Customer Ratings & Reviews

If you are a fan of perpetual (offline) licenses as opposed to annually leasing/subscribing to SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) software, such as Adobe Acrobat Pro, then this version, Adobe Acrobat Pro Classic, is for you. You can own the Classic version for 3 years with no subscription required. It won't renew automatically. At first glimpse, there are no differences in features and capabilities between the SaaS and the perpetual (offline) license versions. In Classic Pro, the updated interface shows all available tools categorized slightly differently, and more intuitively. You'll find all 26 tools in the following categories: [Edit] -- [Convert] -- [Create] -- [E-Sign] -- [Protect] -- [Share & review] -- [Prepare] The installation of the Acrobat Classic Pro was as easy as you would expect: (1) Download the software package from the Adobe website via a unique URL which prompts you for your product key (both provided via email you provided at purchase time) and then (2) Install it. That's it. Once you open Adobe Acrobat Pro Classic, you'll find you can use all productivity tools offline without connecting to the Adobe Cloud, everything from creating, editing, converting, and protecting your documents, and more, on either Windows or MacOS. Offline means you'll be able to work securely, which is particularly important to me. This software is a must-have for all document management needs, and as such, I can very highly recommend it. Note: At the time of this writing, Acrobat Pro Classic cannot be used with the AI Assistant add-on which is available exclusively for the (online) SaaS version.

If you’re like anyone else who works with digital documents for work or home, you know the benefits of not only using a great pdf program that allows you to view pdf documents but also how frustrating it can be when you’re not able to use all the tools available to you such as editing, signing, saving, etc. said documents. Adobe has been the clear leader in pdf documents for as long as I can remember and has always been my go-to software program for anything pdf related. I personally consider the Adobe Acrobat software that includes most of the useful features a must have for anything pdf related considering the amount of pdf documents I get for both my work and personal affairs. I have tried to use other free pdf software, much of which ends up being ad-based or you end up having to pay to use the pdf tools anyways so why would anyone go with another software program other than the leader in that field. The Adobe Acrobat Classic software includes all the tools I have needed including the ability to edit text and images, redact text and images, combine files, convert file types to/from pdf, and electronically sign documents amongst many other features. Having access to this software for three years was a no-brainer for me and can forget having to worry about having access to this software’s features for the near future and would recommend it to anyone who uses pdfs which, in this digital day and age, is just about everyone.

I have been an Adobe user for more years than I wish to say. But given the fact that I am nearly 50 - you can guess it's a long time. Adobe Acrobat is one product that I use on a daily basis and can't function without. I am happy to get the Adobe Acrobat Classic digital download for 3 years to have on my devices - because this is one product that I don't want going anywhere. What I use it for the most is combining and reordering PDF's for a set of financial reports that I produce. I am able to take bank and financial statements and merge them with reports from other systems we use to create one report for board members. It is so easy t create PDF's from scratch, edit old PDF's if you can't find an original document and even convert PDF's to other formats. Adobe Acobat works so well with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as other membership systems we use. It is easy to send large files by saving items as PDF's to email the files to coworkers. I also use the program to request esignatures, or easily make fillible forms for our business. It is honeslty one program I can't live without. Would highly recommend!

This Adobe Classic 3-year license is an alternative PDF tool option for those who want to go away from that subscription-based model for Adobe Acrobat Pro. While it feels nice to not be locked in a subscription there are cons to choosing this 3-year license compared to subscription-based Acrobat Pro. First, this 3-year license is quite pricey coming out at $540 one time or if you do the math, about $15 a month for three years. But it is cheaper than choosing Acrobat Pro which comes out at $20 a month as of November 2024. Adobe Classic does come with all the desktop app features needed for any of your PDF file needs. Some of these features are being able to digitally sign documents, edit PDFs, combine files, password-protect PDFs, redact PDFs, my favorite PDF conversion, and more. As for how effective Adobe Classic is at doing all of this, it does all this flawlessly. Regardless of price and controversies, Adobe hands down has the best PDF software available. So, what is the catch? This may seem to have the same features as Acrobat Pro does, but it is different and it has its flaws. First, Adobe Classic only includes the desktop app but lacks any web-based features like creating web forms, sharing PDFs for review, and managing documents on a mobile device. Second, Adobe Classic will not receive any feature updates after purchase. Finally, Adobe Classic still feels like a subscription. 3 years with a piece of software that won’t get any new features doesn’t feel right. I would understand the “no features” part if you were able to keep the software forever but by buying this and then eventually losing access to it, that would essentially make it a subscription. The only difference is you pay the entire cost of that subscription upfront. I am having a hard time pinning down who this type of license is for. Maybe for people who live off the grid and have no access to the internet? I think this could work for someone who may not be a fan of subscriptions or if you wanted to gift this software to someone. This would be great for a college student who may need a PDF tool throughout their college career. Problem is the average college student does go to school for 4 years. As a result, the student may eventually need Acrobat Standard or Pro. In conclusion, to answer the question if Adobe Classic is worth it. Well, Adobe Classic seems it will not work for most individuals. The better option would be Acrobat Pro. It is $5 more on a monthly basis but being able to have the newest of features, web features for your mobile devices, and the ability to cancel if you no longer need it, trumps the alternative of having a PDF tool that does not receive any updates and expires after 3 years.

Adobe Acrobat Classic is certainly a stable, powerful and effective PDF writer program. I'm a long term user of both Acrobat Standard & Pro perpetual products and in the Windows environment - for context. What this version offers is pretty much the same as what Standard offers and keenly omits Adobe Cloud Services as part of the package. In comparison to Acrobat 2020, the new interface layout changes are all about subtlety. The GUI is even more cleaned up vs. - say - something like Acrobat 2017 and doesn't take a lot of learning to get familiar with the most commonly used facets of the application. The Tools bar now defaults behind three dots. The integration with Windows file handling is all pretty much the same. For familiar users, this will be reassuring; for newcomers, things will appear intuitive. The power of conversion is still present and that's one thing Acrobat does really well vs. many of the rival programs. Editing, converting, annotating, protecting... just about everything is standard faire, if you are familiar with previous versions of Adobe Acrobat. The beauty of Acrobat is it's seamless integration with Microsoft Office products and browsers. Linking to your own cloud services is a bit more 'forward' and approachable and I find this to be a positive change. All-in-all, Adobe Acrobat Classic is a formidable offering but what I don't fully get - and the reason for the 2-star demerit - is the pricing model vs. Acrobat Standard & Acrobat Professional. This program is not a perpetual license but rather a 3 year usage term and if you do the math, the monthly cost of access is higher than a purely subscription based offering. This release of Adobe Acrobat is one I think most people can skip. On the flip side, I would encourage Adobe to bring back perpetual products and to price them right. Let the program continue to work but terminate the availability of updates after 3 or 4 years. Competing products offer a more reasonable usage scenario with equal amounts of capability at a lower cost & without shutting off functionality after a set time period!

Adobe offers a wide variety of services today. Most of the services are industry leading applications. When I found out that Adobe was now offering Acrobat Classic with a 3-year digital license, I wanted to try it out ASAP. I did not want to add another service to my growing list of subscriptions, so having the comfort of using Acrobat Classic for 36 months is a big plus. I have a huge library of PDF files stored on my personal pc that I needed to edit and manage. Having Adobe Acrobat Classic came in handy editing my forms for school and work as well. Installing the software Installing Adobe Acrobat Classic was super easy to install and get up in running pretty quickly. I choose to create a username and password since I didn’t have one. I have a Windows desktop that I installed Acrobat Classic on in the matter of minutes. Adobe Acrobat Classic offers the ability install the software on Mac as well. Top Features and Options Ability to work offline without an internet connection. Ability to convert PDFs to multiple Microsoft formats including jpegs. Star documents for easy access. Modify PDFs by reordering and deleting pages. Support for basic e-signing. Password Protect Documents Overall cost One of the things to consider is the upfront cost. This 3-year version carries a hefty price tag, but still more affordable than a monthly subscription cost over a period of 3 years of the more advanced version. If you do not need all the advanced features and cloud-based services, Adobe Acrobat Classic is an option to consider. However, there are more affordable options out there, you may want to research to find some lower cost options to fit your needs.

I work in the Industrial construction industry as an electrical project manager and work with pdf documents every single day of my life. With this said I have up until now almost always used a single software for anything that I have ever needed to do when it has come to working with .pdf type of files and that has been with Bluebeam. Now I was presented with the option to begin using Acrobat classic on a 3 yr license and was honestly eager at the opportunity since I had only worked with it for a few brief times in the past and I know of people in my field that still use it today, soo it must be pretty good right? Wellll, in my opinion after spending the past week & a half with Acrobat I would sum it up like this, It is functionally limited, aggravating & archaic feeling to work with and whoa is it expensive for what you get. I understand Bluebeam is geared towards more AEC functionality but I figured I would be able to do the basics pretty seamlessly on Adobe such as taking a measurement. I was dead wrong, what a pain in the *@@, everything has to be calibrated each time, no auto recognize of the scale set on the page, etc. On top of that I was just overall dissapointed in the whole "suite" of functionality. I can do literally everything that Acrobat can do in Bluebeam and it also has boatloads of functions that Acrobat could only dream of performing. I am not going to go into some deep evaluation of Acrobat because I knew immediately that it was not for me and that I would never spend the $ in the future to maintain my license. With that said I guess it is great for some people but definitely not for me and the ones that it is useful for surely there is a less inexpensive option that does the same things. I'm not sure if I would recommend or not.....

I’ve been using Acrobat Reader since forever ago. For the past 10 years or so, I’ve upgraded to Acrobat Standard or Pro and have been using the DC version since it came out. I’m honestly not a huge fan of subscriptions. When I saw that there is a standalone version, I decided to give it a try. The biggest difference between the Acrobat Classic and Acrobat DC is the lack of Adobe Document Cloud services. These features include e-signing, sharing for review and AI capabilities. It also doesn’t come with a Phone/Tablet App version of the software. You also don’t get any feature updates. You are stuck with the features it shipped with. If you are like me and don’t need (or want) these services, the Classic version could be for you. This version of Classic is a one-time payment for a 3-year license. It’s sort of a combination of the Subscription and the Perpetual license software. After the 3 years, you will need to purchase a new license. Not really a fan of this. I prefer a true perpetual license. As for the software itself, it’s basically Acrobat Pro minus the features mentioned earlier. It opens quickly and does the things I need it to do. I work for a small architectural firm. I mostly use the software to make PDF copies of our drawings/documents, to combine drawing sets into a single file and to convert non-searchable PDF documents into searchable once using OCR. Occasionally, we need to add signatures and stamps to documents and/or drawings sets. I also need to reduce PDF file sizes on occasion. For all these things, the software is great. I’ve tried some non-original PDF software and my experience, for the most part, has not been as good or as cohesive as using the Adobe software. I think my biggest gripe is that Adobe has abandoned the Classic User Interface in this version. In Acrobat DC, I can still switch from the “New” interface to the "Classic". As noted earlier, I’m a long-time user and don’t like change for the sake of change. I wish I still had the option for the Classic Interface in the software labeled as “Classic”. The New interface is cleaner but it can’t be customized in the same way. In the DC Classic Interface, I could add buttons I use most often so they are immediately available across the top of the window. I can’t do that now. Now, there is a floating toolbar. While I can add buttons, this bar is vertical so I can’t add as many. It also doesn’t dock like I prefer. When Adobe first came out with this interface, I had a very hard time finding some of the tools I used often. It seems like they’ve made some improvements since then as I am now able to find the items I use most often. It just takes a little longer. I also had a very difficult time with installation. I originally logged out of my DC software and uninstalled it prior to installing this software. I’ve had issues in the past where after logging out, I could not log back in. There is an issue with the EULA (end users license agreement) that prevents the software from opening so I can’t log back in. Reinstalling does not fix the issue. I figured since I was installing a different version of this software, this wouldn’t be an issue. I was wrong. It took me several hours of research over a few days to figure out how to get this to work. In the end, I had to find the software’s EULA executable file, run it separately and accept the agreement. Once I did that, I was able to run the software. All in all, this is good, albeit expensive, software for making and editing PDF files, especially if you don’t have that installation issue and you are OK with the new interface. It can be a bit clunky at times. Adding, selecting and moving text can be especially awkward. However, I believe I can get used to the "New" interface with these latest improvements but I would prefer that I didn’t have to.

I love it Adobe Acrobat is only getting better 100%.

The software is pretty useful more so than you would think. I have had it for a few weeks and have used it numerous times. SETUP The setup and install was relatively simple, the download link and redemption code was simple to install. SOFTWARE While i haven't used all the features i have used quite a few. I was able to scan a document into a editable PDF file. The file didn't have many mistakes, mis-spellings, due to the scanning and converting process. I was able to edit text, insert text and images. I was then able save it as a shareable PDF file. I was also able to create my signature using the software and save it as an attachable image for documents that i wantbto add my personal touch. It truly is a nice feature. INTERFACE I do wish the interface was a bit easier to navigate, the menu opens up a submenu but it isn't a detailed interface. For example it says edit text but it opens a limited menu that does not allow you to cut/copy text it can only enter or delete text. I wish it was more detailed in the editing you are able to do. Overall It is very useful software, it gets easier to use each time you use it. Hopefully it gets new features with any upcoming updates.

When it comes to PDF software or software that is able to not only edit and manipulate a PDF there is really only one name that comes to mind as an all in one Sure, there are several types of knock offs and one offs out there but an all in one that you are able to upload a PDF, edit, change, reformat, revamp and create a new PDF document, fll and sign PDFs, export, organize pages etc. Its easy to use and I downloaded the app to my Macbook Pro and also my iphone for ease of use between devices. I am also able to logon the web to use the convenient web page to do pretty much the same thing that I am doing on the app. What I like about Adobe, they are the original when it comes to PDF and they cornered the market on the ways you can use a PDF and now with this innovative software, I am able to not only keep all my PDFs documents in one place, I can easily change a PDF into a Word document for easy manipulation. As a professional resume writer, this is genius and most clients I work with have an older copy of a resume as a PDF only, and I am constantly needing to convert these to Word for editing. With this software and as easy as it is to use, I can do this now. The software was easy to install, the app on my iPhone was easy to install and I can work seamlessly between all of my devices. Adobe is great and I will continue to get use out of this software for years to come.

While the interface is slightly different than my previous version of 2020 Professional, functionally, it seems the same to me. Like my previous stand-alone version, this one is time limited with a 3 year license. My old version of Pro 2020 is set to expire and quit working next May, so the timing on this version is good, especially since I got a brand new computer and installed it clean - no fragments of other Adobe versions to deal with. I have used it to build a couple of PDF documents from Word files and from scanned text, which it handles as expected. I have not attempted editing within a PDF document, but it shoulud be able to handle that task as well. Personally, I hate paying for an annual license, but that seems to be the only busines model that software companies are using these days, presumably so they can have a continuous revenue stream. Microsoft made it painless at $100 annually for their Office suite, but Adobe seems to be following that lead, but at a much higher annual cost. I like Adobe software, but this and their other offerings are getting too expensive for the average Joe like me who works in a volunteer capacity and not in a corporate office with someone else to pay the bills. Other competitors may be able to offer similar functionality for a lot less money than Adobe. High quality, legacy company that may be pricing themselves out of the market for the average Joe like me.

Adobe acrobat is one of those things that if you have a business or personal things you want to share with family, colleagues and friends. You will definitely want to invest in this. Having your own business I find this piece of technology essential. One of the things that I find quite valuable is the fact that I can share a PDF with someone and able to control as to whether they can edit it or not. On the classic yo7 can only load 5his to a desktop so if you are on the go, this will not work on your phone or tablet. It gives you simplicity and easy access to all of the files that you need to keep up with, when I went to set this up, the installation process was easy and forward. One thing I can say is finding the tools is very simple on the interface and you can purchase the licensee for 3 years without having a subscription. You can edit your documents and it also allows you to create a document from the beginning. You can’t go wrong with this software if you want the ease of sharing PDF documents.

Adobe Acrobat Classic is a desktop version of the venerable PDF creating / editing program. It has been around for a long time, and Adobe releases a new version every so often. But as many of their programs, it has gone "for rent”so this is the only a perpetual version that you can buy – but it will work for only three years. After that, it cannot be renewed – you simply will have to buy a new license. Adobe doesn't make it easy to tell the differences, and you have to take pretty deeply into their website. In the beginning, there were not a good way of creating a portable document that can be shared - as in a file that can’t easily be edited. Another company created another program called Envoy, but that failed to take a hold of the market unlike Adobe Acrobat which had an open architecture. PDF file was publically documented and that made it wildly used (and emulated) - as any programs could product a PDF file by “printing to a PDF printer”. The Adrobat Reader was given away for free (and nowadays, most browsers can read a PDF file directly, and that made it even more popular. The professional version allows you to assemble the files – move the pages around – and do some editing and even create forms from scratch. Some of the forms can be very sophisticated as in drop-down menus and radio button. There was a version of Adobe Acrobat which supported I believe AutoCAD's 3D imaging. I use Adobe Acrobat Pro X (version 10) at home, and at work, Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020 (it is no longer available, and the Classic edition has replaced it.) Since it is it work computer, they provided it for me (I am the only one in the office with it. Everyone else has the basic Adobe Acrobat Reader.) The Classic version that I am testing looks very much like the Pro 2020 version. I am a nurse, and I work with a lot of paperwork in a busy office. I also do a lot of forms that I download. Some of these are very complex form and they are preprogrammed to be filled by hand. Many times I remove those functions (the old version called it sanitizing) and I manually fill the form with the text function as I have more control of the size and color of the font that I use. I also have frequent "stamps”that I use to mark the form (this is called annotations), and it can be dynamic as in time or dates when the document is edited/received, or reviewed. There are other PDF editing creating programs out there – you can buy some for 1/10 the price of this program but they are not easy to use. The menus are not similar with Adobe’s versions, and while I have played around with other programs, they are cumbersome to use. While not all the features are needed by most users, the basic one are very difficult to use. For example I signed up with an online PDF website (no programs needed to be installed,) so I could add some text to the page. It was so difficult to use, I had no good control of how the text (in a box) would flow, I gave that up after a week. This was after suggesting it to the owner of the website and they could not augment the features fast enough. To explain this, if I were to add this short paragraph: If you are not able to submit a prior authorization, please notify me without delay so we can submit the prior authorization. I will inform you of the PA results. If it is denied, we will cancel the order. If it is approved, we will notify you so the products can be shipped. The paragraph above, if I need to add any text so it, the text should be inside a frame. If I want to make the frame a little more narrow, other programs cannot be easily adjusted. For that reason alone, I gave up on three other PDF programs. (One of the programs I had to insert hand returns at the end of each line to make the box more narrow.) The only negative thing I can think about this program is it will only work for three years. If you use it every day, and if you work pays for it, then it is a wonderful program. If you have to pay for this yourself, you have to consider the price of almost USD600 for three years use of a very capable program. The other minor inconvenience are it is not linked that well to the cloud account. The first time you run this program you have to sign in onto your Adobe account and the timer for three years will start. Another bug I found was that my previous version of Adobe Acrobat must be old and while this installers suggested that version 10 needs to be uninstalled, it did not force me to. So I have two versions of Adobe Acrobat running but they seem to be okay. This is the only choice you have for a perpetual, albeit three years long program. Other versions that you buy once and used for ever are long gone. Is it a good buy? It’s a great buy if you need it.

The new Acrobat Classic from Adobe is a three year term license to a product that has most, but not all of the features of the subscription version of Acrobat Pro. The 3 year term license cost is not cheap, but it is less than the cost of 3 years of subscription to Acrobat Pro. Plus, for three years there is no worry about a price increase. With Acrobat Classic you get all the basic editing features including: • Edit and create PDFs • Import/Export to/from Word and Excel • OCR of scanned documents • Sign PDFs • Track document status • Document comparison • Combine and Organize files • Redact • Forms • Accessibility Features • Etc. What it doesn’t have includes: • Mobile version • None of the extra apps that are available with a subscription (Adobe Express, Photoshop Express, etc.) • It’s not exactly a perpetual license. You get three years of bug fixes and security updates. I’m not certain if it is still useable after three years or not. But with no security updates after that, caution is advised. So far after a week with Acrobat Classic, it seems to do everything I need. It looks and feels very much like Acrobat Pro. The only issue so far is that I needed to download the Acrobat Reader (free edition) to my mobile devices. (Disclosure, I have a subscription to Adobe. But I wanted to give Acrobat Classic a fair test. So, I removed all of my subscription apps prior to testing.) If you are subscription averse but need PDF features not available in the free applications, this may be for you.

Everyone has used, or knows of, Adobe Acrobat. So what’s Adobe Acrobat Classic? The Adobe Acrobat Classic version is intended to replace Adobe’s older “forever” software versions. This is a 3-year, one-time license, and as far as I know there is no renewal. Once three years passes from the initial activation, the license goes “poof”. This version has all the features of Acrobat Pro (2020 release). Unfortunately, there is no cloud support, although it is possible to add that but then it is another subscription you need to pay for. Adobe Acrobat Classic has all of the standard features, which includes e-signing PDF documents. What’s different from Acrobat Pro? The user interface has been revised to a more modern implementation. You can “star” a document (this is a lifesaver). You can remove pages from the document you’re working on. And I believe that’s the majority of the differences that were relevant to me, at least. Would I buy it again. I’m of mixed opinions. I like the full-featured Acrobat, but it nags me a bit that I’m essentially renting it for three years. When three years expires, I will need to go looking for another Acrobat offering. Perhaps I’m not a part of Adobe’s demographics for this product.

If you are not familiar with this software, it is not intuitive on how to use. I needed to edit some pdf documents that were already created. There are now a myriad of programs that can handle this, but I wanted to make sure my edits were going to be cross platform compatible so I went with adobe. I have never used this software before. Here is the rub. Nothing about it is as straight forward to use as one would think. Case in point: Simple form with three text boxes to enter data. The person who had my job before I arrived had created this with tiny font and it was difficult to read. I wanted to increase the font size so that when the document was printed, it matched the size of the font that was on the form. For example "DATE:" Trying to figure out how to resize the font in the data input was next to impossible to execute intuitively. I had to consult with the internet to find this out. And then when I changed the font size, it was cut off by the data input box. So I had to go back elsewhere to learn how to resize the date input box. Eventually this worked. But it is not as simple as clicking on something, having a menu pop up for options and then working from there. I am being charitable rating it as highly as I have. It is average software at best but it is important to learn how to use.

Adobe Acrobat Classic is an excellent pdf editor, and best of all does not require a monthly or yearly subscription! This reminds me of the days before SaaS when you purchased and downloaded all your software. While there are advantages to being connected to the cloud for some applications, I find using this Adobe version fulfills 99% of my required needs for a pdf editor - with some extra features. The software was very easy to download and activate. When you open the software, the dashboard has common tools for quick access (edit a pdf, create a pdf, combine files, etc.), and shows your recent files which is convenient. When opening a PDF to edit, I was amazed to see all the components were easily selectable to change, move or delete. It made editing and modifications of an existing file extremely easy. There are so many great features of this offline software. Here are the ones I like best and use the most: - converting the pdf to other formats such as a doc or image - adding your own signature - ability to add, crop and resizes images quickly - post and send comments - star documents for easy access - create custom stamps (this is one of my favorites) - create fillable forms (very easy to create all form fields) Each of these features is easy to access, and the software has a great user interface. Plus, if you can't find a tool for some reason - you can type it into the search bar and it will bring you to it. The only real issue I have is sending a pdf by email via my default application. The webmail option works, but puts a copy of the pdf in the draft folder of the actual email. I had to revert back to the classic version of my email application for it to work properly. Overall, this Adobe Acrobat Classic software is an excellent everyday tool!

I don’t think I could live without using this adobe product. I think everybody has come in contact with a PDF and uses Adobe at some point in their lives. And if you use PDFs a lot then this product is essential. I find it incredibly useful and with all the PDF documents that I interact with. I get sent a lot of PDF Documents in my email. And I find it essential that I unnecessary that I need to manipulate the document directly. I find it very useful and necessary to be able to manipulate the document directly without having to print it and scan it. Typing directly in the document and then signing with a, saved signature saves me so much time and effort. Having that kept on file is so useful. Adobe classic is easy to use and set up. You can alternate between different tabs and manipulate your documents according to what you need and fill in different lines. You can change fonts and get type to fit and be able to , manipulate the document Documents Often, according to whatever your needs are. I highly recommend.

PRO’S -Well organized user interface -Industry / government standard -Easy to use and powerful editing tools -Easily integrates with other standard productivity tools (looking at you MS) -Makes standard tasks much much easier. MATTER OF TASTE -No web integration – completely offline -Three-year license – no annual subscription -Lack of mobile application. CON’S -Future updates unclear (confined to security updates, no new features) -No cloud services -No group editing -Can use a lot of RAM and a surprising amount of hard space to install (over 2 gb) WHY YOU NEED IT: Unless you have never used a computer, you already know the world demands you use PDFs in almost every transaction of merit. So to me this is more of a necessary evil thing, not necessarily something to get too excited about. Except. Once you get past that, a proper Adobe Acrobat tool can make your life so much simpler. When Adobe moved the Pro version to an expensive subscription service I rebelled and tried to make do with the wide variety of free tools out there. Unfortunately, those tools rely on things being perfect, which they rarely are. For example, I was really annoyed with government PDFs that wanted edits I couldn’t do with the free tools. And trying to create or merge documents was a pain as well. Yes, I could and did struggle through, but it was never easy, and occasionally with government forms would need access to someone’s computer that had Adobe Acrobat Pro. ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM – PRICE: Yes, Adobe Acrobat is expensive, $19.99 a month for the Pro subscription price, or $540 for a three-year license ($15 a month, so a savings of $179.64). But when you need it, you need it. ACROBAT PRO DC vs ACROBAT CLASSIC: I have to confess; I really don’t like online cloud-based tools. I find the interfaces to be ugly and sometimes hard to see and the speed can be influenced by my internet connection. Adobe Acrobat Pro is no exception. But what are you going to do? Adobe PDF files are an industry standard. Acrobat Classic was the answer for me. It’s a standalone application that works well with my computer. The interface is consistent with other standalone applications. It’s FAST. I can work anywhere, anytime, don’t need to be connected to the internet. Actually, that’s good and bad. Once the internet went down in my office and I just kept humming along with my PDF’s. My colleagues got to take a break. I was worried that this would not have the latest and greatest tools, it is roughly based on the 2020 Adobe Acrobat Pro (last standalone version), but eh, for me it’s all there. Maybe a power user might find something missing, but the good news is, you can convert to the subscription service with the latest and greatest if you need to. So far, I consider myself lucky for not having to (I really prefer this clearer interface and the speed). The features it does have are password protection of files, a decent documentation management system, file conversions to and fro PDF’s, decent OCR, and form creation. I don’t miss the cloud features, because I can already store files I need to in the cloud. Choosing where I store my documents is important to me for security purposes. And I didn’t mind the lack of a mobile app because I don’t use this just for viewing (which I can already do on my phone) but PDF generation/manipulation and I want a larger screen for that. WHO’s THIS FOR: If you want to work on PDF files completely offline, this is for you. If you are on the go and don’t want to worry about being able to connect, definitely for you. Tired of being frustrated with web-based tools relying on the speed of your internet, this is for you. Tired of hunting for and struggling with multiple ‘free’ tools to do what this one tool can do? Do you to do more than read pdf files and maybe fill in a line or two (i.e. do you need to create forms. Do you want an easy to use and see interface? Nothing beats the ‘classic’ design. I had tried the online Acrobat Pro (out of necessity, a colleague’s computer) and really just didn’t enjoy the experience. This works out better for me. But then I am something of a classic myself.