pdfFactory and FinePrint Shareware versions

FinePrint is limited to thirty uses. After that the software will continue indefinitely in trial form, the restriction being that it will print a small advertising banner on each page. There is no restriction on functionality. pdfFactory is not restricted in number of uses, time or functionality. The restriction is that in shareware form it will print a small advertising banner at the bottom of every page.

Even if you like our software a lot, you probably won’t want to promote it for us on evry document you send out, so to check on the presence of the trialware footnote press the VIEW button to launch the Acrobat viewer and display the pdf file as it will appear when it reaches its destination. As soon as you put your licence code into the About tab this footnote will be removed.

We hope that you will become a licensed user. If you make finePrint your default printer you will get the most benefit. If you halve your paper consumption as we have the payback period wil be only weeks. A record of paper used and pages printed is kept so you can monitor your paper savings. Every time you print in booklet format you potentially save 75% compared with single side A4 printing and the documents are easier to handle and store.

What is ‘Shareware’, ‘trial’ and ‘freeware’ software?

‘Shareware’ is a term that is becoming superseded by the term ‘trial’ software. When shareware first evolved the term meant that people could freely share software with friends and colleagues in order to evaluate it. Many users started to think that it was legal to register the software and then share it with others; this was simply not the case. To avoid this problem the more precise term ‘trial software’ was introduced.

Trial software is software that is distributed on a trial basis with the understanding by the users of the software that there may be a small charge by the authors if they wish to continue to use it or to activate some of the features. Most trial software is available free of charge by download from the internet. By registering the software and paying a small fee the user can receive technical support and updates of the software when these become available. Trial software can be copied and passed to friends and colleagues, as long as it is the trial version of the software and not the registered version.

The big advantage of trial software is that it gives you ample time to test out the software before you buy it. Another advantage is that it is usually a lot less expensive than shop bought software. The authors have fewer overheads and this allows them to sell the software at a lower cost.

‘Freeware’ software is just what it says – it is intended to be used without charge. The downside is that the authors can rarely put in the time for free to keep the software up to date and bug free.

History

In the mid 1980's Bob Wallace, Jim Button and Andrew Fluegelman, the "fathers" of the shareware concept, established the shareware model as the viable marketing method for their software. As the internet became more popular so did the use of shareware, trial software and freeware. This new method of distribution was so successful that today almost every software development company uses it to bring about awareness of their software.

Overall, the distribution of trial software continues to improve with new methods of marketing and more vendors producing software for users to try before they buy. With the support of users, authors are continually developing trial versions of their software, to make it even better at meeting the growing needs of their registered users.