PDF24 Creator is a free PDF editor available for Windows. It offers a range of essential features for personal and business use. This review explores its strengths and weaknesses to help you determine if it’s the right tool for your PDF editing needs.
PDF24 Creator has been continuously developed since 2006, offering a straightforward approach to PDF editing. There are no premium versions or tiered pricing; simply a single, free download for both personal and commercial use.
Design and Features of PDF24 Creator
PDF24 Creator prioritizes functionality over aesthetics. Instead of the typical Office-style ribbon interface, its home screen presents a grid of 47 tiles, each representing a specific task like “Merge PDF” or “Sign PDF”. This design asks the user, “What do you want to do?”
PDF24 Creator
Clicking a tile opens a new interface dedicated to that task. This means that completing multiple actions on a single document, such as editing, watermarking, and password-protecting, requires opening the file in three separate interfaces. This modular approach is suitable for simple edits, but it becomes cumbersome for complex workflows or when managing multiple PDFs.
The home screen grid showcases PDF24 Creator’s capabilities. It offers most tools needed for creating, converting, editing, annotating, organizing, and securing PDFs. However, related tasks are often separated into different interfaces. For example, password protection and redaction are separate tiles, located far apart on the grid, unlike many other PDF editors that group these security features together. The overall layout of the tiles feels somewhat random.
PDF24 Creator
While the individual interfaces are user-friendly, the toolsets are limited. Annotation options include text, shapes, and free-drawing, but lack features like sticky notes, callouts, highlighters, or stamps. Redaction requires using the shape tool to create a black box over the text, a less efficient method compared to dedicated redaction tools in paid software. This highlights a recurring theme: PDF24 Creator fulfills basic needs, but its functionality often falls short of paid alternatives.
Customer support is minimal, consisting of a Help Center with how-to articles and a contact form for email inquiries. Fortunately, the software is generally intuitive enough to navigate without extensive support.
PDF24 Creator
Is PDF24 Creator Worth Using?
PDF24 Creator is a functional free PDF editor suitable for quick, simple edits. However, its modular design and limited toolsets make complex workflows less efficient. For extensive editing or professional use, a more advanced paid PDF editor is recommended. While PDF24 Creator offers a good starting point for basic PDF tasks, its limitations become apparent with more demanding projects. If you frequently work with PDFs and require a robust set of features, consider exploring paid alternatives.
