Program to read PDF files

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hlewton
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Program to read PDF files

Post by hlewton »

I purchased a program called Corel PDF Fusion. It is supposed to read PDF files and do other tasks like converting those PDF files to other formats. It doesn't even open half of the PDF files I encounter. I have to use a free Adobe Acrobat program to read these files. I have contacted Corel and they brush it off with an "I sorry for your inconvenience." As we all know, that does not help at all. Is anyone familiar with this program and know of anything that can be done to make it work as it should? It wasn't overly expensive but it was around 60 to 70 dollars so I believe it should work.
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hlewton

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Percy Vere
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by Percy Vere »

Hello hlewton, I use PDFXViewer Portable to read my pdf files. You might have difficulty finding it as 'its past it's sell by date' but it is still available. To edit pdf files, I use CutePDF Writer, it can print nearly anything in pdf format. To edit a pdf, I use an online version https://editor.cutepdf.com/
Remember to use a copy of the pdf you intend to edit for practice.
Regards
Percy
Windows 10 Home 21H2

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

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Thank you for that information.
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hlewton

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stuck
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by stuck »

hlewton wrote:
13 Jun 2022, 23:03
...It doesn't even open half of the PDF files I encounter...
Can you give a bit more detail on what you mean by that? Is it that:

1) When are running the application and you use its 'File Open' )=(or equivalent) command and select a PDF file then sometimes the file in question opens but other times it doesn't? If the latter, what error message, if any, do you get?

2) If you are looking at a list of PDF files on your PC/laptop using File Explorer and when you double click on one then the file doesn't open in the application, instead the file opens up in a different PDF reader, e.g. Adobe Acrobat?

3) If you encounter a PDF on the web then when you click on it, it doesn't open in the application but instead it opens up within your browser?

4) Some other scenario?

Ken

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

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stuck wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 14:04
hlewton wrote:
13 Jun 2022, 23:03
...It doesn't even open half of the PDF files I encounter...
Can you give a bit more detail on what you mean by that? Is it that:

1) When are running the application and you use its 'File Open' )=(or equivalent) command and select a PDF file then sometimes the file in question opens but other times it doesn't? If the latter, what error message, if any, do you get?

2) If you are looking at a list of PDF files on your PC/laptop using File Explorer and when you double click on one then the file doesn't open in the application, instead the file opens up in a different PDF reader, e.g. Adobe Acrobat?

3) If you encounter a PDF on the web then when you click on it, it doesn't open in the application but instead it opens up within your browser?

4) Some other scenario?

Ken
When I get a PDF file, either sent to me like the one you can see in the attachment, which was on an external drive I just bought, or I go on line and download a users manual, for instance. Corel PDF Fusion will very often not open it. It will not open the pdf file attached. I get, first the error message you can see in the second attachment. Not very helpful, at least to me. When I click on the "OK" in the second attachment, I get what you see in the third attachment. I get the same thing as in attachment 3 if I just open Corel PDF Fusion without trying to open any particular file. I can open any PDF file at anyone's WEB site I have encountered so far with no problems. I believe that is done with the WEB Browser, but in any case, it opens when I am at anyone's WEB site, which I think your number 3 above is saying.

Again Adobe Acrobat DC will open the attached PDF file and Corel PDF Fusion will not.

If Corel PDF Fusion will not open a file the first time, it never will.

I do not look at a list of PDF Files as a rule, but I did just that, probably 6 months ago when I contacted Corel. I do not remember the exact number of files that would no open, but it was significant, especially considering Corel was not free. They were sorry for my inconvenience but could not guarantee any product changes would be in the works. To me, that is saying I wasted my time with them.

I hope I have answered your questions.
3 Year Standard Limited Warrant.pdf
PDF Fussion1.jpg
PDF Fussion2.jpg
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Regards,
hlewton

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StuartR
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by StuartR »

I don't know if this helps, but the file you can't open is PDF Version 1.7 with password protection to prevent changes and copying.
I suspect this might be caused by the password protection, but you would have to try different combinations to be sure.
StuartR


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stuck
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by stuck »

StuartR wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 15:43
I don't know if this helps, but the file you can't open is PDF Version 1.7 with password protection to prevent changes and copying.
I suspect this might be caused by the password protection, but you would have to try different combinations to be sure.
As I guess you already know Stuart, PDF password protection comes in two 'flavours':

1) One method prevents a PDF from being changed. In this case a PDF reader should open the file and display a padlock or the like somewhere.

2) The other prevents the PDF from being opened unless you know the password, in which case a PDF Reader should prompt you for the password.

The password protection on this example file uses method 1) so the protection should not prevent Corel PDF Fusion from opening it.

I think it is more likely that root cause is that because the PDF version 1.7 standard is old Corel simply doesn't support it. I suggest this because when I try to open the example PDF using Affinity Photo (yes, AFP can open PDFs) it won't open but I do at least get a informative message, i.e. that the file format is unsupported. I can see that as a modern photo editing app (that is in effect a part of a suite of apps for design and DTP) the lack of support for an old version of the PDF std is unsurprising but for a dedicated (pay money) PDF authoring application not to handle old versions is just bizarre.

Ken

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

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StuartR wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 15:43
I don't know if this helps, but the file you can't open is PDF Version 1.7 with password protection to prevent changes and copying.
I suspect this might be caused by the password protection, but you would have to try different combinations to be sure.
I am not at all sure what I could try. When I open Corel PDF first and then do a File>Open and direct it to the folder and click on that file, it shows a preview of it in the right pane. However, in almost greyed out words is says, "This file has limited permissions. You may not have access to some features." When I click on a link in that windows to view permissions, it gives a list of only 2 that are blocked out, "Content copying" and "Editing file content. Nowhere does it say or list opening or viewing it as being restricted. But, it must be because I cannot open it. Not sure how you knew it had a password but I cannot bypass it to get the file to open.

Thanks for the reply.
Regards,
hlewton

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by hlewton »

hlewton wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 17:04
StuartR wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 15:43
I don't know if this helps, but the file you can't open is PDF Version 1.7 with password protection to prevent changes and copying.
I suspect this might be caused by the password protection, but you would have to try different combinations to be sure.
I am not at all sure what I could try. When I open Corel PDF first and then do a File>Open and direct it to the folder and click on that file, it shows a preview of it in the right pane. However, in almost greyed out words is says, "This file has limited permissions. You may not have access to some features." When I click on a link in that windows to view permissions, it gives a list of only 2 that are blocked out, "Content copying" and "Editing file content. Nowhere does it say or list opening or viewing it as being restricted. But, it must be because I cannot open it. Not sure how you knew it had a password but I cannot bypass it to get the file to open.

Thanks for the reply.
I did a Help>About to see what version of the program I have and it says Version 1:14 and the build is (build - 15.09/2014) which seems very old to me. That probably falls into a category like you're talking about. However, Corel has never offered me an upgrade, not even when I contacted them. Believe me, it isn't easy to contact or get help from them. I may give it another try and get frustrated by their help.

Thanks for the reply.
Regards,
hlewton

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stuck
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by stuck »

hlewton wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 17:12
I did a Help>About to see what version of the program I have and it says Version 1:14...
Stuart and I are not talking about the version of Corel PDF Fusion that you have, we are talking about the version of the PDF standard used to create the file:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_PDF

Try this, open the example PDF using Adobe Acrobat then click File | Properties. The bottom section of the first tab in the dialog box that appears is headed 'Advanced' an in that section you can see the file conforms to v1.7 of the PDF standard. The second tab of that dialog shows you the security permissions set on the file. The top bit shows it is password protected and the bottom bit show that you should be able to do anything except add pages, copy the contents and extract pages - yet Corel won't even open it.

The home page for Corel PDF Fusion implies they have a 30 day money back guarantee:
https://www.wordperfect.com/en/product/pdf-creator/

Presumably you are beyond that limit though?

Ken

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HansV
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by HansV »

This is what Foxit PDF Reader shows:

S1503.png
S1504.png
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Hans

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stuck
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by stuck »

Thanks Hans, that's more or less what I see in the free version of Adobe Acrobat. If I get chance when I'm back at work tomorrow (i.e when I'm upstairs not, here, downstairs :grin: ) I'll see what happens when I try to open the file using the all singing all dancing version of Acrobat Pro on my work laptop.

Ken

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

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stuck wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 17:51
hlewton wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 17:12
I did a Help>About to see what version of the program I have and it says Version 1:14...
Stuart and I are not talking about the version of Corel PDF Fusion that you have, we are talking about the version of the PDF standard used to create the file:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_PDF

Try this, open the example PDF using Adobe Acrobat then click File | Properties. The bottom section of the first tab in the dialog box that appears is headed 'Advanced' an in that section you can see the file conforms to v1.7 of the PDF standard. The second tab of that dialog shows you the security permissions set on the file. The top bit shows it is password protected and the bottom bit show that you should be able to do anything except add pages, copy the contents and extract pages - yet Corel won't even open it.

The home page for Corel PDF Fusion implies they have a 30 day money back guarantee:
https://www.wordperfect.com/en/product/pdf-creator/

Presumably you are beyond that limit though?

Ken
OK I followed your instructions. I see in the advance section that it conforms to v1.7, see first attachment. On the security, I opened the details so you can see everything on that tab, see second attachment. Does this explain why Corel won't open it even just to view it?

Yes, I am way beyond the 30 day money back guarantee.
First Tab.jpg
Security-Show details.jpg
I have searched for an updated version of this program and so far have not found any. Any suggestions on a different PDF program that is reasonably priced? Reasonably priced because I need 3 licenses.
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Regards,
hlewton

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

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I should modify my above reply about not finding for an updated version of Corel PDF Fusion. I did find it at Amazon. it did not say what version it is and did not say it was compatible with Win 11. So I started reading the reviews about it. Seems there are some having the same experience with their support as I had. One even had the same opinion about it as me. Also, there were posts about it not doing what it is advertised to do. At Amazon, you're stuck. It says you can not return it for a refund. So that is out. Again, any suggestions for another PDF program?
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hlewton

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by hlewton »

Anyone familiar with a program called PDF PRO 10?

https://www.pdfpro10.com/LP/V2f/nix/R/? ... PDF-Pro-10
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hlewton

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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by stuck »

Before you spend money read about PDF Architect here:
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfarchitect
Then via the 'select plan' link, which takes you here:
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfarchitect/pricing
download the :free: version and try it out. It might be all you need.

Ken

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

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stuck wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 21:13
Before you spend money read about PDF Architect here:
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfarchitect
Then via the 'select plan' link, which takes you here:
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfarchitect/pricing
download the :free: version and try it out. It might be all you need.

Ken
OK, thank you. I will check those links out now.
Regards,
hlewton

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hlewton
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by hlewton »

I installed the free version of PDF Architect and it opened that file. That really is all I need to be able to do. I was thinking of upgrading to the Standard version but in both links above it is an annual fee and that is something I don't want. Thanks for those links. I am now going to try to set this program as the default for PDF files.
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hlewton

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stuck
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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by stuck »

hlewton wrote:
14 Jun 2022, 21:50
I installed the free version of PDF Architect and it opened that file. That really is all I need to be able to do...
:hmmn: I suggested the free version of PDF Architect because I thought you needed the full PDF authoring features of Corel PDF Fusion but what you say here suggests that in fact all you are looking for is an application that simply reads PDF files and you don't actually need to be able to create or edit PDF files?

In which case, as you've already got the free version of Adobe Acrobat installed why don't you use that as your default PDF application? Alternatively, like many of us here in The Lounge, try Foxit PDF Reader, which despite appearances is free:
https://www.foxit.com/pdf-reader/
You only have to pay if you want the ability to fully edit PDF files.

Ken

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Re: Program to read PDF files

Post by HansV »

Or if you want a lightweight PDF reader, try Sumatra PDF. It's completely free.
Best wishes,
Hans