Using Callas pdfToolbox with Publisher

[KipV]

A couple days ago I asked about the value of pdfTool in a Quark forum. One comment was unexpected in that they pointed out that the tool is especially good for adding to a Publisher workflow in that it hasn't been around as long and may need a little more help than mature products like Quark and InDesign. That one perspective alone almost justified it's $500+ price tag. I wanted to know have other people found that those two products work really well together? Publisher is the only tool in the suite I haven't explored extremely in depth and I haven't even installed pdfToolbox yet.

I like how Serif keeps the price low which allows for workflows like installing it on non-designers computers as I mentioned a couple days ago. Since the work in my company needs to pass by me the more expensive product (pdfToolbox) only needs to be installed on my machine. At first I didn't understand the very low pricing that Serif was doing but now it makes sense. I have even grown to like the name in that it may confuse some Microsoft Publisher users to accidentally start using Serif Publisher.

[KipV]

Interesting most people are choosing "other" in the poll. Perhaps I should have entering in more software titles to pick from but I am not aware of other titles which would do PDF editing. I would be interested to hear about other good options.

[Alfred]

I like and use PDF-XChange Editor from Tracker Software, but it’s currently only available for Windows.

[Archangel]

I use Corel PDF Fusion and sometimes Nuance PaperPort

[KipV]

9 hours ago, Alfred said:

I like and use PDF-XChange Editor from Tracker Software, but it’s currently only available for Windows.

4 minutes ago, Michael S Harvey said:

I use Corel PDF Creator and sometimes Nuance PaperPort

Never heard of those, I'll have to look into them. I started using pdfToolbox since that is usually what they talk about in the Quark forums for some reason.

[Archangel]

17 minutes ago, KipV said:

Never heard of those, I'll have to look into them. I started using pdfToolbox since that is usually what they talk about in the Quark forums for some reason.

I got Nuance PaperPort 12 SE free with WordPerfect X6 as a document manager. I picked up the Corel PDF Fusion from a charity shop with a suite of software for £1.

Apparently Nuance have some draconian registration issues. So a bundled SE version might be a better option. I think PDF Fusion is arounf £20.

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, KipV said:

I started using pdfToolbox since that is usually what they talk about in the Quark forums for some reason.

Probably because Quark bundled pdfToolbox with QXP a couple of years ago!

[thomaso]

On 6/13/2019 at 2:09 AM, KipV said:

Perhaps I should (...) but I am not aware of other titles which would do PDF editing

research: "pdf editor prepress" ?

pitbull pitstop

[KipV]

2 hours ago, Alfred said:

Probably because Quark bundled pdfToolbox with QXP a couple of years ago!

I wonder why they choose to go with that program over the others?

1 hour ago, thomaso said:

research: "pdf editor prepress" ?

Good idea, that turned up some good results.

[KipV]

On 6/13/2019 at 7:15 PM, KipV said:

I wonder why they choose to go with that program over the others?

It seems like most people go with whatever comes in a bundle. Makes sense in some ways, that was the reason I went with Acrobat after all. Why buy something else if the product in the bundle works? Right now I am planning on just going with pdfToolbox. I think the biggest issue is for it to do a lot of things rather then to primarily consider it from a pricing angle. If one of the those features will come in handy down the line this really matters to me when on a deadline to get something out. I downloaded the trail so I will have to keep using it this week and see how it works out.

[Dazmondo77]

I'm stuck with Acrobat pro 9 that came with cs5 - would love to go with PDF Toolbox but way too expensive for me

MikeW - sounds like the guy who knows his onions with toolbox and say's  "callas pdfToolbox is the only other pdf application that can do separation preview and is color managed. callas is who licenses to Adobe much of what Acrobat does. The one thing it doesn't do is edit text in a pdf".

So looks like I'm stuck with Acrobat 9 and El Capitan if I want to check PDF/x compliance and seps and spots and all that, just for piece of mind before sending off to the printers, that is unless..... Serif can come to the rescue as they did with Designer, Photo and Publisher???

 

 

[KipV]

7 hours ago, Dazmondo77 said:

callas is who licenses to Adobe much of what Acrobat does.

Interesting! Sounds like both companies are a bit dependent on each other. I am so tired of dealing with old software. I could keep trying to make CS6 work but if Adobe's competition can do much of what the old stuff can why not leave it in the past? At least that is my mindset.

[howdytom]

I stumbled upon your highly interesting discussion while searching for a Acrobat Pro alternative. Pitstop and pdfToolbox seems to be the only "real" alternatives for reliable print preflight jobs. Both are products are used in print houses and big publishing houses. I have also tested Nuance Power PDF for Mac which is a nice but limited PDF editor. Power PDF focus is Office tasks. It lacks Preflight functionalities.

Acrobat DC Preflight feature is the only missing link to me e.g. reliable color management and full support for ISO PDF standards. I have spent so much money on Adobe CS and Acrobat DC is getting worse. With Adobe's Cloud subscription introduction, Adobe also dropped the price tag for the Acrobat DC. Adobe's Acrobat Pro 2017 single licence cost is within the same $500 price range. As I found out Adobe licensed parts of Callas preflight engine and their preflight menus look almost identical. So, pdfToolbox would be a ideal replacement.

I am going to take a closer look at pdfToolbox.

[fde101]

There are a few other options around, depending on your needs...

 

http://zevrix.com/pdfcheckpoint.php

https://markzware.com/products/flightcheck/

 

[Rodi]

On 6/19/2019 at 7:58 AM, Dazmondo77 said:

I'm stuck with Acrobat pro 9 that came with cs5 - would love to go with PDF Toolbox but way too expensive for me

MikeW - sounds like the guy who knows his onions with toolbox and say's  "callas pdfToolbox is the only other pdf application that can do separation preview and is color managed. callas is who licenses to Adobe much of what Acrobat does. The one thing it doesn't do is edit text in a pdf".

So looks like I'm stuck with Acrobat 9 and El Capitan if I want to check PDF/x compliance and seps and spots and all that, just for piece of mind before sending off to the printers, that is unless..... Serif can come to the rescue as they did with Designer, Photo and Publisher???

 

 

I stay away from subscription software as much as possible. I have bought and regularly use, Affinity Publisher for PDF editing (lost causes, but it's really done great) I also use Softmaker Flexi PDF (subscription was 35 bux for a year), and I love Qoppa PDF Studio, it has several things that make it incredible, including editing and saving password protected PDFs (a cinch!) reversal of pages, and general editing, the Imposing feature is as good as EFI Fiery at 1/50th of the cost. Recently purchased PDFToolbox 12. It's a huge program, am trying to get it to do several things, including process to spot (I do prepress for an envelope printing and files come in all sorts of kaka). What I am trying to do with it is make the program respond to "Spotify" up to 4 common spot colors. I do a lot of making spot colors on common plate (jet presses have the ability). The "create" bleed is fantastic!! The white background builder is pretty awesome too. It has an imposition  program too, breaking reader spreads is a great feature. I like the fact that it is stand alone program. PDFToolbox 12 is so huge, I have yet to scratch the surface.

Affinity Publisher, I get a particular kind of file that is a pain in the neck to get into production. Two (2) color job, file never sent to size. I open in AP 1.8x, re size the document and spread to the correct size, then I move it around until it's in the exact right place and for two sided versions do the same I then create bleeds and spot color change. I have cut production from half an hour with the old way to 15 minutes for two sided 8 minutes for single sided.