| | |  | Document Management | Home » » » » Pdf Fusion Mini-Box | | | | | | | Description: | | Drag-and-drop PDF assembly plus simple viewing, editing and PDF creation. PDF Fusion is an all-in-one PDF toolkit that allows you to view files plus assemble, edit and create PDFs. With support for over 100 file formats - including PDFs, graphics and Microsoft Office files - PDF Fusion is the ultimate file viewer. Drag and drop files from multiple sources to easily assemble them into one PDF document to share with anyone. The robust editing tools allow you to review and comment for easy collaboration, perform simple text touch-ups, add new text, bookmarks and comments, and rearrange pages. As a final step, PDF Fusion allows you to convert files to PDF, XPS and DOC formats. Open over 100 file types - even if you don’t have the software used to create the file. | | | Features: | |
• Drag-and-drop PDF assembly plus simple viewing, editing, and PDF creation
• Open almost any file; support for over 100 formats; review and comment for easy collaboration
• Save files to PDF, XPS, and DOC formats to reuse content without starting from scratch
• Edit or add text anywhere in a document, and rearrange, rotate, or crop pages with ease
• Easily share files with anyone by converting to PDF, XPS, or Microsoft Word formats
• Easily share files with anyone by converting to PDF, XPS or Microsoft® Word formats
• Merge incompatible files quickly and easily by dragging and dropping in PDF Fusion to create a new PDF documents
• Save money by using PDF Fusion to view over 100 file formats without having to purchase additional software
• Save time with PDF Fusion?s editing tools to reuse the content from existing documents without starting from scratch
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 1.25 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.31 inches | | Product Height:
| 7.5 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.2 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.6 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.2 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.4 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.2 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 114 reviews |
| | | System Requirements: | | | Platform:
| Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Windows XP | | Media:
| CD-ROM | | Item Quantity:
| 1 |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 114 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
125 of 126 found the following review helpful:
 Simple, stable, and focusedMay 26, 2011
By Damodar Chetty
This software is simple to learn, and has an intuitive interface. To top it all off, it is remarkably stable.
In other words ... awesome work by the PDF Fusion team over at Corel!
Background
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I have been using the Standard and Professional versions of Adobe Acrobat 8 for a few years now, and have been more than happy with them. While I have longed for Acrobat X, I couldn't quite justify the price tag for an upgrade, especially given how I use this software.
My top uses of Adobe Acrobat and Distiller are:
1. printing to PDF (usually web pages or online receipts)
2. assembling scanned documents - rotating them appropriately, rearranging pages, or combining multiple files into a single document
3. redacting content (e.g., from tax returns) that I need to send to third parties
4. securing documents with a password
5. Occasionally, I use its batch processing features (esp. for adding a password to multiple documents)
As you can see, I don't quite push the envelope on being an Acrobat power user.
Well, PDF Fusion from Corel fits my needs like a glove. It is focused on the 20% of PDF manipulation functionality that you'll probably need 80% of the time.
So what can you do with it?
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1. It has a PDF printer that lets you create PDFs from any application that can print, such as a web browser. (Free alternatives include CutePDF and PrimoPDF.)
2. You can assemble a new PDF by dragging and dropping pages from multiple source documents. You can then rotate, move, and even delete pages.
3. It supports all Office formats as sources. I assembled a PDF document using pages from a PowerPoint file, an Excel file, a Word document, and a Visio drawing!
4. Export PDFs as a Word document. It is rather fast - taking 2:20 mins to convert a 450 page PDF document to Word, and faithfully reproducing tables, columns, and images. There is great value here as you can now edit in Word, and then reconvert to PDF when done.
5. It lets you redact text within a PDF document, including a nifty global "find and redact" feature which instantly redacts found text literally in a jiffy.
6. The Corel PDF Batch Converter can password protect PDF documents using a simple drag and drop operation.
7. Add bookmarks to a PDF document
8. Perform basic edits to text. The word "basic" is key here. You select text and then type over it. It does not support word wrap - so text may be clipped by the page's edge.
9. Insert a new blank page to a PDF, add a Free Text control on to it - which is a RTF editor with basic control of fonts, formatting and color.
10. Email the assembled PDF file using your default email application
Workflow
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A typical workflow goes something like this.
First you pick the source documents you want to work with (conversion from many formats is automatic);
Next, you create a new target document which is the blank canvas that you'll fill;
Finally, you assemble your target document, using "views" that give you different ways of looking at the participating source documents and the target document. The Assembly View displays thumbnails for each document, and Page View lets you read a single page. (A third view, Flick, is reminiscent of flicking through pages on a mobile device, but has been mostly superfluous in my usage.)
Note that the important Navigation pane is only available when in Page view. This pane grants you access to the Bookmarks, Comments, and Pages tabs. (The tabs are at the bottom of this pane).
Conclusion:
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I've run this on a Windows XP machine, as well as Windows 7 32-bit, and it has worked flawlessly. However, software being software, the best way to avoid a ton of frustration is to try before you buy. I'd ***highly recommend*** that you download the online trial version of this software. You can always enter your serial number once you purchase the product, to get a fully functional copy. Note that Corel does not require the onerous activation process used by other companies.
The user manual is stellar. I am one of those people that actually reads manuals, and I found this one to be very well written.
What are some of its limitations? It does not support creating searchable PDFs from scanned documents (a biggie for me); it does not support the creation of fillable forms; it does not create PDFs from TWAIN/WIA scanners; it cannot overlay multiple pages to create a single PDF page; it cannot convert a PDF document to Excel; and it does not do side-by-side compares of PDFs.
Some of its competitors add these features - and you may want to consider Nuance's PDF converter 7 (if you can live with its DRM/activation issues) and Nitro PDF (which has some stability concerns but is currently very competitively priced). I haven't used either of these - so I can't really do a direct compare.
Updated May 27:
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There's one less than intuitive warning dialog that I encountered ... "The selected configuration has security options. It will be overridden by your chosen security settings. Continue to Save?"
If you see this, the translation is that the security settings on your target document (set using the Document > Set Document Security menu) will always trump the default security settings on your Save configuration (aka profile).
IMHO - this is a questionable UX decision, since it prevents you from setting a default password on a profile that all documents you assemble should inherit.
Fortunately, there is a workaround. Use the Corel PDF Batch Converter instead. This little utility provides a very simple way of setting a password on multiple documents.
My wishlist feature? I'd prefer it scan an entire folder including sub folders setting passwords on multiple documents in one fell swoop. My workaround here is to search using Windows Explorer for all your files (incl. PDFs that you want to add a password to), and then drag and drop them en masse on to the Batch Converter. Voila!
Updated June 09:
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If you want to assemble pages from a file format that is not natively supported (e.g., .TXT), a workaround is to simply print your file out to PDF first, and then use that PDF for assembly.
Updated June 15:
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When converting to Microsoft Word, PDF Fusion creates an image to overlay each page. This overlaid layer contains any graphical elements and non editable text on that page. Fusion's detection is not perfect - some highly formatted text elements can end up as part of this image.
If this layer gets in the way of being able to select editable text, right click the image, and banish it to the background using "Order > Send to Back", in its context menu. With the image in the background, single clicks should allow you to get at editable text.
Updated June 21:
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I encountered my first PDF where each page converted to an un-editable image in Word. I also encountered a PDF that failed to convert to DOC with an "Error in intermediate pdf conversion". Definitely not a gold star day for PDF Fusion.
Happy Editing!
~Damodar
68 of 70 found the following review helpful:
 The competition is better: not enough functionality for commercial PDF conversion softwareJun 22, 2011
By Jojoleb
"jojoleb"
PROS:
Inexpensive PDF creation program
Slick user interface
Great fidelity when converting PDF to Word documents (or other Microsoft Office files)
CONS:
Other products offer more features at a similar price
Minimal and clunky editing features
Cannot fill in PDF forms
Lowest fidelity of tested PDF manipulation software when converting complicated document files to PDF
Low quality graphics rendering when converting documents to PDF
Only minimal control over output settings compared to other products
No OCR feature (found in Nuance PDF Converter 7, which is priced similarly)
Not much added value to available free products
Corel PDF Fusion is the latest PDF conversion and manipulation software offering from Corel. Although it sports a sleek interface, the software is disappointing when compared to its main rivals. It offers basic features and a sleek interface, but in the end it does not allow for simple editing of PDF documents, filling/saving PDF forms, and does not convert Office documents to PDF with the best fidelity.
Before I start the review, I have to admit that I have a bias. I truly believe that if you really want the best of PDF conversion software and that spending the money isn't an object that you should just go with Adobe X Pro. Adobe is still the gold standard for PDF conversion, creation, and manipulation out there. The Adobe X Pro product also can do things that lesser programs simply cannot do. Adobe users can create far more sophisticated PDF documents, easily deploy PDF forms to the web or by email, and even collect data from such forms.
There are problems in paradise for the average user, however. The Adobe software is large and cumbersome and comes with a hefty price tag. Moreover, although Adobe also makes some of the most versatile and powerful software out there, they have a knack for making software that isn't so intuitive. It can take a lot of time to simply learn how to use the program. For the average Joe who just wants to easily view some PDF documents, convert some of these to PDF, and fill in some forms and save them, Adobe's offering is probably too much.
Enter programs like Corel PDF. Corel sports a very user friendly, streamlined interface and is very simple to use. Viewing documents is as simple as dragging them into the program's window. They are quickly tabbed and can be viewed in standard page view; or you can use flick view--a cool animated mode where you flip through the pages with a flick of your mouse; or you can put them in assembly view, where you can mix and match pages from PDF or even other document types to make a new multi-page PDF document. Simple edits can be made to show someone how to revise the text. Text can be highlighted, struck out, underlined, or redacted. Comments/notes are easily placed.
Sadly, this is where the advantages to this program end. The program does not allow you to easily make simple changes to the text or even fill in PDF forms and save them. You cannot edit directly in the document as you do with a simple word processor. This kind of editing is found in most other paid-for PDF editing packages. (NOTE: You can edit text only by highlighting and replacing it. A pop up panel comes up when you highlight and you then select text editing. You then get a window that has the highlighted text in the box. You can replace this or edit it, but if the number of characters is greater than the space available, the result is text overlap and a shabby looking document.) For me this was a major negative and a non-starter. There are plenty of free programs for PDF production and conversion that allow you to do all the things that PDF Fusion allows you to do. They may not be as pretty, but they are certainly as capable. Most free offerings that aren't simply readers allow for form filling, simple editing, and saving. Editing text from within a PDF is a rarity for free PDF program; but if I am paying for the program I want the ability to edit easily.
When it comes to converting Microsoft Office documents to PDF, PDF Fusion does an acceptable job. But Nuance's offering(PDF Converter Professional 7.0)and Nitro PDF Pro (Nitro PDF Professional V6) do a much better job of maintaining document fidelity. (In fact, if all you are interested in is PDF conversion, you can download Nitro PDF's free PrimoPDF converter and get the same high fidelity PDF conversion free of charge.)
Corel's rendering of graphics was simply not up to snuff. PDF Fusion, even at the highest quality settings rendered pictures that were too fuzzy. The edges of curved lines on the Corel rendering were jagged and of too low a resolution. Most of the font replacement choices were similar to the original, but some of the text got lost at the ends of each text box. This leads us back to the editing problem: because you are unable to easily edit the final PDF, you are pretty much stuck with the errors if you use PDF Fusion. The Nuance and the Nitro PDF products gave a truer rendering of the document, without fuzzy graphics or jagged lines. They also lined up the text properly. But if there were an error in the document, you could easily edit the document using these products. None of the renderings were perfect, but the Nuance and Nitro PDF products were pretty darn close to the original.
[Remember, all PDF products, including the venerable Adobe products, are not great text/graphic editors. Most people develop a potential document in another form and then convert it to PDF, making minor edits or adding fill-in fields for forms, when necessary. But I believe that the ability to make these edits is really the dividing line between free PDF converters and the kind that you pay for.]
The Nuance and Nitro PDF products also have tabs or tool bars that insert themselves into Microsoft Office programs for easy access to PDF conversion on the fly. Corel does not incorporate these. One other quibble: PDF Fusion allows you to save files without the added extension. (This means that they are saved without the '.pdf' or '.doc' etc.) You can open the files easily enough, but Windows prompts you to select the program required to open the file first--a minor inconvenience. You can easily rename the file with the appropriate extension, but this is still a nuisance.
The Nuance product has an added benefit: optical character recognition. If you import a clear enough picture file, Nuance's PDF Professional 7 will prompt you to make the PDF searchable, searchable and editable, or whether you want to make it a fillable form. This allows you to convert any image file into a PDF that is fully editable and searchable. This is a benefit that is not to be found in the Corel or Nitro products and is an incredible added value.
When it comes to the MSRP, Corel is just a tad cheaper than the Nuance product, although not enough to justify the differences in functionality. Surprisingly, at Amazon prices as of the day I wrote this review, the Nuance product is actually cheaper and the Nitro PDF product is practically a steal.
PDF Fusion definitely gets points for the nicest user interface, but good looks don't quite cut it here. After using Corel PDF Fusion and comparing it to demos of Nuance PDF Converter Professional and Nitro PDF Pro, my pick would be the Nuance product. At today's prices it is more expensive than the Nitro PDF product, but it has the most functionality and the most usable (albeit not so pretty)interface of this trio.
[NOTE: Please note that I used fully functional DEMO programs for the comparitors. Although it seems to have the best functionality, you may want to read reviews of the Nuance product before buying:there are a significant reports of activation issues that some reviewers have found makes the Nuance software difficult to use. It has great functionality at a great price, but the activation issues might impair day-to-day use. Thanks to Vincent Ng for pointing this out to me.]
In terms of finding the product that is right for you, I would suggest that you take advantage of the free trial downloads available from all of these vendors. Stack them up head to head and see what works best for you.
There is no false advertising here--I suppose that PDF Fusion does what it has been marketed to do. But in the world of pay-to-use PDF software, I would expect much more functionality. And as a cheaper, Adobe X Pro substitute, PDF Fusion really falls short. Given Corel's stature as a software vendor, I am surprised that they were not able to offer a more sophisticated and mature product. Not recommended.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Inexpensive Alternative for Adobe ReaderAug 10, 2011
By Gil
I have been looking for a good alternative for Adobe Acrobat/Reader for several years that would allow me to create, open and edit PDF files without having to pay hundreds of dollars for a product with only limited utility for personal use. Corel PDF Fusion seems to be exactly what I have been looking for, and perhaps a little more.
PDF is an acronym for "Portable Document Format" created by Adobe in 1993. It is a file format for documents which enables the documents to viewed on many different kinds of hardware, software, and operating systems. Adobe has been the main vendor for PDF applications. The Adobe Reader has always been free, and that in large part has made the format one of the most popular standards on modern computes. However Acrobat, Adobe's PDF creator software is too expensive for most who would use it only for personal projects.
PDF Fusion by Corel fills a need that Adobe has not by providing a comparable application that is priced right for individuals. Even large businesses could benefit from the product and save a lot of money by opting for this product instead.
The software has all of the features that you would expect for creating PDF software. It has the ability to convert files directly from standard document formats like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel into PDF versions, plus the ability to open and edit existing PDF files. If you have an application that does not produce a standard format document, but it is able to print, you can select the PDF printer that is installed with PDF Fusion just like you would select a regular printer, and create a PDF file like that. This means that any application that has a printing capability can create PDF documents using PDF Fusion.
There many other features that make this a great product. You can password protect sensitive documents, so only those who know the password can open them. Documents can be signed to prove the document's source. Pages can be rearranged, rotated, added, and deleted. And so on.
For about 1/3 of the price for Adobe's lowest cost Acrobat version, you can get Corel's PDF Fusion. There are other solutions, even some that are free, but Corel's reputation as a great software producer will give you the peace of mind that you are getting a solid product.
I highly recommend PDF Fusion.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Basic Editor, Easy to UseJun 09, 2011
By Paul Pavao
"Shammah"
I'm not an expert on PDF editing. I do own NitroPDF Pro as well as PDF Fusion. They seem pretty similar, though NitroPDF has more features (and costs more). This strikes me as a really basic PDF editor, but as a result it's easy to go through every menu item and use it intuitively. I don't do much PDF editing, so I like my editor to be easy.
This editor also converts to and from PDF. If all you need is to created PDF's, then it's better to get a free PDF creator. There's plenty of them. They function like printers, and they print to a PDF file rather than to a piece of paper. Very easy to use. You have to make sure that the free ones have the ability to save the hyperlinks in your document, say if you're converting a web page to PDF.
PDF fusion claims to convert over 100 different types of file to PDF. It appears only to convert from PDF to MS Word, though. That's not really a problem because once you have an MS Word document, you can convert it to almost anything using either Microsoft's Word program or the free Open Office program.
An editor like this allows me to put hyperlinks in PDF ebooks I create and do some minor editing of the text. That's all I use it for.
You don't want to completely rewrite a PDF document. Editing is too slow for that. Instead, you should convert the PDF to a word document, which is easily done with a "File ... save as ..." The PDF to DOC (MS Word file) conversion I did worked very well. Afterward, you can simply open Corel PDF Fusion, open the DOC file, and convert it back to a PDF.
I gave it four stars mostly because of price. It's not a great, full-featured program. It is a PDF editor; it is inexpensive; it does what it claims to do; and it is remarkably easy to use.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Poor graphics rendering - Not WYSIWYGNov 23, 2011
By J. Price
"jprice66"
I was excited with the Black Friday sale price of $29.95, but this is no bargain if you want to include graphics/pictures in your PDF files. Corel PDF Fusion uses very heavy compression with no user control over the image quality. This is particularly obvious if you have an image that includes high contrast text, such as black text on white background. You will get lots of compression artifacts and the text will be color tinges along the edges. I use Adobe Pro at work and was not expecting this product to compare to that, but I thought I could at least include pictures in my created PDF without the image quality being reduced so greatly.
Don't every try to fill in a PDF blank form with this product because it IS NOT WYSIWYG. Forms that appear fine on the screen will print with text fields chopped of or print as blank fields. Attempting to edit the text field to reposition it on the form is like working in the dark. You have no clue if your positioning/sizing has been done correctly until you print it again. Maybe the worst piece of commercial software I have used in over 40 years in the business.
See all 114 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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