It's always interesting to discover a developer's attitude to life before checking out their software. That's especially the case here, where a check on the product price page of FM Software Studio's website produces one of the most refreshingly different Support texts I've ever encountered:

Don't feel free to email us if you have any questions or comments.

On that basis alone, I'm instantly drawn to this developer: though CS departments worldwide would dearly love to be able to tell customers to, er, go away, only this one has been brave enough to actually say so. Kudos to FM Software Studio!

Bravery aside though, and all joking, too, in a software sector bedevilled with some of the most useless products ever coded (and by many a major developer, too) does the deliciously idiosyncratic FM Software have the slightest chance of standing out from the mediocre pack?

Well . . . Download, installation and registration go just fine. So fine and so fast, in fact, you begin to wonder if you might, just, be dealing here with a developer who actually knows how to bring a promotional offer to market. And then things get even better: an attractively designed, clutter free GUI delivering an excellent preview window, drag 'n drop file loading, output format options going back to Microsoft Office 2000 (and earlier), and instant access user chooser options.

Hmm. What's going on here: software that. . . works?

OK, then. Test 1. A 40-page PDF originally created by myself as a travel itinerary for a trans-America road trip. It's overloaded with images and route maps and text panels in various colors and sizes and positions. The last time I ran it through a PDF conversion to Word, the software I used (from a household-name software house) produced an incomprehensible mess that ran to double the pagination. Whereas here:

Test 1 result. Processed in 3 minutes 10 seconds into .doc format. Placed into my nominated Desktop output folder; folder automatically opened. Output: 100%. . . perfect. (That may need saying again. Output: 100%. . . perfect.)

Test 2. A 26-page PDF created from an original .docx file I authored about a complex corporate legal issue, heavy on text but with several graphs plus images.Test 2 result: processed in 1 minute 30 seconds to .docx output, delivered to desktop folder, folder opened. Output: 100% . . . perfect. (And no, I won't say that again. You might think I'm trying to stretch credibility too far.)

Test 3. This is a killer test, a downloaded PDF version of a regulatory authority's landscape-format print publication where text and images are set out in double-page spreads. There's a lot of text, a lot of check boxes, a lot of bullet points. Weirdly, a lot of different colors, too. Total pagination: 19 landscape A4 pages / 38 brochure pages. Throwing this kind of document at *any* of the various PDF converters I currently have on my computer produces only gibberish, so if FM PDF to Word Converter manages to get even a quarter of this thing into copyable / editable guise, it'll be a minor miracle.

Test 3 result: 1 minute conversion time to .doc, output to desktop, desktop folder opened. Outcome: pagination accuracy, 100%; legibility: 100%; editability -- the font in this instance has come out at something called BGFLame Light -- also, 100%. Images, graphics, captions and positioning: 100%. Check box handling, bullet point handling: 50% (but legible nevertheless.)

Ye gods. This software. . . works.

Not only that, it does so quickly, cleanly, and easily. Yes, it fell over a bit on the usual suspects (check boxes and bullet points, which no conversion software in my experience has ever been able to render faithfully on output) but on all other counts it has not only equalled the best converter I presently use but has far, far exceeded it. And that really is some going, because when you're creating PDF conversion apps, you really are into some heavy, heady software engineering. This is not kid's stuff.

Verdict: I guess I had a soft spot for today's developer from the start, seeing as how that giddy mis-translation of its Support text is so endearing. But away from that, FM PDF To Word Converter Pro 3.05 has proved to be appealing in its own right. No, I haven't run a batch conversion because (a) I don't have time and (b) I'll never need that facility anyway. What I need is a PDF conversion product which does what it says on the tin. And this one. . . does.

Obviously, everyone's needs and everyone's hardware are going to be different but based on my own experience of rival products in this sector -- both freeware and paid-for -- FM PDF To Word Converter PRO has just made 'em all candidates for immediate uninstall. Congratulations, then, to FM Software Studio and many thanks both to it and to GOTD for a real 5* opportunity. (And as for that delightful Support blooper: please, FM Software, please don't ever change it, OK?)

MikeR  –  8 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+68)

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MikeR
I always take note of your comments and so was surprised with your results being so different than mine.

I hate to be unfair to developers and so I reinstalled the program but then did a reboot this time and ran my tests again.

This time the PDF file that it had claimed a problem with the protocol converted perfectly.
The other files where it had made a mess of the conversion again were perfect.

In fact it converted six complex PDF documents better than anything else I've had before.
The only point I did not like was that the text was put in text boxes.

<b>MikeR</b> I always take note of your comments and so was surprised with your results being so different than mine. I hate to be unfair to developers and so I reinstalled the program but then did a reboot this time and ran my tests again. This time the PDF file that it had claimed a problem with the protocol converted perfectly. The other files where it had made a mess of the conversion again were perfect. In fact it converted six complex PDF documents better than anything else I've had before. The only point I did not like was that the text was put in text boxes.
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XP-Man  –  8 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+15)

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Sending documents to an external server raises so many privacy issues, therefore, I will not install it.

Sertta  –  8 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+21)

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Am I correct that this will only work if I am online? I am not enthused about that limitation. Also, if I convert a file in this manner, and save it on my local machine, what remnants of my file remain on their server when I close the software?

Sparky  –  8 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+19)

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No problems getting the program onto my system as registered.

The first file I tried on my computer manual in PDF format, it complained about unknown protocol, and that was that.
My second test was on a simpler document with a few graphics in it, it change to an image in a document and so was not editable.
On a text only PDF file it did managed to create a Word document, unfortunately all the text was in text boxes.

Tested the above in a Wondershare converter the results were much better and so was not much point in me keeping this program.

XP-Man  –  8 years ago  –  Vond je deze reactie nuttig? ja | nee (+18)

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