Review: Right Tool, Right Price

The use and operation are seamless. There are no apparent effects to any of the applications tested. In fact, they all appear to be unaware the printer is not a physical device. The PDF files are produced in a reasonable amount of time and seem only to depend on the size of the document. Text and graphics take a similar amount of time to produce, and the text quality is good. When selecting output for print, the density is 300 dpi. Font reproduction is true with correct spacing, point size and kerning.

When determining strengths and weaknesses we see PrimoPDF has an extremely easy interface; however, it is not readily apparent to the end user what the difference between the "for print" and "for screen" settings is and what they do. Nevertheless, if the appropriate option is selected, the file produced is satisfactory.

The freeware version requires registration before you are allowed to begin using it. For no apparent reason, the registration screen reappears after several uses. When the user fills out the information and clicks submit, a "server not available" error appears. We discovered a workaround (pressing ESC), but a nave user would find this unacceptable because there is no apparent way to cancel the registration.

A registry change is required to prevent the re-registration event from recurring. In addition, some users have reported conflicts with printing PostScript files or with using other AFPL Ghostscript-dependent utilities. These are big weaknesses, although we suspect these glitches will be gone in coming releases.

Overall, we like PrimoPDF, as it is an attractive alternative for the end user in all markets from SOHO to enterprise. It is free and it works with ease. With today's rising software costs, and the need for more portable document storage and long-term file retention, PrimoPDF is an attractive alternative for producing PDF documents. Selling this software to the finance officer is a no-brainer.

When analyzing the value of activePDF and its channel opportunities we see the real value for the channel is the extensive line of robust tools it offers. The products offer an attractive opportunity for a channel partner to build custom integrated solutions and future software maintenance revenues.

ActivePDF has several levels of partnership available. To its credit, activePDF is looking for dedicated partners and only asks for a modest fee for its more elite programs. All of these fees are returned to the partner once an equal amount of sales by the partner is reached. This is an attractive way to develop partners and weed out the less dedicated.

Overall, activePDF offers a fine tool in PrimoPDF, which produces accurate PDF files without hassle, and has a small footprint on the client (15 Mbytes). If the appropriate registry changes are made to resolve registration recurrence, there are no factors that inhibit unlimited free use.

Darrel Bowman is CEO and Bruce McDanold is a senior project manager with AppTech, a disabled veteran-owned full-service solution provider based in Tacoma, Wash.