Welcome to another blog post on freebies and free stuff for writers. Today’s entry is about a free software from NUANCE, a well known name in document software. But is this one of the freebies that is worth the price?

Pro’s of the Freebie
If all you have is Adobe Acrobat, the free version, on your computer, this might be right for you. Adobe is slow, offers few features, and can annoy with constant requests to update and/or upgrade. This software actually lets you do more than open and view them. It purports to let you create them, edit, and even has OCR, which is a tool for turning images into recognizable text.

Con’s of the Freebie
Out of over 120 reviews on Amazon, the software is not highly praised by advanced users who want a powerful PDF creation tool. The OCR is also heard to not be terribly effective, which is what I want in a PDF software, but your demands may vary. It is also not compatible with Windows 8, and this is one of the freebies in software only available for PC.

My Thoughts on the Freebie
I find a lot of the functions of these types of software can be done by other programs or by some creative tool usage, rather than just adding another form of bloatware to my hard drive that will weight it down. For example, most versions of Word allow you to save in PDF form, which is a fine tool for those who just want to create a simple PDF. There are also many online tools, that are also freebies, that let you do tasks such as OCR or compress, but we’ll discuss these at a later time.

Verdict on the best of the PDF Freebies

My favorite of the PDF freebies continues to be PDF XChange. They have many paid versions, the standard being only about $40. However, their freeware also has tons of functions including a typewriter for adding text, an image insert to add signature, and much more. And of course, no matter which of the PDF freebies you go with, a simple creation of a restore point on your computer can undo the install if you are unhappy.

How to Get This Freebie

To get this freebie for writers do the following:

Go to the item on Newegg

If you haven’t, sign up for their free newsletter.

Add the item to the cart and purchase, but don’t forget to click below the text that says “Receive a $40 prepaid card by mail from NUANCE! Expires on 2/15/14” to get the rebate that will make the software free.

This freebie for writers ends February 2, 2014

L. Fabry is the author of Ordinance 93, a novel set in a world where having a baby without permission is against the law and the first four people to break it. She also writes about everything from reaction injection molding to low fat recipes while indulging her need for creative outlets including novels and screenplays. Find out more on Twitter.