Welcome to /r/Mac! We are reddit's community of Mac users, enthusiasts, and experts. Please submit or enjoy content, comments, or questions related to the Mac platform, be it related to the hardware or software that makes it up.

Whether or not you are paperless in your office, you are probably dealing with PDFs. If you are dealing with a lot of them, you need PDF-editing software. Adobe Acrobat is the definitive PDF-editing software, by the company that created the PDF format. Among the many features are a few that stand out. Bates stamping, for example.

Even if you do everything else on paper, Bates stamping PDFs instead of reams of paper can save a ton of time and paper. The Pro version also has permanent redaction tools. You can even automatically redact things like social-security numbers automatically from every page of a huge document. Unfortunately, — the version you want for legal work — starts at $449 (or $240/year).

Express Zip is an archiving and compression tool to create, manage, and extract zipped files and folders. Download Express Zip for Windows Designed to be very easy and intuitive to use, this zipping software will be up and running within minutes. There are a number of free and low-cost third-party compression apps available for the Mac. The Mac OS also comes with its own built-in compression system that can zip and unzip files. This built-in system is fairly basic, which is why so many third-party apps are also available. A quick look at the Mac App Store revealed over 50 apps for zipping and unzipping files. Zip file converter free download - Express Zip Free File Compression, Free ZIP File Opener, RAR to Zip Pro File Converter for Windows 10, and many more programs. Best Video Software for the Mac. Some Mac users may prefer using online converter due to its free charge, such as filezigzag.com.But every coin has two sites, so does online converter. It isn’t safe enough and perhaps come with some spam information. MacX Convert DVD to MOV for Mac Free Edition is an excellent yet free DVD to MOV converter software which can help Mac users rip and convert DVD to MOV, DVD to MP4 with perfect output quality and high conversion speed on Mac OS.

But there are alternatives that don’t cost an ongoing arm and a leg. Here are a few to consider. PDFPen Pro (Mac) is made by the same company that makes TextExpander, the indispensable tool for OS X and iOS.

And while its $99.99 price tag is not exactly cheap, it is substantially cheaper than Acrobat Pro, with a similar feature set. Its low rating in the Mac App Store seems undeserved. MILO list members consistently give it high marks.

But if you aren’t sure, you can direct from Smile Software’s website and see for yourself. PDF Studio Pro (Win, Mac, Linux) For a true cross-platform option, try. At $129, it is not cheap, either, but it has a feature set to rival Acrobat Pro for a fraction of the price. Plus, you can use it on two computers, regardless of operating system.

Like the other options, you can try it for free. CutePDF Professional (Windows) CutePDF is a profoundly unprofessional-sounding name, but its software is solid. Is just $49.95, and it does nearly everything Acrobat Pro does, including. And you can try it for free. Nuance Power PDF Advanced Ernie Svenson recently on Lawyerist, calling it “much more useful” than Acrobat Standard, and at half the cost.

He did not think it measured up to Acrobat Pro, however. Adobe Acrobat Professional In the end, though, if you want the best PDF software, get. PDF is Adobe’s format, and for better or worse, Acrobat is the best software for editing PDF files. Also, it supports the PDF/A format, which the federal courts are. Most of the cheaper alternatives do not.

Besides, if managing PDF files is essential to your practice, $240/year should not be a make-or-break expense. Just get Acrobat and be done with it.

I tried to get cute (pun intended) and purchased at least two of these alternatives before realizing I should have just purchased Acrobat Pro from the jump. In other words, I paid a $200 premium to figure out that I needed Acrobat Pro.

If you run a litigation shop, do yourself, your subordinates, and your clients a favor and get everyone in the firm a license for Acrobat Pro. And you can save some cash if you get an older version; I use Pro 9, which came out a few years back, and I don’t think the newer version adds any new features that would enhance what I do. Although the latest version’s UI appears to be a bit more intuitive than 9. I am a very satisfied owner and user of Nitro PDF Pro verions 7 -> 8 -> 9. I’ve started to install it on Legal Assistant workstations as we move fully into Windows 7 throughout the office.