Is there a solid option against Adobe Acrobat?

[Fravin]

I have been using Adobe's software for the last fifteen years. But in the last couple of years, I gave Affinity's software a try. And, Man, what a good piece of software they do! Solid, fast and it seems to be well optimized. It's really different from Adobe way of life. There is no bloatware. There are no lags. No performance issues. You get a solid solution for getting work done.

This year, I decided to wipe Adobe Creative Suite off my Mac. But I'm missing Acrobat.
I'm used to opening PDFs in Acrobat to check if the colors were successfully rendered, check how is the press capabilities of certain file (checking if process colors were separated correctly, and if the spot colors were separated into CMYK)...

So, do you guys use another PDF editor tool for graphics or publishing needs? Let me know if there is a good option out there.

 

[chabig]

I'm not a designer. Doesn't Affinity already do that stuff?

Affinity Publisher Help

 

[Big Bad D]

Affinity is a good option to replace much of Adobe Creative Suite, but not Acrobat.
PDFgear is what I use to replace Acrobat.

 

[dborja]

I use PDF Reader Pro. 'Was using the free "Lite" version for a couple of years until I saw a 50% discount special to get the permanent (non-subscription) advanced version.

 

[Fravin]

I'm not a designer. Doesn't Affinity already do that stuff?

Affinity Publisher Help

I do use the Publisher! But it's for DTP, not for check PDFs. Actually, it is a heck of a software. So smooth, so fast... It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder about how Adobe's software is so badly optimized.

I'm in love with Affinity suite. Will check the PDF Gear an PDF Reader Pro. Thank you all.

 

[za9ra22]

I use Foxit Reader (https://www.foxit.com/pdf-reader/) which works well on Windows, and is available for Mac too. They have more fully featured PDF software too, and cost seems pretty reasonable.

 

[Darth.Titan]

I'm an Affinity user as well, but for PDF stuff I use PDF Expert
Admittedly, my needs are not great.

 

[ixxx69]

PDFgear is what I use to replace Acrobat.

Thanks for suggesting PDFgear.

My 10 minute review...

Ironically, as I explored the features in PDFgear that I thought macOS Preview lacked, I realized through googling that Preview (Sonoma) actually has almost all of them, they're just not always as obvious.

Having both apps open side-by-side, there's very little feature-wise to differentiate them. In some ways PDFgear's UI is more intuitive, and in other areas, Preview is. In a lot of ways, PDFgear just seems like Preview with a different UI.

While PDFgear is free, I was annoyed with PDFgear's invasiveness to setting itself as default PDF app, to placing itself in the menu bar, offering to auto-start, offering to open PDF's I've just downloaded - all of which can be disabled, but felt spammy.

Bottom line, if you need a more feature-rich PDF editor than Preview, PDFgear is unlikely to be the answer. But some folks may find it easier to use.

 

[gilby101]

I don't think @Fravin is referring to PDF readers/annotators (like Preview, PDFGear, Foxit Reader, etc.). Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Reader) is the de facto standard for creating/editing PDFs if only because Adobe created and controlled the PDF standards for many years - now ISO 32000 standards, but with Adobe extensions. Non-Adobe partial Mac equivalents include PDF Expert, Nitro PDF Pro and Foxit PDF Editor. For many purposes these are good enough, but for professional cross-platform functionality Adobe Acrobat is it.
See:

PDF - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

History of PDF - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

List of PDF software - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm used to opening PDFs in Acrobat to check if the colors were successfully rendered, check how is the press capabilities of certain file (checking if process colors were separated correctly, and if the spot colors were separated into CMYK)...

I don't really know, but I suspect you need Adobe Acrobat.

 

[neutrino17]

Another vote for PDF expert, however, I’m not checking colors. Nice thing about PDF Expert is it is available on the iPad. Really great for reading and annotating PDF documents.

 

[ipaqrat]

Another bump for Readdle PDF Expert (which is admittedly focused on business use cases, rather then pre-press). I use Affinity suite, too (though I can't quit Lightroom). Two of the best programs in Apple's ecosphere. HOWEVAH... As I understand Affinity's products, there is no color separation feature, at least not as Illustrator, InDesign and Quark users are accustomed to. I can't recall ever using Acrobat to view separations that the originating program didn't output.

 

[oakrrl]

I use Wondershare PDF Element. Last time I looked, it was a bit more full-featured than PDF Expert. It works well, though I'm not a huge fan of the UI.

 

[dmccloud]

I do use the Publisher! But it's for DTP, not for check PDFs. Actually, it is a heck of a software. So smooth, so fast... It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder about how Adobe's software is so badly optimized.

I'm in love with Affinity suite. Will check the PDF Gear an PDF Reader Pro. Thank you all.

I think at least 25% of Adobe's bloat is directly related to all of the telemetry and constant license verification it tries to do. I also think that they have fallen into the same trap Microsoft has with regard to backwards compatibility, so bloat is inevitable.

 

[AlmightyKang]

Depends what you want to do but I've managed to get away with just Preview. I've got a horrible workflow at the moment as I'm doing some stats work. I need to get data out of Minitab on Windows and it only exports rasters or to MS Word on windows so I've been exporting to MS Word on my PC, printing it to PDF, copying it to the Mac, using Preview to crop the diagram out of the PDF then embedding this in a LaTeX document and generating a PDF from it! Result is a perfectly formed PDF with vector graphs. Total nightmare but it works thanks to Preview's crop feature.

 

[Fravin]

Thank you all for the insights.

What I really need is something like the Print Production tab in Acrobat.

These are the tools included in Print Production tab. I use some of these tools to check if spot colors were successfully rendered, for instance. In the Output Preview, I can see the color plates after the separation. This is so useful to my needs....

This is the Output Preview. It's useful to see how the black tint was rendered, if the text was successfully overprinted or not.

I did test all the options you gave me. But I couldn't find the tools I need. As @gilby101 said, the 3rd party editors are prone to annotate and sign...

Wondering if I am doomed to live with this crap:

@dmccloud can you live in peace knowing your Mac resources are taken by Adobe's bloatware?

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I use Preview. What features of Acrobat do you need that aren't in Preview?

 

[gilby101]

What features of Acrobat do you need that aren't in Preview?

See the post just above yours - the print production features like colour separation. I don't think anyone replying here (including me) has much understanding, let alone use, of the professional work that @Fravin does.

 

[Leika]

I have used Callas PDF Toolbox, both server and desktop versions for printing press pdf checking. Good programs.

 

[dmccloud]

@dmccloud can you live in peace knowing your Mac resources are taken by Adobe's bloatware?

I use an M2 MAx with 32GB RAM - I've never had issues with system resources being taken over by Adobe or any other application. I also don't let Adobe apps run in the background constantly, so the resources are only being used while actively using said apps.

 

[ignatius345]

I hate to say it, but it sounds like you just have to bite the bullet and spend money on the best tool that gets the job done. Sucks, but if you think about whatever your billable rate is, $20/month might come out to like 15 minutes that you could easily spend in frustration trying to work around not having the tool you need.

 

[organicCPU]

PDF Expert, PDF Plus, PDF Professional and the like might be valid for small edits and signing documents, but not for preflighting, editing or converting PDF for print.

For now, I'm using Acrobat Pro 2020, that is still a perpetual license. Unfortunately Adobe decided to drop permanent licenses for Acrobat, too. Acrobat Pro 2020 is officially supported until 6/1/2025. At this time Adobe will probably stop selling those one-time-purchase licenses. As PDF standards for print won't change very quickly, working with an old Acrobat Pro for me is o.k. for another 3 to 5 years (optimistic thinking ;-)).

When Acrobat Pro 2020 EOL has come, I'll have a closer look at Enfocus and Callas. Has anyone experience with those?
@Leika is Callas a complete substitution for Acrobat Pro? What are you missing?

As Adobe invented PDF, I fear we are forced to get the subscription. Chances are probably low that another company will be able to fill the gap.

 

[yabeweb]

I have been using Adobe's software for the last fifteen years. But in the last couple of years, I gave Affinity's software a try. And, Man, what a good piece of software they do! Solid, fast and it seems to be well optimized. It's really different from Adobe way of life. There is no bloatware. There are no lags. No performance issues. You get a solid solution for getting work done.

This year, I decided to wipe Adobe Creative Suite off my Mac. But I'm missing Acrobat.
I'm used to opening PDFs in Acrobat to check if the colors were successfully rendered, check how is the press capabilities of certain file (checking if process colors were separated correctly, and if the spot colors were separated into CMYK)...

So, do you guys use another PDF editor tool for graphics or publishing needs? Let me know if there is a good option out there.

I use PDF expert

 

[decafjava]

I use PDF expert

Me too, well recommended.

 

[Leika]

PDF Expert, PDF Plus, PDF Professional and the like might be valid for small edits and signing documents, but not for preflighting, editing or converting PDF for print.

For now, I'm using Acrobat Pro 2020, that is still a perpetual license. Unfortunately Adobe decided to drop permanent licenses for Acrobat, too. Acrobat Pro 2020 is officially supported until 6/1/2025. At this time Adobe will probably stop selling those one-time-purchase licenses. As PDF standards for print won't change very quickly, working with an old Acrobat Pro for me is o.k. for another 3 to 5 years (optimistic thinking ;-)).

When Acrobat Pro 2020 EOL has come, I'll have a closer look at Enfocus and Callas. Has anyone experience with those?
@Leika is Callas a complete substitution for Acrobat Pro? What are you missing?

As Adobe invented PDF, I fear we are forced to get the subscription. Chances are probably low that another company will be able to fill the gap.

As I have been retired a few years now, I have to answer from memory.
We used Callas pdfToolbox server as automated solution for checking InDesign-produced newspaper pdf-pages. Editorial staff printed the newspaper pages (without any technical knowledge or tools to check them). Their verification tools were paper print going through the Callas pdfToolbox in a separate channel from printing press. And then they could check final result having gone through also the page separation step and waiting for printing plates to be made).
We were using RGB-images on InDesign pages, those images were converted to proper CMYK by pdfToolbox and images already in CMYK were ,if necessary, converted to proper CMYK profile.
Another pdfToolbox channel produced RGB pdf-pages for our e-paper.
As those pages contained among other things ads in pdf-format produced by outside sources, InDesign's pdf-page exports were not always working to color separations.
PdfToolbox server had hot-folder based workflows, where final pdf-files for separation ended in OK, Warning and Faulty folders. Faulty ones had to be examined closer and usually fixed by hand.
I used Callas pdfToolbox PC version to examine and fix (among others) those faulty pdf-files.
I also used Acrobat Pro to check and fix things. As I had it too.
For our newspapers automated needs, Callas pdfToolbox did the complete workflow, renaming files etc. We also used Callas to merge or split pdf-pages.

 

[MacGizmo]

I like PDFGear (someone mentioned it and I gave it a try), but as others have mentioned, NONE of these apps fully replace Acrobat Pro. Many of them lack Forms creation and editing – only filling/signing. Many of them lack the full print production options found in Acrobat Pro. And many of them offer little more than Apple's Preview app.

The unfortunate part is that almost all of them are more stable and most decidedly faster than using Acrobat Pro.

I need ALL the features of Acrobat Pro, and I wish there were options.

But as already stated above, the amount of time and money spent trying to replace Acrobat is higher than simply accepting Acrobat as it is. The cost for me is literally nothing considering I pay for the entire Creative Cloud yearly subscription before lunch in one day.