An Honest Review of PDFelment
Here’s a review of some software I did for my writing site, This Writer’s Life www.thiswriterslife.com and thought the product might be a good fit for BSG too as we’re now focusing on launching a business and I think this software could be helpful.
I’ve never reviewed products here at TWL before but I was recently approached by a company to do just that. So disclaimer up front, I received the product in exchange for an honest review.
What is the product and why did I agree to review it and share it with you?
It a software program called PDFelement and it’s made by Wondershare Software LLC. At first, I thought it might not be a good match for TWL’s audience but after checking it out I realized a lot of you, like me, could put it to good use in your writing life.
Since I began getting rights back to my books, I’ve been using Adobe to convert the old pdfs to Word so I can then format them ready for republishing. I can’t remember exactly what I’ve paid for it but as we all know things quickly add up. PDFelement does the same thing but for a lot less. In fact, once you’ve purchased the software, you don’t have any more reoccurring fees. So if like me, you’re publishing back titles, or will anytime in the future, it’s going to be easier on your budget.
https://pdf.wondershare.com/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=wlife-peblq&utm_campaign=wspe
The conversion to Word and then into my self-publishing template hasn’t been without its issues even with using Adobe so I gave this PDFelement feature a test run to see how things compared. While it wasn’t exactly perfect because there were still some gaps between words and paragraphs, it was actually a lot better than when I uploaded the Adobe conversion file into my template.
One feature I’m especially excited about is being able to type information into the pdfs it creates. As many of you know I teach writing classes and I’m currently putting together workbooks that I save as pdfs. Now it means my students won’t have to print out the workbooks if they don’t want to and can add text straight into them.
PDFelement also has a file of templates you can use…always love templates because they cut your worktime in half. I was pleased to see there’s a newsletter template. I gave that a test run and have to say I loved it. When it comes to words and graphics combined together in a file…well, let’s just say I’m not the best designer but it looked pretty good. I’m probably going to start using it to send out to my students to keep them up to date on classes and writing tips.
If any of you run a business…I know a few of you do, they also have gift certificate templates and even W-2 Forms.
So, what did I think about the ease of installing the software? As many of you know I call myself Ms. Untechy because anything in the technical realm, especially connected with a computer, sends me into a panic. The installation was fairly easy but I have to say it seemed a bit sluggish. I’m not sure if it was my laptop or the fact there’s a lot to install but it did take some time and then when the laptop restarted that took a long time too. When I first used PDFelement, it immediately did an update to a new version.
As for ease of use when you first start out, there are tutorials, but all in all, the icons are straightforward and self-explanatory. It’s similar to a Word Doc so that makes things a lot easier…especially for me because I hate having to learn everything from scratch again. You can change colors, import images and there are different fonts. Depending on how creativity you want to be, the sky’s the limit.
While I’m on a deadline from the company to get this review published, I’ve not had time to play with all the things this software has to offer, however, I’m really looking forward to exploring more and using it in my own writing life and business.
I know many of you are probably Adobe fans, but if you’re looking for a less expensive alternative for your writing needs, then at least give it a try. Yes, you can sign up for a trial before you make a decision about purchasing it. The link below offers you a 50% discount if you do decide to go ahead and purchase it. That’s my initial review and I’ll keep you updated the more I use it.
You must be logged in to post a comment.