by Anura Guruge
on April 21, 2022
A couple of hours ago I submitted my latest print book to ‘Amazon’ ‘KDP’ for proofing. The body of that book, which has to be in PDF form, was created, very successfully & painlessly, using Foxit PDF Editor Pro. This is the first time I have published a print book without using Adobe Acrobat. I had been using Adobe Acrobat, albeit not without headaches & heartaches, since around 2001. So, yes, I had been an Acrobat user for 20-years. I have published over 26 books (out my 36 (or so)) using Acrobat. I will admit that I had got to the point I could use Acrobat, to produce books, in my sleep. It was down to muscle memory. Bang, bang, bang … & I had a camera-ready PDF for publication.
Then last year, after 12-years, I finally got a NEW PC. Wow. There was one downside which I knew in advance. My copy of ‘Acrobat 9 Pro’, which I had purchased in 2009, was not going to work on ‘Windows 10‘ on my new PC. I, of course, looked at the Adobe offerings. I was disgusted by the pricing. Yes, I can afford it, BUT it feels like outright exploitation. Plus, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t had my share of grief with Adobe. So, I avowed, last year that I would NOT go with Adobe. I, as is usually my want, have been true to my avowal. I did NOT get Adobe Acrobat.
Instead I got Foxit PDF Editor Pro for a one-time fee of $179. That is the same as a 1-year subscription to Adobe Acrobat DC. That is crazy.
Foxit PDF Editor Pro tries to be so alike Acrobat. To I it was seamless.
I, to be fair, only need three functions: create high-quality (clean) PDF files from Word, to be able to merge multiple PDFs into a single PDF & use the SEARCH capability to INDEX a book. I managed to do all of these, effortlessly, with Foxit.
By habit & choice I use the Print Driver to create PDFs. Have done it so for decades. Foxit provides a nifty Print Driver & I quickly edited a profile for my needs with high-quality image printing. Merging PDFs is even NICER than with Acrobat! Extremely easy. As for SEARCH, it is a mirror image of what I am used to with Adobe. Piece of cake.
So, I am happy camper.
I have NOT seen the Amazon printed proofs as yet. I will get them next week, on Wednesday. They will tell me how the image sampling worked. Yes, I am a bit nervous about that. Fingers crossed. I will, of course, let you know.
But for now, I am GLAD I went with Foxit. Screw Adobe. I don’t like to feel that I am being exploited.