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PDFpen 8 Adds Attachments, Digital Signatures, and More

Hot on the heels of Smile’s revamp of TextExpander (see “TextExpander 6 Adds Teams and Subscription Billing,” 6 April 2016, and “Smile Brings Back Standalone TextExpander, Reduces Subscription Price,” 13 April 2016), the software company has unveiled updates to PDFpen and PDFpenPro, its PDF editing apps for Mac, taking them both to version 8. Both apps are compatible with OS X 10.10 Yosemite and later.

New to PDFpen and PDFpenPro is the capability for users to preview and extract both file attachments and annotations from PDFs; furthermore, PDFpenPro 8 offers the capability to add file attachments to a PDF. In addition, users can now use both apps to add and play back audio annotations.


The apps now offer a new measuring tool, enabling users to get measurements of practically anything on the page: for example, if you want to how know far the chapter opening of your novel manuscript is from the top of the page, it’s just a drag away.


New features exclusive to PDFpenPro 8 include the capability to create portfolios — PDF files that contain multiple documents — and to customize the appearance of radio button and checkbox form elements. Also added is the capability to rearrange the tab order of form elements from the PDFpenPro sidebar.


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A number of existing features also received enhancements. Microsoft Word export, available in both apps, no longer requires an online connection as it did in version 7. Similarly, Excel export, a PDFpenPro-only feature, can also be performed offline.

Also enhanced is the apps’ document-signing capability. In addition to the interactive signature fields supported by the previous versions, users can now create and validate digital signatures. Such signatures can employ self-created certificates or AATL (Adobe Approved Trust List) certificates.


Both apps are available from Smile, with PDFpen priced at $74.95 and PDFpenPro at $124.95. Upgrades for single user versions of PDFpen and PDFpenPro each cost $30 (those who purchased either PDFpen 7 or PDFpenPro 7 after 1 January 2016 are eligible for free upgrades). In addition, PDFpen owners who want to step up to the advanced features of PDFpenPro can do so for $50. Family packs and office packs are also available.

PDFpen and PDFpenPro will also soon be available from the Mac App Store, which, unfortunately, has no facility for offering upgrade prices. Purchasers of previous versions of either app from the Mac App Store, however, can download the latest version of the app from Smile and launch it: the registration process recognizes the Mac App Store versions and applies the appropriate upgrade price.

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