Not sure how many people are still using PdfPen or pro. I used to love it but seems that development has remained stagnant since Nitro took over from Smile ?
I am also using Pdfexpert that there are certain features in Pdfpen pro still better or unique
any thoughts ?
I will keep using PDFPen Pro 13 until it doesn’t work anymore but Nitro will not get any of my money.
I would agreed with you. I am not holding my breath for new features until they ask for a lot of money to upgrade to version 14.
I don’t know, but my PDFPenPro is acting really funky. Not rendering pages clearly, then freezing, to the point of not being able to quit, so have to force quit…over and over, all day… Are you noticing any issues like this in the past 2 months?
I do not have huge issue running the current release (pro 13.1), but it is not as smooth as pdfexpert espeically on large pdf file. Maybe it is trying to do too much …
Looks like Nitro have released a new 13.2 version just called PDF Pro.
There was no update available when I checked for updates from the 13.1 “Smile” version but there’s a new version at Download - PDFpen
It installed as a separate app, but I was able to use my older v13 Smile registration code ok, so I think it’s just the branding that they’ve changed.
and now called Nitro PDFPen Pro
… and is available on SetApp, FWIW…
Thanks for letting me know that Nitro PDF Pro is available on SetApp. Going to give it a try since I removed PDF Pen Pro a while ago because it wasn’t behaving well and I could see the end was in sight. I wanted to see if Preview could do everything I wanted.
I did the same and could not find out what is the difference between 13.1 and 13.2.1, also could not find out detailed “release notes”
thanks for this update. I installed and also used my pdfpen pro 13 license.
There’s a rebranded iOS app too but it’s a new purchase.
The old Smile Software version has been removed from the iOS App Store.
…and I reached out to them about that, and I was told that they were “working” on an upgrade path for existing users… I have fallen in love with PDF Expert, so haven’t checked to see if my previously purchased copy of PDFpen 6 still works or not…
I just got an email that PDFpen will be removed from SetApp starting May 31. SetApp recommends Nitro as the replacement app. I guess I will have to give Nitro a try then…
I just downloaded Nitro PDF Pro, and it looks EXACTLY the same as PDFpen. Did Nitro continue the PDFpen app?
I also received this e-mail.
I notice the Nitro version correspond to the PDF Pen Pro. So now we can use the Batch PDF Option.
The in-app “check for updates” doesn’t seem to be working as it says that 13.2 is the latest version.
Nitro have released v13.3 - changelog here. They don’t seem to update the release notes on the pdfpen.com website, but do on their main Nitro website.
Download here
Is there a free upgrade path from PDF Pen Pro 12 to 13 or 14? If not, I’ll stick with v12. To be honest, I haven’t used the app for a year or 2, I bought it to help process a few thousand PDF’s that I exported from Evernote and organize them into folders. I primarily used it for adding OCR/Text layer to the files that needed it.
I’m using version 13.3 of NitroPDF. It cost me nothing to upgrade from PDF Pen Pro 13.1. However the website doesn’t list an upgrade price from older versions. And their subscription model doesn’t seem to apply to individuals.
I suspect that this is the end of the line for the product. I only use it for OCR, and it is invoked by a Hazel rule on incoming PDFs without the text layer. Everything else I want to do with a PDF is covered fine by Preview.
