Free PDF Filler / Editor???

[OnMyWay]

Does anyone know of a truly free PDF filler / editor?  Everything I have tried has a short free period and then is very expensive.  Most are 6+ USD a month.

When I was working on our New Zealand visas, NZ immigration recommended Smallpdf.com for compression, and it has all the editing tools too.  I had a 14 day free trial and just squeezed in everything I needed to do with the visas, which was a lot.  I like it a lot but it is $72 a year.

[Mike J]

Have you tried "PDF-XChange Editor".  They advertise a free light version, and you can pay if you need additional features.  I have not downloaded or used it so I can't offer any opinion as to how good it might be.   Before I retired I wrote custom software for the trucking industry.  I needed to manipulate and merge various documents for doing electronic billing and document imagining.  I would purchase OCX plugins to use with my software but they were sometimes expensive and a different animal than what I think you need.   Worth a try if the free version has the tools you need.

You can find the actual company website by googling "Tracker Software"

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

I use the free version of Foxit.  It is far from perfect but I can make it do what I need.

 

[Jack Peterson]

1 minute ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

It is far from perfect but I can make it do what I need.

 Food for a joke here Young man but................................ The Dog needs walking 

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Mike J said:

Have you tried "PDF-XChange Editor". 

Thanks Mike!  The free version will get me by for what I need to do now, which is fill in Social Security "proof of life" forms for my 2 daughters and print them.  If I save them, it adds "DEMO" across the page.

All of these "free" software do stuff like that.  They say the free version will have 80% functionality of the paid version, but the missing 20% are critical things like saving and printing.

I shouldn't be whining and I don't mind paying for good software, but it seems like prices have gone up a lot since I used to buy boxed software in a store.  And the requirement for subscriptions and automatic billing is a deal breaker for me in most cases.  In the old days, if I remember correctly, a lot of boxed software could be had for $30-50????  Now it is downloaded, no box, and the prices are much higher.

However, in that respect, PDF-XChange Editor might be a winner.  It is $43.50 with updates for a year.  I might consider it.  It operates from your computer, not online like SMALLPDF.com.

[Mike J]

10 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

if I remember correctly, a lot of boxed software could be had for $30-50????

Those were the good old days my friend. 

Before I retired my company bought an extension module to use for Electronic Data Exchange (EDI).  The price was $5000 which was quite a bargain really.  It was only later that they told us the fee for "implementation and setting up our existing customers" would be $32,000.  I told them I would write my own software and they told me I could not because there piece was proprietary.   I then told them I did not need or want to use software, I could write the code myself.  They then said and this quote is 100% accurate "Well, I guess we can't stop you.  But why would you even want to try and write your own?"  I told them "I can give you $32,000 reasons why."  Damn I hated those guys, but at least the feeling was mutual.  Several years later our customer base had grown and my original program was struggling with the volume.  I gave them another chance, this time the "consultant and setup fees" would be $86,000 after being given a 20% discount!  So I again wrote my own program and it was still being used when I retired seven years ago.  I absolutely despise companies that think they have you over a barrel and charge you what basically amounts to legal extortion. 

[OnMyWay]

11 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Those were the good old days my friend. 

Before I retired my company bought an extension module to use for Electronic Data Exchange (EDI).  The price was $5000 which was quite a bargain really.  It was only later that they told us the fee for "implementation and setting up our existing customers" would be $32,000.  I told them I would write my own software and they told me I could not because there piece was proprietary.   I then told them I did not need or want to use software, I could write the code myself.  They then said and this quote is 100% accurate "Well, I guess we can't stop you.  But why would you even want to try and write your own?"  I told them "I can give you $32,000 reasons why."  Damn I hated those guys, but at least the feeling was mutual.  Several years later our customer base had grown and my original program was struggling with the volume.  I gave them another chance, this time the "consultant and setup fees" would be $86,000 after being given a 20% discount!  So I again wrote my own program and it was still being used when I retired seven years ago.  I absolutely despise companies that think they have you over a barrel and charge you what basically amounts to legal extortion. 

Yes, when I worked for a big corp and heard the prices they were paying for enterprise software, my jaw would drop!

[Mike J]

7 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Yes, when I worked for a big corp and heard the prices they were paying for enterprise software, my jaw would drop!

They love to get you so far in that it becomes even more expensive to get back out.   Instead of a win/win partnership, it becomes a parasitic relationship.  Now I am all upset again.  I guess I better pour back a cold one with lunch. 

[OnMyWay]

13 minutes ago, Mike J said:

They love to get you so far in that it becomes even more expensive to get back out.   Instead of a win/win partnership, it becomes a parasitic relationship.  Now I am all upset again.  I guess I better pour back a cold one with lunch. 

Yes, I managed a database application built for us by a third party when I was in Germany.  They were a relatively small German company and in my company, we talked many times about going with a more mainstream, popular DB product, but the budget to switch would never get approved.