{rw_text}Software reviewed in this article:

Simpo Word to PDF

Version reviewed:

v2.0.0.5

Supported OS:

Windows XP/Vista/Win7 (32-bit)

Microsoft Word needs to be installed

Price:

$24.95 (USD) but you can get it for free for a limited time at Giveawayoftheday.com!

Software description as per the developer:

Simpo Word to PDF is a standalone application, which will be your best Microsoft® Office Word partner for creating professional & high-quality PDF documents from Word .DOC & .DOCX files, even convert any hyper links in word files. To save your valuable time, this excellent Word to PDF converter allows to batch conversion from Word to PDF. Just few clicks, you will get satisfied Adobe® compatible PDF documents, no matter you are using Word 2000 or Word 2007!

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{rw_good}

• Straightforward and easy to use.
• Allows users to change metadata of output PDFs.
• Allows users to apply user or owner security to output PDFs.
• Supports batch processing and drag + drop.
• Properly converts hyperlinks.

{/rw_good} –>

{rw_bad}

• Requires Microsoft Word installed to use.
• Microsoft Word 2000/2002 /2003 are not able to create PDFs out of .DOCX.
• Installs a virtual printer, but printer does nothing when used.

{/rw_bad} –>

{rw_score}
{for=”Ease of Use” value=”10″}Straightforward and easy to use.
{/for}
{for=”Performance” value=”9″}Excellent conversion quality, and good conversion speed. Only problem is that a virtual printer is installed, but when trying to use that virtual printer nothing happens. (You convert files via the main program window.)
{/for}
{for=”Usefulness” value=”2″}I don’t see very many people finding this program useful because 1) It requires Microsoft Office installed to use and 2) Microsoft Office 2007 or higher already does everything (except batch processing) this program does.
{/for}
{for=”Price” value=”4″}While yes there is a justification for having a Word to PDF converter, because many to PDF converters don’t properly convert hyperlinks, I think this program is much too overpriced, considering that mainly only Micrsoft Office 2003 or lower users will find it useful. This program is worth $10-15 max.
{/for}
{for=”Final Score” value=”7″}
{/for}
{/rw_score} –>

{rw_verdict}[tup]
{/rw_verdict} –>

Simpo Word to PDF converter is just what the name makes it sound like – a program that converts Word files to PDF.

This is what Simpo Word to PDF converter’s main program window looks like:

Using Simpo Word to PDF is very easy. You simply add the files you want to convert (batch processing and drag + drop are supported), change the metadata of the output PDF files or add security if you want (both are optional)…

…select the output folder you want to place the PDFs in…

…and convert:

The Word files that are checked under the “Check” column are the ones that will be converted, so make sure to check the checkbox for the ones that you want to convert before hitting the “Convert” button.

Conversions are done at a good pace. When conversions have finished, you are told so…

…and you are given links to easily access the output PDF files:

The one thing I like about Simpo Word to PDF is that if an already existing PDF file has the same name as the PDF file you want to create, you are given the option to overwrite or automatically rename the new(er) PDF file:

In terms of performance, Simpo Word to PDF’s conversion quality is excellent. In fact, it is Simpo Word to PDF’s conversion quality that alone justifies the existence of the program.

As we all know there are many, many PDF converters – most in the form of virtual printers – out there. However, most of these PDF converters cannot properly convert hyperlinks in Word files. Simpo Word to PDF can; it properly converts all hyperlinks in Word files.

That said, take note that Simpo Word to PDF requires that you have Microsoft Word installed – it won’t work otherwise (considering that this is a Word to PDF converter, I don’t see many non-Word users having a need for it anyway). If you have Microsoft Word 2000/2002/2003 you can create PDF files from .DOC files. If you have Microsoft Word 2007, you create PDF files from .DOC and .DOCX files. According to the developer, Microsoft Word 2000/2002/2003 users cannot create PDF files from .DOCX files; I personally don’t have Microsoft Word 2000/2002/2003 so I can’t test this for sure, but if it wasn’t true, why would the develop advertise a false-negative aspect of their software?

Last but not least, there is on weird thing about Simpo Word to PDF. It installs a virtual printer (i.e. it adds a “Simpo Word to PDF” printer) but trying to use that virtual printer results in nothing happening – conversions only occur via Simpo Word to PDF’s main program window. Why this is, I don’t know but to be honest it isn’t too overly critical a point.

This review was conducted on a laptop running Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. The specs of the laptop are as follows: 3GB of RAM, a Radeon HD 2600 512MB graphics card, and an Intel T8300 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

{rw_freea}

As I pointed out in my full review above, being able to convert hyperlinks is the critical selling point of Simpo Word to PDF. So, a proper free alternative needs to be able to not only convert Word files to PDF, but also convert hyperlinks. So far, I am only aware of two Word to PDF converters that properly converter hyperlinks, and one of them only does text hyperlinks:

• Microsoft Office 2007 or higher

Since v2007, Microsoft Word comes with the ability to save files as PDFs. When saving these files as PDF, Word properly converts all hyperlinks – text or image.

• 7-PDF

7-PDF Maker is a full blown PDF maker (it does not use virtual printer) that properly converts text hyperlinks in Word files when creating PDFs – it does not properly convert image hyperlinks.

The rest of these programs are PDF converters – all of them using virtual printers – but they do not properly convert any hyperlinks when converting Word to PDF:

{/rw_freea} –>

{rw_verdict2}I am not a fan of specialized PDF converting software (I prefer virtual printers). However, the fact that Simpo Word to PDF properly converts hyperlinks – where as many converters do not – justifies the existence of the software; and the fact that it works so well earns it a thumbs up. That said, though, the usefulness of Simpo Word to PDF is very limited – get it if you need, but most of us won’t need it.
{/rw_verdict2} –>