Foxit PhantomPDF Standard

CNET Editors' review

by: Jaymar Cabebe on August 16, 2011

Foxit PhantomPDF is a blazing-fast PDF creator and editor that gets the job done. It comes in three different editions--Express, Standard, and Business--all of which are easy to use and significantly less expensive than Adobe Acrobat.

Foxit PhantomPDF's interface has the look and feel common to most document and word-processing software: a menu bar, customizable, icon-based toolbars, and a main display. In addition, the program features a distinctive, ultrathin navigation panel on the far left that allows quick access to documents via bookmarks or thumbnails as well as attachments, signatures, and layers. Hovering the cursor over the subtly colored icons calls up descriptive labels that are more than sufficient to explain each control, which makes it easy to dive right in and start creating and editing PDFs. Plus, you can choose from different skins and toolbar modes to suit your preferences.

But PhantomPDF isn't just a pretty face. Even the Express edition comes with features like XFA form-filling, digital signature validation, password encryption, and basic annotation tools for adding comments, highlights, and more. Meanwhile, with the Standard edition you can create forms and edit PDF text contents directly--almost as if you're working with a text document in a word processor. And finally, for those in need of a more powerful PDF experience, PhantomPDF Business edition gives you RMS-protected document support and advanced PDF editing tools.

Overall, we highly recommend Foxit PhantomPDF for all of your PDF-creating needs. It's fast, powerful, easy to use, and doesn't cost you an arm and a leg like some of its competitors.