Item: Tungsten Power PDF
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Power PDF for all handling, editing, compiling and production of all PDF's. It is simple and easy to rearrange documents, insert/delete pages, Bates number, stamp, redact and secure documents. Although the interface is a little dated (from Nuance) it is stellar in everything I need it to do, and just as powerful as the big brand. I find Power PDF much more user friendly than that product, especially for the power users that have used PDF software for a long time, and are used to being able to have granular control over their documents. With the Outlook interconnection, I can attach a PDF to an email from within Kofax and secure the metadata attached. Within Outlook I can archive mail or folders to PDF binders, including attachments to emails. That interface could use a little work (again a Nuance issue), and you may find it easier to archive directly to a .pst. However, if you need the knowledge of when it was archived and to securely lock it down, you can do that with the PDF binder, it puts a header sheet with a timestamp, and security settings or a PDF/A is available.

Pros and Cons

Power user.
Document handling.
Legal needs - Bates, redaction, etc.

User interface.
Outlook add-on.
Remembering last saved-to or opened location.

Return on Investment

No subscription.
Major cost savings over other product.
Easy to use interface saves time.

Ease-of-Use

Very easy to use. If I can't find something the search brings up the feature I need. Bates numbers can be placed, and removed. Redaction can be in several formats or colors. Security features are a plus. OCR is decent. Most feature placement is intuitive, and I appreciate how well it works with Outlook. It also has a Save to Word feature, that keeps most formatting in place.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

This is for Adobe Acrobat DC and Reader DC - Not a fan of subscription models, especially in a 2 person office. Their menu is aimed at non-power users, they hid commands I used daily. I was a long time user of Adobe, until the subscriptions and major cost increases. I've used Power PDF for several years now, and am still happy with it through multiple versions.

Support Rating

I've rarely had to contact them for anything, and usually got an appropriate response thereafter.

Key Insights

Do you think Tungsten Power PDF delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Tungsten Power PDF's feature set?

Yes

Did Tungsten Power PDF live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Tungsten Power PDF go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Tungsten Power PDF again?

Yes

Other Software Used

IDrive, Acronis True Image

Features

Most valuable features to me are: Bates numbering; redaction; security features including cleaning metadata; "Document Assembly" view, which lets me see many pages all at once and move, delete, insert, etc. from that view; typewriter feature; highlighting and commenting; split documents; combine documents; and optimize them for size or viewing.

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited for legal and other professionals that handle large volumes of documents and need to work within them. Much easier to find/use all of the program features. If all you need to do is read documents there is a free product that will do the job, available everywhere.

Users and Roles

1 - Paralegal. Everything from drafting lengthy documents to review of hundreds or thousands of pages of records. Sorting, inserting, deleting, extracting, bates numbering, redacting, removing metadata, creating binders/portfolios, converting different types of documents into pdf. Creating and filling in forms for court and other uses. OCR is available to use as well. Once that completes you can search the entire document.

Support Headcount Required

1 - I'm a tech savvy paralegal for a solo, and am my own support. This program is very simple to install and update. There is customer service if you need it, but I have only ever reported one issue which was resolved quickly. If you are familiar with installing programs this should be an easy program to set up. Menus are clear to find what you need in the program.

Business Processes Supported

PDF creation and editing
document security
creation and editing of forms, both from originals and non-fillable forms

Innovative Uses

Being able to edit a PDF we received, which needed modifying asap.
Taking scanned forms and using the form creation tool and then editing it
OCR and then searching a 1000s+ page document for key words.

Future Planned Uses

Using the "stamps" feature to create/import Exhibit Sticker stamps
Flattening said stamps to then use the Typewriter feature to mark the Exhibit Number

Likelihood to Renew

I could not do my job without it. It does everything I need it to do, including putting Exhibit Sticker stamps on it. The menus are simple and clear, and if for some reason I cannot find a tool, I can search for it. I can flatten a document for faxing or other purposes. The redacting is simple to understand with multiple options available. Bates numbers can be placed wherever I want them, and use my choice of numbering style. If you remember to create/save that as a type, you can even have it begin the next document at the next number in the sequence. Especially useful over years of discovery responses. I feel like this program works with me, not me fighting it to get done what I need it to do.

Products Replaced

Yes - Adobe Acrobat Pro 8/9/10/11/DC. I found the new versions of Acrobat hid most of what I used on a daily basis deep into menus I could not find. Then the tools seemed to decide what I wanted it to do, not what I actually needed it to do. I also did not see the need to pay them a subscription for the program attempting to think for me. As a long time power user, it suddenly became geared toward the user-friendly public.

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Product Usability

The price of being able to just purchase my license, on my schedule, was very much a consideration as a solo firm. That it contained all of the features I'd been paying the Pro version for in Acrobat was even better. It did not take me long at all to adapt to the program.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I would try out a couple of other programs, but at the time (when DC first came out) there were not that many good alternatives. I did try out one other program at the time, but this product was superior to it. Since it has been several years, I have looked at the occasional competitor, but remain happy with Power PDF. Just opening up Acrobat Reader irks me, with their menus being completely hidden and a request for money.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

The form creation tool is fairly accurate and nice to use
Bates numbering

Difficult Tasks

OCR of very large documents can hang/fail. Otherwise works fine. I split the big ones now.

Usability

The issues with OCR of large document is the only reason I rated a 9. Otherwise this program performs very well. OCR has been problematic since it was invented, and files over 500 pages I think just take too much memory to recognize and process without the program being able to save the document while it does this process. Completely understandable. Especially with poor quality documents, it just takes a huge amount of processing power. My workstation has more than sufficient memory for most things, I just think without a "shadow copy/saved" version of the document the program hangs when it fills the memory. I've just started splitting large documents into pieces, OCR, and then combining them back into one document if needed. Of important note, several other OCR only programs also failed on these same documents.

Power PDF saves your sanity

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Kofax Power PDF (formerly Nuance)