PDF-XChange Editor Full Review and Alternatives

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PDF-XChange Editor

4.3/5

Overview

PDF-XChange Editor, a Tracker Software craft, is a super powerful PDF software that allows you to edit, annotate, convert, OCR (PDF to Excel, PDF to Word), split and encrypt documents among other features. It features a complete design overhaul over the predecessor PDF-XChange Viewer to give you that conveniently clear and easy-to-use interface, in addition to a ton of extra features.

PDF-XChange Editor is one of the PDF-XChange tools that also brings other products like PDF-XChange Viewer, PDF-Tools, PDF-XChange Lite Printer, PDF-XChange Standard Printer, and PDF-XChange PRO.

PDF-XChange Editor is aimed at providing you with a complete solution to manage portable documents without the need for external tools. All features are provided under the same roof for that extra touch of convenience. This review article quests to let you in on the boatload of amazing features at your disposal that also make PDF-XChange Editor tick. Before we do that, here is a snapshot of the pros and cons;

Pros & Cons of PDF-XChange Editor

Pros
  • Allows filling and editing of PDF forms
  • Offers conversion to and from PDF format
  • Features a built-in OCR tool
  • Allows you to secure and edit document metadata
  • Offer batch processing capabilities
  • Fast and high-quality output delivery
  • Rich in PDF editing and annotation options
Cons
  • Watermarked output on the free version

How to Use PDF-XChange Editor

Key Features in PDF-XChange Editor

One thing that we can commend PDF-XChange Editor about is the number of features delivered. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that it has more features to offer and at a lower price point compared to the popular Adobe Acrobat software. The best thing is that some of these features have been refined and enhanced in a way that beats many apps out there.

Convert Documents

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Document conversion has become the order of the day and PDF-XChange Editor takes the mandate of ensuring you are sorted out. If you are looking to share other documents or images in PDF format, you can do that from scans or normal files.

For scans, you have the option to define the color mode you prefer and it is pretty simple as you can go for the available presets or customize your own. Some of the files that you can convert into PDF include RTF, CSV, Image, and text files; you can also create PDFs from content in the clipboard.

You are also empowered with the option to export PDF files in other file formats like Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint, and images (PNG, TIFF, BMP, JPG, and more). PDF-XChange Editor will also be the first program to feature a built-in color converter tool that basically converts colors from images, line art, text, and smooth shade in a document.

Organize/Edit Documents

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Just as the name suggests, PDF-XChange Editor is a very competent PDF editor and provides a good share of tools that make the process feel just like a walk in the park.

The main intention of this feature is to deliver the output in a refined way that communicates the intended information comprehensively. Using this editor, you can;

  • Insert, replace, and delete text
  • Highlight, strikeout, and underline text
  • Add sticky notes
  • Attach files directly
  • Add sound from a file or record directly
  • Add stamps, lines, and shapes
  • Add and edit links (including web links)
  • Add callouts, text boxes, and typewriter text
  • Access a free draw pencil and eraser tool
  • Add or edit 3D annotations
  • Import, export, and flatten comments
  • Measure distance, area, and perimeter
  • Tinker with bookmarks extensively

To organize PDFs most professionally and conveniently, PDF-XChange Editor lets you achieve this by offering options to;

  • Insert, delete, and extract PDF pages
  • Split, merge, and move PDF pages
  • Replace, swap, and duplicate pages
  • Resize, rotate, and crop pages
  • Add custom watermarks
  • Adjust the document background
  • Add normal page numbers and Bates numbering
  • Tweak the header and footer

These features will not only let you communicate better but will allow you to share just the important information instead of unnecessarily sharing the entire document.

Combine/Merge PDFs

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In the instance of multiple documents containing related content, it is usually tedious and time-consuming to handle all the documents as single entities. Luckily, PDF-XChange Editor provides a simple and straightforward way to combine or join these files into a single document. While you can just join the documents as they are, you can tweak this a bit to obtain just specific pages, or page ranges from each document to get rid of the other unnecessary pages.

Moreover, you get to choose how comments, form fields, ad bookmarks will be handled in the output document. This way, you can always share just the important information and save a ton of time and effort.

Powerful OCR

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PDF-XChange Editor features one of the most powerful OCR tools. This is because you can set the accuracy level, detect skew and wrong page rotation, besides options to ignore the text, comments, and form fields on a specific page. If you are working on low-quality scans, this app is capable of enhancing the scans to improve the overall recognition process.

Amazingly, you can choose to keep the original image content but still have selectable and searchable text; most tools will just recognize the plain text and ignore graphic content. If you are recognizing tables, PDF-XChange Editor can automatically draw table lines in the output file.

Of course, you can OCR documents fully or partially depending on your needs. Therefore, any image-based or scanned PDF file can be OCR’d accurately with no need for editing to correct missed text recognition.

Using Layers in PDF documents

PDF XChange Editor is among the few PDF programs that allow for the use of layers in documents. Layers come in handy when you need to toggle the visibility of certain content based on some conditions like the system locale.

For instance, you can add a layer that carries annotations, which means you will have a button that can quickly and automatically show or hide the annotations.

Mind you, when you are creating a layer it is prudent to double-check the functions because some of the options cannot be adjusted once the layer is created. An example is where some layers can be automatically triggered on or off depending on the chosen radio group in a form. Some of the most common uses of layers in PDF files include;

  • Sorting comments – Stamps, pop-up notes, highlights, and more can be categorized into accessible groups that can be shown or hidden from the layers pane with ease. And the good thing is that multiple comments can be added to a layer in batch mode.

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  • Display specific languages – Depending on a user’s locale, content can be displayed in a specific language different from the default one. You also get the partial language option that allows layer activation for multiple languages that share the same prefix (en-GB, en-US). And this is one of the settings that cannot be modified once created.

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  • Show measurements – Measurements are in fact comments and therefore can be used as layers. Specifically, you would need layers to get around overlapping measurements or even show specific measurements in some instances. Therefore, you can group the measurements accordingly and place them into distinct layers.

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Review Documents

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PDF-XChange Editor helps you to review a document to obtain specific information and even make necessary corrections where necessary.

With this tool, you can apply text correction (underline, highlight, replace, etc), spell check to correct spelling mistakes, count the number of words, lines, and characters, add/delete comments, list/view comments in a PDF, and even flatten comments as you see fit. Through this review feature, collaborating on documents is facilitated.

Pencil Tool

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PDF-XChange Editor offers a nifty Pencil that allows you to draw freehand objects on the PDF document. It falls under the category of comments. Maybe you need to circle roughly on some numbers, text, or even draw an outline of some object of interest, this tool will let you do that hassle-free.

The good thing is that you can customize the Pencil properties in terms of color, opacity, blend mode, width, border, fill/stroke color, and more. With this feature, you can always draw the attention of the viewer to the areas of focus on a document without having to do a lot of explanation. This is also a very crucial feature for those looking to collaborate on documents.

PDF-XChange Editor vs PDF-XChange Editor Plus

PDF-XChange Editor Plus carries all the features available in PDF-XChange Editor and then goes ahead to include additional functionality as we will outline here. With the Plus version of this program, you can;

  • Create fillable PDF forms
  • Edit already existing fillable forms
  • Create dynamic stamps that are also customizable
  • Access a special Enhanced OCR plugin for extra accuracy during data extraction

PDF XChange Editor vs Adobe Acrobat Pro

While Adobe Acrobat Pro is considered the market leader in the PDF industry, it still gets a good share of competition from PDF XChange Editor. When put side by side;

  • PDF XChange Editor is way more affordable compared to Acrobat Pro.
  • PDF XChange Editor presents a one-time perpetual license while the counterpart requires a subscription-based plan.
  • In terms of value for the user, PDF XChange Editor has proven to be the fan-favorite.
  • XChange Editor presents a more robust approach to the whole document process, especially features-wise, compared to Adobe Acrobat Pro.
  • PDF XChange Editor takes a more minimalistic nature and therefore consumes way less disk storage compared to Acrobat Pro, and at no expense of features.
  • PDF XChange Editor is best-suited for small businesses while Adobe Acrobat Pro is considered the king of the enterprise document market.
  • You will appreciate the ongoing quality of product support offered by Tracker Software in comparison to what you get on Adobe.
  • For roadmaps and feature updates, PDF XChange Editor takes the day.

Even with that Adobe Acrobat Pro still has a name when it boils down to features like multi-platform availability and working from the cloud.

Pricing

PDF-XChange Editor is generous and considerate enough to present you with a free trial version with demo premium features so that you can evaluate most of the features to your satisfaction. Once you are satisfied, you can grab any of the licenses below depending on your budget.

Product Package

License Starting Price (Perpetual)

PDF-XChange Editor

$46.50

PDF-XChange Editor Plus

$59.50

PDF-XChange PRO

$99.50

In addition to these single-user licenses, PDF-XChange Editor also takes on corporate needs and multiuser needs by offering volume licenses that are in a way discounted depending on the number of users.

Conclusion

PDF-XChange Editor is a top-dog in the document industry considering how much it has to offer in terms of features. We have given a general look at the options at your disposal here but you bet some of these features are refined further into details.

Converting, viewing, protecting, editing, and reviewing PDF files, among other features can be taken care of without the need to seek the services of external tools or add-ons. Expect high-quality output and a superior OCR tool, all at an affordable price compared to the competitors.

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