| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: Which PDF converter do you prefer? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Andriy Yasharov 
Ukraine
Local time: 09:52
Member (2008)
English to Russian
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| ABBYY PDF Transformer 3.0 and ABBYY Fine Reader 11 | Feb 24, 2012 |
ABBYY Fine Reader 11 Professional version produces even better results than ABBYY PDF Transformer 3.0. You don't even have to open the main interface of the program, just right-click a pdf document and select Convert to Word. That's it!
| | | | Nigel Greenwood (X)
Spain
Local time: 08:52
Spanish to English
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After many tries and failures, I finally found http://www.onlineocr.net , this is an excellent tool. You upload your PDF and in a few minutes you download the Word doc. You have to create your own space; there you can leave the converted documents for as long as you wish. It has a cost, but as some say, "anything that is any good, costs something".
Regards to all,
Nigel  ... See more After many tries and failures, I finally found http://www.onlineocr.net , this is an excellent tool. You upload your PDF and in a few minutes you download the Word doc. You have to create your own space; there you can leave the converted documents for as long as you wish. It has a cost, but as some say, "anything that is any good, costs something".
Regards to all,
Nigel  ▲ Collapse
| | | | William Murphy
Italy
Local time: 08:52
Member (2009)
Italian to English
+ ...
I have used some of the applications listed in the poll responses in the past with varying levels of quality and satisfaction. Now I just use my PDF program to convert the files. It is a built-in feature. The program also comes with OCR capabilities which I have only used twice in the last year but has worked quite well on both occasions.
I am quite happy to be able to answer this poll because - and I promise you that I am not affiliated with Nitro in any way beyond being a customer... See more I have used some of the applications listed in the poll responses in the past with varying levels of quality and satisfaction. Now I just use my PDF program to convert the files. It is a built-in feature. The program also comes with OCR capabilities which I have only used twice in the last year but has worked quite well on both occasions.
I am quite happy to be able to answer this poll because - and I promise you that I am not affiliated with Nitro in any way beyond being a customer - their product has saved me from using their competition's much more unwieldy and expensive product. I won't even name the competitor (it is almost a household word, at least in this community, I am sure), who, in my experience has a lot of gall to charge the prices they do for a sub-standard offering. I get so tired of constantly updating their software that I do not even use.
What I would dearly like to know, beyond why clients think it is OK to use PDF as a format for files that NEED to be manipulated and altered, is why PDF even exists nowadays. As I have mentioned in this posting, the PDF program itself contains the conversion technology to 'un-PDF' it. I can edit, copy, paste, convert the whole file to another editable format, OCR files, draw clown faces in fuchsia and whatever else a Protected Document Format is supposed to prevent from happening to a file.
PDF is a dinosaur file type that continues to make a lot of money, and create a lot of hassle, for no apparent reason. ▲ Collapse
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to convert into PDF. I use an online service called OCR now to convert from PDF to other formats...text, Word, Webpage etc. It's probably similar to Online OCR. It also has a small fee but it's nominal, and pays for a large number of documents.
[Edited at 2012-02-24 12:37 GMT]
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Ana Escaleir (X)
Brazil
Local time: 03:52
French to Portuguese
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| ABBYY Fine Reader 11 | Feb 24, 2012 |
I work a lot with it.
| | | | Erik Matson
Thailand
Local time: 13:52
English to Norwegian
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| Nitro PDF PRO with OCR | Feb 24, 2012 |
dasein_wm wrote:
I have used some of the applications listed in the poll responses in the past with varying levels of quality and satisfaction. Now I just use my PDF program to convert the files. It is a built-in feature. The program also comes with OCR capabilities which I have only used twice in the last year but has worked quite well on both occasions.
I am quite happy to be able to answer this poll because - and I promise you that I am not affiliated with Nitro in any way beyond being a customer - their product has saved me from using their competition's much more unwieldy and expensive product. I won't even name the competitor (it is almost a household word, at least in this community, I am sure), who, in my experience has a lot of gall to charge the prices they do for a sub-standard offering. I get so tired of constantly updating their software that I do not even use.
What I would dearly like to know, beyond why clients think it is OK to use PDF as a format for files that NEED to be manipulated and altered, is why PDF even exists nowadays. As I have mentioned in this posting, the PDF program itself contains the conversion technology to 'un-PDF' it. I can edit, copy, paste, convert the whole file to another editable format, OCR files, draw clown faces in fuchsia and whatever else a Protected Document Format is supposed to prevent from happening to a file.
PDF is a dinosaur file type that continues to make a lot of money, and create a lot of hassle, for no apparent reason.
Me too, this is a great program, and a great value for the price. Have been very satisfied with this program, and even prefer it over Adobe Acrobat X.
| | | | Annie Estéphan
Canada
Local time: 02:52
Member (2010)
English to French
+ ...
| Smart PDF Converter Pro | Feb 24, 2012 |
I use Smart PDF Converter PRO
It is very useful to create PDFs from many other formats (not only Word), or to convert PDF to word (or other formats).
I even use it to "merge" PDF documents, for example, when I receive a NDA from a client, I only print the sheets that I am supposed to sign, and scan it to put it back, once signed, to the PDF document, to save some ink
But even if it is conve... See more I use Smart PDF Converter PRO
It is very useful to create PDFs from many other formats (not only Word), or to convert PDF to word (or other formats).
I even use it to "merge" PDF documents, for example, when I receive a NDA from a client, I only print the sheets that I am supposed to sign, and scan it to put it back, once signed, to the PDF document, to save some ink
But even if it is converted, Trados has problem putting it back to the original format once translated, so I'm still working on that...
But usually, the client gives us the document already converted.
[Edited at 2012-02-24 13:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The customer | Feb 24, 2012 |
is my preferred PDF converter!
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Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:52
Portuguese to English
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| Nitro Pro with OCR for almost 2 years now :) | Feb 24, 2012 |
Erik Matson wrote: dasein_wm wrote:
I have used some of the applications listed in the poll responses in the past with varying levels of quality and satisfaction. Now I just use my PDF program to convert the files. It is a built-in feature. The program also comes with OCR capabilities which I have only used twice in the last year but has worked quite well on both occasions.
I am quite happy to be able to answer this poll because - and I promise you that I am not affiliated with Nitro in any way beyond being a customer - their product has saved me from using their competition's much more unwieldy and expensive product. I won't even name the competitor (it is almost a household word, at least in this community, I am sure), who, in my experience has a lot of gall to charge the prices they do for a sub-standard offering. I get so tired of constantly updating their software that I do not even use.
What I would dearly like to know, beyond why clients think it is OK to use PDF as a format for files that NEED to be manipulated and altered, is why PDF even exists nowadays. As I have mentioned in this posting, the PDF program itself contains the conversion technology to 'un-PDF' it. I can edit, copy, paste, convert the whole file to another editable format, OCR files, draw clown faces in fuchsia and whatever else a Protected Document Format is supposed to prevent from happening to a file.
PDF is a dinosaur file type that continues to make a lot of money, and create a lot of hassle, for no apparent reason. Me too, this is a great program, and a great value for the price. Have been very satisfied with this program, and even prefer it over Adobe Acrobat X.
I simply love Nitro - it works very well and is more than affordable
| | | | C. Mouton
France
Local time: 08:52
Member (2007)
English to French
| Trados Studio 2009 | Feb 24, 2012 |
I very rarely have to work with PDFs but I've had good success recently with Trados Studio.
It reads the PDF, converts it into Trados format for translation, then converts the translation back into PDF... comfortable and familiar, since I use Studio a lot.
| | | | Jenn Mercer
United States
Local time: 02:52
Member (2009)
French to English
| We have a winner! | Feb 24, 2012 |
Chris S wrote:
is my preferred PDF converter!
*rimshot*
That is the perfect answer, if only it were possible more often.
This has been one of the most useful polls I have seen in a good while. I currently use ABBYY FineReader 10, but I did not know that v.11 was even out. I think an upgrade price of over half the price of the full program is a bit much, but I will keep my eye out for group buys and the like.
Many thanks for the suggestion of other programs and techniques. I would add that one feature that sets apart the amateur from the professional programs is the ability to detect or set the language of the original. Otherwise, the PDF converter is constantly trying to add or remove accent marks and "correcting" spelling mistakes.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 02:52
English to Spanish
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| Adobe Acrobat X fits the bill, but it's best to have the native files | Feb 24, 2012 |
Using PDF files is almost universally accepted as a practical means of sharing documentation in complex formatting. On the outside, all PDF files look the same (they carry the .pdf extension), but conversion is always a tradeoff between formats.
I use Adobe Acrobat since v. 5 because it's the solid standard. I've tried other PDF converters and I've heard good things about ABBYY. The solution, however, rests in requesting the native files: Quark, InDesign, scanned documents, etc.
... See more Using PDF files is almost universally accepted as a practical means of sharing documentation in complex formatting. On the outside, all PDF files look the same (they carry the .pdf extension), but conversion is always a tradeoff between formats.
I use Adobe Acrobat since v. 5 because it's the solid standard. I've tried other PDF converters and I've heard good things about ABBYY. The solution, however, rests in requesting the native files: Quark, InDesign, scanned documents, etc.
Looking at File>Properties in Adobe shows what program originated the PDF file and one can ask the client accordingly. Sounds like a lot of work, right? I happen to like desktop publishing, so I don't mind working in DTP programs.
Scanned documents or image PDF files can often be OCRd, but the results are 70-90% satisfactory. I did that with a document last night. On the screen, the accents were correct, except when I tried copying and pasting. Then, lowercase L substituted 1s or i's.
Another problem with PDF files is that they have embedded fonts that you might not have in your system. Finding text boxes, columns, graphics, text in graphics that you have to either copy and paste or recreate is time consuming and the results can be inaccurate. Then, your client has to deal with the DTP aspect of it, perhaps with a desktop publisher who doesn't understand the language of your translation. ▲ Collapse
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Vitals
Lithuania
Local time: 09:52
English to Lithuanian
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| Thanks for the info!! | Feb 24, 2012 |
Thanks for sharing this Youtube link, I actually did not know Wordfast anywhere was capable of that. Great!
Catherine GUILLIAUMET wrote: Simon Bruni wrote:
I do occasionally need to convert heathen PDFs to the true Microsoft religion...
Can anyone recommend a good freeware converter? I have never been able to find one.
Hi Simon, Wordfast Anywhere is even able to decipher "dead" PDFs. Here Wordfast (which is also a free CAT tool) address : http://www.freetm.com/ Here Dominique Pivard's excellent video explaining the process in details : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwYgFbWzpFQ Have a nice day Catherine [Edited at 2012-02-24 11:20 GMT]
| | | | | Solid and Wordfast Anywhere | Feb 24, 2012 |
Interlangue wrote:
At the 2010 conference in Barcelona, a colleague told me about a miraculous programme, claiming it would cope with it all.
I am afraid I did not write down the name and forgot it since… Elizabeth (I think it was you), if you read this…
I can't remember what I was using at the time, but I've had excellent luck with Solid Converter and with Wordfast Anywhere. A colleague also kindly did some conversions for me (thank you, you know who you are!) using Abbyy when I couldn't access either of the above and despite not having it set for Spanish, it came out pretty well.
WFA is free.
Looking forward to seeing you in Barcelona in June:-)
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 08:52
English to French
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Thank you so much Liz! Keep my fingers crossed
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