Soda PDF for Windows

User Reviews

• Stay away from SODA

  waywilldo14/2/2018

  Pros

  It is fairly easy to use.

  Cons

  There are plenty of cons for this program. first, there is no customer service. You can call them at any hour and they will not answer the phone nor will they return a phone call. The program has many bugs in it. It can freeze up on you and you have to restart the program. Buying it means you will have a dozen pop-ups every day even when you are not even using it. There is a way to try to turn off the pop-ups but it doesn't work no matter how many times you try to use it. The pop-ups say you need to buy the full version or you are running an old version and need to download the newest version. It doesn't matter if you have the newest version. As I said they do not have customer support and last week I was doing some work on it and went to print. I needed a landscape print. I changed the setting but it wouldn't change back to portrait no matter how much I tried. I reinstalled the software thinking I could get it to work that way but it didn't solve the problem.

  Summary

  No matter what I did Soda would not respond. They say their program is equal to or even better than Acrobat but they are no where close. I bit the bullet and ordered Acrobat. Problem solved. I can't warn you enough. do not buy this program. You will just throw away your money.

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• USE AT YOUR OWN RISK & CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NONEXISTENT

  Enigmatic853/23/2018

  Pros

  It will work for a few months.

  Cons

  I purchased Soda PDF 9 Professional and have had nothing but problems after a few months of operating. I have installed, removed, restarted the computer, and reinstalled the program and it has consistently failed to operate. The program was purchased because it had a perpetual license--the perpetual license is what I think Soda wanted to defeat as the program is nonfunctional on my computer and the only thing that comes up when I try to edit a document is "You do not have access to this feature. Click on the Activate now button below to unlock this feature." It then takes me to a purchase window. I do not want to purchase any more of their products -- I just want the one that I purchased to operate as advertised. It is hard to believe that Soda operates in this manner where it is bereft of customer service and/or quality assurance. I will never purchase another downloadable product where the corporation does not have a telephone number and a presence in the US.

  Summary

  1) Installation and uninstallation is long and laborious; 2) There is no customer service; 3) The purchased product is a ripoff; 4) Soda tries to extort you to surrender your perpetual license by sabotaging your version and telling you that you must purchase a new product that is annually renewed; and, 5) There is not a US presence without a telephone number. Ergo, do not purchase this product or any others from Soda unless you are a masochist and enjoy being ripped off and frustrated.

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• Pleasant UI + Telemetry ?

  André Fabiani7/12/2017

  Pros

  -Graphic interface reminds those of Nitro, PDF Architect, etc. -Modular structure. -Loads reasonably fast (on Win 7 Pro 64-bits) -Does its job.

  Cons

  -Paid version (9.2.5) connects permanently with 64.15.159.207 AND 198.72.111.124, without any previous authorization asked for.

  Summary

  If it were just for automatic updates, why 1) permanent messaging connections and 2) TWO of them ? With who-you-know obstinate tries for "telemetry", one gets suspicious, takes off one and a half stars - and uninstalls this. A pity, for a not unpleasant software.

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• Clunky, Frustrating and Unreliable

  Mr_Amayzing4/8/2017

  Pros

  Good feature set with Standard edition Nice layout

  Cons

  Doesn't always work properly - very unreliable Very clunky and slow PDF convert/print often locks up and wont work again till program is reinstalled No Crop function Download and installs modules you never requested - no way to stop this Updates modules you never requested - wasted download See my summary for full review

  Summary

  Appears excellent on the surface with great features (as the reviewer states) but this program has some major flaws that will let you down big time.... Firstly it is very clunky to install and takes forever. Downloads and installs modules you never asked for and then also updates them when the program is updated. Secondly once installed very slow on first launch after computer is turned on. Can be very frustrating. Thirdly the convert/print to PDF function seems to get stuck on frequent occasions with no way round other than to reinstall the program. Fourthly Doesnt have a basic crop function. bad oversight! Fifthly If you want to install on a new computer your key (based on your email address) wont work. You need to request a new key. This is a bit of hit and miss with customer service. Sixthly. When you try to fill out forms you can only do this in the forms module which requires a paid subscription even though such interactive forms can be filled out on any other pdf reader. Seventh. The latest upgrade includes Soda PDF anywhere. Each time you launch the program it opens in this window by default with no way to change this. Very frustrating. Don't upgrade from V8. Overall, whilst the program looks great on the surface, unfortunately once you start using the program you will find it is spoilt because it is clunky, frustrating and unreliable.

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• Does the support team in the company still exist?

  cecilia9003033/22/2017

  Pros

  the software itself is ok even though it opens up slowly

  Cons

  I have been asking for help to transfer my license key to another computer for the last three weeks, created many tickets, tried to get on line chat. None of those worked. No one responded. couldn't find any other contact method. STUCK!!!

  Summary

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• difficult to uninstall, errors in ,pdf w/columns, a ha

  carlosjii12/7/2016

  Pros

  quick, nice preview window

  Cons

  add A LOT of stuff to your computer u may npot want

  Summary

  use something else - these guys are LULUs

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• Poor installation, tries to install junkware, no uninst

  MurcusT9/25/2016

  Pros

  It's free, but I can find no other redeeming quality.

  Cons

  Hands down one of the most ill-behaved pieces of software I have tested. Did not install a program file list off the Start button in Windows 7 Pro. There was no uninstall file in the control panel/uninstall list There was no uninstall file in the directory it loaded into, even though the uninstall instruction specifically indicated there would be an uninstall file there. Took over as default for all PDF files The Soda installer also tried to load a bunch of junkware. Terrible software I had to do a system restore to get rid of Soda.

  Summary

  Find other options, perhaps something from SourceForge, at least they vet the software they post.

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• Slow , NO support, after 10 days my Pro license is gone

  compugr5/13/2016

  Pros

  Suppose to edit pdfs , but I never got a chance as it kicked my license out after 2 weeks

  Cons

  Support never get back to me after 7 mails and support requests using their email address and web form. On multiple occasions . 1 month later , no response. It also creates 4 !!! 4 services with automatic start up in Win 10. Nitro PDF has only 2, which you can easy disable in Nitro itself

  Summary

  Never will use it again !!!! takes a lot of resources. Starts so slow that I can make a cup of tea while it starts up. License for PRO version fail to work in 2 weeks. Support did not reply even after 30 days

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• Don't be ripped off by Adobe, Soda PDF 8 is great!

  ally7003/27/2016

  Pros

  It does everything I want to with a PDF document really well. No issues at all so far, feels very solid, a pleasure to use and it is a lot cheaper than Adobe equivalent. The modules do not feel separate, but well integrated, clear and easy to use. Gets the job done quickly and the document previews integrated into windows explorer are very useful. It is much better than I expected and I do not feel I have a second class piece of software but a well thought out professional product with an excellent user interface which puts Adobe with their rip off prices to shame. I have not used the OCR module so cannot comment on that. A fair price, (at the promotional offer of £40 Sterling which I got from AShampoo) for an ultimate PDF solution which gets the job done quickly and is a pleasure to use. Thank you Lulu Software for a perfect alternative to the extortionately priced market leader.

  Cons

  You will be missing out on the chance to increase the revenues of an enormous corporation dedicated to extracting as much money from you as possible, maybe that is not actually a con after all.

  Summary

  Excellent PDF software solution, gets the job done extremely well at a fraction of the price compared to the market leader. This is not a lightweight offering but a serious professional product easy and satisfying to use.

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• Don't Install Unless You Want to Buy

  damcgee3/25/2016

  Pros

  Seemed to work ok when I tried it out.

  Cons

  Popups...Popups... Popups... It started with "Go Pro 25% off...", then eventually it got to 60% off and the popup wouldn't disappear - just stayed in the bottom of my screen so I had to actually uninstall this adware. During that process - it shut down Word & Excel without notification. I'm still not sure if it is entirely gone... Maybe it will come back and offer 90% off when I reboot my computer?

  Summary

  There has to be a better way to flog your software guys... Based on my experience I wouldn't buy it anymore at any price.

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