, the same kind of sloppiness as is CLEARLY on display in the presentation of the product to the first time prospective user will be something the program is riddled with. Now I doubt this latter will be the case, but so many shareware / trial-ware products do fit in that basket.

It is a classic own-goal. Rather than explaining and defending it in this topic, 'someone' needs to deal with it. The old adage of "walk up to your own (business / house / entertainment venue / whatever) as if for the first time and LOOK at what is there." In this is the answer for what is important and what is not. The same mindset applies to the on-boarding of a first-time user, currently not that flash (given where they came from and their prior experiences), but I have been around (running tapes on C64's) and can bumble through OK. Might be harder for others.

Layering out this last topic a little, PDFX can do a lot more than most, and some kind of introductory overview of what a pdf really is and what you can now do with it would add rather a lot of value to a new (licensed?) user for the minor impact of knocking something like this up. It may exist, I haven't looked. Because I am learning it by doing stuff and that will be fine, for now...

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

Hello VinceS,

Thanks for the feedback.

We appreciate it as our products are designed with serious consideration of users' feedback, requirements, and feature requests.

We will see what we can do about making things clear about what the DEMO limitations are.

Regards.

[JUslander24]

Please confirm whether the OCR conversion function works only for a trial period? And do the features and functions work at the same speed as the paid version? Thanks,

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, JUslander24

Yes, all functions work in their full capacity, and at full speed, even in evaluation mode.
There are only two limitations when using our software without a license in place:

1. If you use any premium feature, demo stamps will be placed as soon as you save the file.
- (You can use them freely without saving the file to test anything).

2. The "Enhanced OCR" Engine specifically, as you suspect - has a 14 day trial window, from the first *ever* installation of the (v9+) software on your Device. So far as I was made aware, this is part of our agreement with ABBYY. It is not mutable, nor can we reset/extend that window for anyone.
- (If you need to evaluate the EOCR, and your 14 days have passed, you will either need to install on a new PC, or directly purchase the Editor plus).

Kind regards,