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PDFTK Builder VS PDFsam

Compare PDFTK Builder VS PDFsam and see what are their differences

DocRaptor
As the only API powered by the Prince HTML-to-PDF engine, DocRaptor provides the best support for complex PDFs with powerful support for headers, page breaks, page numbers, flexbox, watermarks, accessible PDFs, and much more featured
Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

PDFTK Builder logo PDFTK Builder

PDFTK Builder is a free graphical interface to for PDFTK, making it much easier to use.

PDFsam logo PDFsam

PDFsam Basic, a free, open source, multi-platform software designed to split, merge, extract pages, mix and rotate PDF files
  • PDFTK Builder Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • PDFsam Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-27

PDFTK Builder

Website
angusj.com
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Platforms
-
Edit details

PDFsam

Website
pdfsam.org
Pricing URL
Official PDFsam Pricing
$ Details
free
Platforms
Windows Linux Mac OSX
Edit details

PDFTK Builder features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    PDFTK Builder is available at no cost and its source code is open, allowing users to modify and enhance the software as per their needs without any licensing restrictions.
  • Simple Interface
    The software features a straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it accessible to users with minimal technical expertise.
  • Lightweight
    PDFTK Builder is a lightweight application that does not require significant system resources, ensuring it can run smoothly on older or less powerful machines.
  • Versatility
    It offers a variety of functionalities including merging, splitting, rotating, and adding passwords to PDF files, making it a versatile tool for managing PDFs.
  • Platform Compatibility
    Since it operates on the popular PDFTK base, it is compatible with multiple operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Possible disadvantages of PDFTK Builder

  • Limited Advanced Features
    PDFTK Builder lacks some advanced features such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and detailed editing capabilities found in more comprehensive PDF software.
  • Basic User Interface
    While simple, its user interface might appear too basic and outdated for some users accustomed to more modern and visually appealing software.
  • Dependence on PDFTK
    PDFTK Builder relies heavily on the underlying PDFTK library, meaning any limitations or shortcomings of PDFTK will also affect its performance.
  • No Collaborative Features
    The software does not support collaborative features such as real-time editing or comments, which might be essential for team-based projects.
  • Limited Support
    As a free and open-source tool, PDFTK Builder might not offer comprehensive or timely support compared to proprietary software solutions.

PDFsam features and specs

  • Cost
    PDFsam Basic is free and open-source, which makes it highly accessible for individual users and small businesses.
  • User Interface
    The interface is simple and straightforward, allowing users to easily navigate and use the essential features without a steep learning curve.
  • Functionality
    PDFsam includes essential features such as merging, splitting, rotating, and extracting PDF pages, which can cover most common PDF editing needs.
  • Cross-Platform
    PDFsam is available on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring broad compatibility and usability.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, PDFsam has a community of users and developers who contribute to its improvement and troubleshooting.

Possible disadvantages of PDFsam

  • Advanced Features
    The free version lacks advanced features like OCR, which are available in the paid versions such as PDFsam Enhanced.
  • Performance
    Some users report that the application can be slow when processing large documents or performing complex tasks.
  • Interface Design
    While functional, the user interface is not as modern or visually appealing compared to some other PDF software.
  • Commercial Use
    For businesses, the licenses for the advanced features in PDFsam Enhanced can be costly, especially for small enterprises.
  • Customer Support
    While there is a user community for support, professional customer support is limited to the paid versions, which might be a hurdle for those needing quick assistance.

Analysis of PDFTK Builder

Overall verdict

  • PDFTK Builder is generally considered a good tool for PDF manipulation due to its simplicity, effectiveness, and range of features.

Why this product is good

  • It provides users with a straightforward interface to perform essential tasks like merging, splitting, and password-protecting PDF files. Users appreciate its ease of use and reliability for basic PDF operations.

Recommended for

    PDFTK Builder is recommended for users who need a lightweight, free tool to perform basic PDF operations without any complex features or steep learning curves. It's ideal for individuals and small businesses looking for a quick and efficient way to manage PDFs.

Analysis of PDFsam

Overall verdict

  • PDFsam is considered a good tool, especially for users who need a straightforward and cost-effective solution for managing PDFs. Its open-source background ensures transparency and community support, while its user-friendly interface appeals to those without advanced technical skills.

Why this product is good

  • PDFsam (PDF Split and Merge) is a popular tool for handling PDF documents due to its simplicity, open-source nature, and ability to perform a range of common PDF tasks like splitting, merging, rotating, and extracting pages. It offers both a free basic version and a more advanced version with additional features, making it accessible and flexible for different user needs.

Recommended for

    PDFsam is recommended for individuals and small businesses looking for an easy-to-use, cost-efficient PDF tool capable of handling everyday PDF manipulation tasks without the complexity or expense of more advanced software. It’s particularly suitable for users who require basic features and occasional PDF editing.

PDFTK Builder videos

+ Add

Demo of PDFTK Builder.avi

PDFsam videos

+ Add

How to Use PDFsam

More videos:

  • Demo - PDFSamVisual Demo

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PDFTK Builder and PDFsam)

PDFTK Builder

PDFsam

PDF Tools
13 13%
PDF Tools
87% 87
PDF Editor
17 17%
PDF Editor
83% 83
PDF Creator
12 12%
PDF Creator
88% 88
Office & Productivity
100 100%
Office & Productivity
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PDFTK Builder and PDFsam

PDFTK Builder Reviews

We have no reviews of PDFTK Builder yet.
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PDFsam Reviews

15 PDF editors quick review
This is a simple open source Java pdf editor. The basic version allows you to edit the content and structure of pdf documents. Builds of this version are available for Windows, MacOS and Linux. PDFsam Enhanced version provides all the basic tools needed for the pdf editor. Special utilities for securing files and converting their contents are only available in the Pro version.
Source: thinkmobiles.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PDFsam seems to be a lot more popular than PDFTK Builder. While we know about 32 links to PDFsam, we've tracked only 1 mention of PDFTK Builder. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PDFTK Builder mentions (1)

  • How to add a first page to an existing document?
    Such as a book cover ? Then perhaps it's better to export both as PDFs and use a tool such as PDFTK to join the PDF of the cover with the PDF of your document. Source: over 4 years ago

PDFsam mentions (32)

  • JavaFX In Action with Pedro Duque Vieira, aka Duke, about Hero, PDFSam, FXThemes, FXComponents,...
    He shares insights into a few applications, like Hero (CAD application to calculate energy efficiency) and PDFSam (powerful and professional PDF editor). PDFSam had 100.000 downloads in April '24! - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Pdftool.org: modify pdfs offline in the browser
    I find pdfsam to be the perfect offline tool for me on Windows. https://pdfsam.org And it's open source as well: https://github.com/torakiki/pdfsam. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Free pdf editor?
    That might be fit for your purpose PDFSam. Source: over 2 years ago
  • My 2023 Bingo Card
    Use pdfsam.org to split the pdf into individual sheets fyi. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What's the best tool to merge pdf files?
    PDFsam - merge, split, extract pages, rotate and mix your PDF files. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PDFTK Builder and PDFsam, you can also consider the following products

PDF Arranger - Small python-gtk application, which helps the user to merge or split pdf documents and rotate, crop...

PDF-XChange Editor - The smallest, fastest, most feature-rich PDF editor/viewer available

PDFill - Open, View, Edit, Save and Print PDF Documents without Adobe Acrobat

PDF24 PDF Creator - Create PDF and convert documents to PDF for free with the free PDF24 PDF Creator.

PDF Joiner - This online tool allows you to join several PDF documents into a single file, free of charge.

PDFShift - Convert any HTML documents to high-fidelity PDF using a single POST request

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