Our verdict: FineReader is worth trying if your main problem is scanned paper: its OCR keeps layouts and tables better than most PDF editors. The trial is short and only saves 100 OCR pages, so prepare test documents in advance. For ordinary PDF editing without scans, cheaper or free editors do the job.
About ABBYY FineReader PDF
FineReader PDF for Windows combines ABBYY's OCR engine with a PDF editor. It recognizes text in scans, photos and image-only PDFs, converts them to Word, Excel and searchable PDF, and lets you edit, organize, comment on, protect and sign PDFs. The Corporate edition adds document comparison across formats and Hot Folder, which converts files dropped into a folder automatically, up to 5,000 pages a month.
The free trial is the Corporate edition for 7 days, and OCR results can be saved for 100 pages in total. No account or card is needed to download it. When the trial ends the program stays installed as a PDF viewer that can only view, comment on and print PDFs until you enter a serial number. FineReader PDF Standard costs $99 a year and Corporate $165 a year on ABBYY's store.
What it does well
- Accurate OCR. Recognizes text in scans and photos while keeping columns, tables and formatting.
- Convert to Office. Saves scans and PDFs as editable Word and Excel documents.
- PDF editing. Edit text, reorder pages, add comments, passwords and signatures.
- Document comparison. Finds differences between two versions, even a scan and a Word file (Corporate).
- Hot Folder. Converts documents dropped into a watched folder automatically (Corporate).
Who it is for
Good fit
Offices, students and researchers who digitize paper documents, books or old scans and need editable text.
Look elsewhere
Mac users wanting the full feature set, or people who only need to fill in and sign PDFs.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Very good OCR on difficult scans
- Exports scans to Word and Excel
- Cross-format document comparison
- Trial needs no account or card
Cons
- Trial lasts 7 days and saves OCR for only 100 pages
- After the trial it works only as a PDF viewer
- Mac version has fewer PDF features
How to install ABBYY FineReader PDF
Download the trial from ABBYY's trial page; it installs the Corporate edition. Test OCR on your hardest documents first, because only 100 pages of results can be saved during the trial. After buying, enter the serial number in the same installation; no reinstall is needed.
Questions about ABBYY FineReader PDF
Is ABBYY FineReader PDF free?
No. The free trial lasts 7 days and saves OCR results for 100 pages; it needs no account or card. After it ends the program only views, comments on and prints PDFs. FineReader PDF Standard costs $99 a year.
What is the difference between Standard and Corporate?
Corporate adds document comparison and Hot Folder automated conversion of up to 5,000 pages a month. The trial includes both.
Does FineReader work on Mac?
There is a separate FineReader PDF for Mac with the same OCR but a smaller set of PDF features.
