Item: Tungsten Power PDF
Rating: 9
Author: Scott Lawson

Overall Satisfaction with Kofax Power PDF (formerly Nuance)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Kofax Power PDF is used company-wide to support our attorney clients. We provide litigation support and have found Power PDF to be a great addition to our arsenal of tools. We use it daily to create and edit all manner of legal documents, reports, and trial notebooks.

One thing that is very beneficial is the ability to use tabs to have several documents open at once when reviewing evidence and discovery productions. It's also easy to comment and share. The Comment feature allowing a split view landscape page for comments attached to the sections of the document is invaluable.

Edit is quick and easy, the ribbon makes our workflow seamless and the tools available are powerful. We are PDF power users and Kofax has exceeded our needs and expectations. You cannot find a better PDF program for the money.

While we still maintain an Adobe subscription we have transitioned our day-to-day operations exclusively to Kofax Power PDF Advanced. Every aspect of the legal industry uses PDF documents, we couldn't survive with Kofax.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The ability to attach video and audio files in a simple and efficient manner is invaluable. We use this feature creating trial notebooks for our clients daily.
The ability to edit in a word processor based format makes editing easy and intuitive. It also speeds our workflow without having to jump around in native programs.
Reviewing documents is simple and fast with the ability to have several documents tabbed open at one time. It has sped our review time immensely and makes our work easier.

Cons

One thing that was difficult to locate was how to change page view to a single page when opening a document. That's how I like my workflow based on our needs. I finally found it but it wasn't intuitive.
Setting up e-signatures was difficult and I still don't have it down. The documentation wasn't clear.

Return on Investment

It has increased our efficiency and ability to provide quality services to our clients.
It is cost effective and allows everyone to have a a licensed copy without great expense.
We produce higher quality deliverables in less time which increases our bottom line.

Ease-of-Use

It is extremely easy to use and very intuitive. There have only been a couple of things that were not clear. Everything else is clear and simple right out of the box. Our staff has picked up its powerful features quickly and we didn't know what we were missing.

Alternatives Considered

I have Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. Kofax is easier to use, more cost-effective, and offers better features for the price. While I have to have a subscription to Acrobat for certain clients and projects, Kofax is my go-to PDF solution. I believe everyone can benefit from its simple but powerful tool sets.

Support Rating

I haven't used support, but have had a couple of issues. I tried to resolve those by using the support documentation and online research without success for one problem. The other was resolved after about 15 minutes of research. Overall the support documentation is good and the software overall is easy to use.

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

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Flip PDF, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Features

The ability to add video and audio is invaluable. Kofax makes the process smooth and easy. It works every time. The ability to export as a PDF package makes our workflow streamlined and efficient. We've found it much easier than Adobe in creating trial notebooks. Editing is so much easier using the ribbon and word processing style features. I don't edit PDFs in anything but Kofax anymore. I also like the ability to set the security level to automatically ask to wipe the metadata when you close a document. All important in our everyday tasks.

Likelihood to Recommend

In providing legal services a PDF program is a must. Kofax is extremely intuitive, a fast learning curve, and the best buy for the money. That's from someone who has used Adobe Acrobat professional products for over 20 years. I still have Adobe but use Kofax as my go-to PDF program every day. The Advanced version is really worth the money for creating workflows like Bates numbering and package production.

Using Kofax Power PDF (formerly Nuance)

Users and Roles

2 - Legal drafting including discovery production, discovery review, and combining files. We use the Bates numbering for every case. We find that Kofax is easier and more straight forward to use than Adobe (which we also have a Pro subscription).

Support Headcount Required

2 - Our support includes legal consultants and analysts involved in creating PDF file productions, merging documents, converting files, Bates stamping files, and creating trial notebooks. The skills require an understanding of various file types as well as the functions associated with Kofax to produce quality, error-free documents. Kofax has a low learning curve and is very intuitive. It also provides great functionality for all these projects.

Business Processes Supported

Converting files to PDF
Bates numbering
OCR and page organization
Portfolio creation

Innovative Uses

Creating trial binders
Automating table of contents
Hyperlinking documents across production sets

Future Planned Uses

Automated forms
E-signing

Likelihood to Renew

Kofax is a powerful and easy-to-use PDF production program. It has a robust feature set and works well in a legal consulting and litigation support environment. It is easily expanded to multiple team members and has easy-to-use collaboration tools. The cost of the product is well worht the investment and the ROI for time savings which can be devoted to other projects.

Evaluating Kofax Power PDF and Competitors

Products Replaced

Yes - Abobe PDF (we still maintain a subscription for integration to other legal software)

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Usability

Kofax has a robust feature set and is very intuitive. It is easy to use and the support materials are easily referenced to learn new skills. It provides a powerful solution to provide litigation support. The price point is very attractive for the feature set and we continue to subscribe because we use it every day.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

Our evaluation process is pretty straightforward. We test in a real-life scenario trying the things we do every day. If we changed anything about our selection process it would be to deeply evaluate the more advanced features and knowledge base on how to implement those features. While the price is very reasonable, it is not a major factor in our decision making, the time savings and product features are the most important things we look at.

Kofax Power PDF Implementation

Implementation Rating

Easy and quick, with no problems or support needed. Worked as intended right out of the box. E-signing was the only area that implementation was dificult and required support.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Change Management Lessons

Change management was minimal - None, it was easily deployed and up and running within about 15 minutes.

Implementation Issues

E-signing setup

Kofax Power PDF Support

Tungsten Power PDF Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved No escalation required Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

No, Kofax was intuitive and easy to use out of the box. We considered the purchase, but for our needs, it was a quick learning curve and deployment was very easy with no issues. If we had needed to deploy over a wide network with server support to a large number of employees I have no doubt we would have purchased the premium support.

Bug Resolution

Using Kofax Power PDF

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

Converting files to PDF
OCR
Bates numbering
Portfolio creation
Linking

Difficult Tasks

E-signing

Usability

Ease of use on the desktop version is straightforward and easy. There is a low learning curve and it is very intuitive. It is very easy to use, has no hidden steps that require support or extensive time to learn. It works well and the features are well integrated.

Comments

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Benjamin Liu
(Vendor Representative) commented 3 years ago
Thank you for the positive review!