Application for pdf files. Essential PDF Readers

For convenience, we distinguish four types of programs: viewers (for reading and annotating), editors (for editing text and other content), managers (for splitting, compressing and other file manipulations) and converters (for converting PDF to other formats).

Most applications can be attributed to several types at once.

• Type: viewer, editor, converter, manager.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

A very intuitive and user-friendly program with an impressive number of features. When you launch Sejda PDF, you will immediately see all the tools grouped by category. Select the one you need, drag the necessary file into the program window and start manipulations. Most of this application can be done in a few seconds, even if you are using it for the first time.

What you can do in Sejda PDF:

• edit text, add images and shapes;
• convert PDF to Excel, JPG (and vice versa), Word (and vice versa);
• merge and split files by pages, compress their size;
• protect documents with a password;
• add watermarks;
• discolor documents;
• crop page area;
• sign documents.

The free version of the program has limitations. For example, files should not be larger than 200 pages and larger than 50 MB. In addition, you can not perform more than three operations with documents during the day. The full version of Sejda PDF is $5.25 per month.

• Type: manager, converter, editor.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, .

PDFsam cannot boast of a polished, user-friendly interface. In addition, the program does not allow you to convert PDF and edit the content of documents for free. But it has several useful managerial functions available to everyone without payment and any restrictions.

What you can do in PDFsam:

• combine PDF in several modes (glue in parts or mix page by page);
• split PDF by pages, bookmarks (in places with the specified words) and size into separate documents;
• rotate pages (if some of them were scanned upside down);
• extract pages with specified numbers;
• convert Excel, Word, PowerPoint formats to PDF;
• convert PDF to Excel, Word, and PowerPoint formats ($10);
• edit text and other file content ($30).

• Type
• Platforms: Windows.

A very functional program with a classic interface in the style of Microsoft office applications. PDF-XChange Editor is not very beginner friendly. To master all the features of the program, you need to spend some time. Fortunately, all internal descriptions and tips are translated into Russian.

What you can do in PDF-XChange Editor:

• add annotations and highlight text;
• edit text and other content;
• recognize text using OCR;
• extract pages from documents;
• encrypt documents (for a fee);
• convert PDF to Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats and vice versa (for a fee);
• compress files (paid);
• sort pages in any order (paid).

These are not all the features you can find in PDF-XChange Editor. The program is available in several versions with a different number of features. Paid versions start at $43.5.

• Type: viewer, manager, converter, editor.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS.

A popular universal program for working with PDF from the company. The free version is a very convenient document viewer, the rest of the functions are available by subscription at a price of 149 rubles per month.

What you can do in Adobe Acrobat Reader:

• view documents, highlight and comment on text, search for words and phrases;
• sign documents (for a fee);
• edit text and other content (for a fee);
• merge documents into one file (for a fee);
• compress files (paid);
• convert PDF to Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats (paid);
• convert JPG, JPEG, TIF and BMP images to PDF (for a fee).

All these features and more are available in desktop versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Mobile versions of the program only allow you to view and annotate documents, as well as - after subscribing - convert them to different formats.

• Type: viewer, converter.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.

Fast and convenient PDF reader with different viewing modes. Ideal for users who want a simple document reader without too many extras. The program is available on all major platforms.

This category of programs includes free programs for reading and annotating (annotating) PDF documents that can replace the slow and bloated Adobe Reader. Despite many years of experience, Adobe Reader still lags behind its peers in a number of ways.

Note: Of course, here it is necessary to take into account that Adobe is a commercial company, so it cannot have much zeal in the development of the free version.

In any class of programs, it is necessary to determine the criteria based on which you can identify favorites. However, they need to be balanced against the fact that each user has their own needs and preferences. Therefore, within this category, diverse criteria have been taken, which, with a high probability, will cover most needs. The criteria themselves:

• Ability to open PDF files. No, this is not a joke. Not all PDFs are the same. The test set consisted of about a dozen different files. Different sizes, with different security settings, forms and graphic content. Basically, these are typical files used by most people. It is worth noting that none of the considered programs was able to correctly display the test file with an Adobe 3D image. During the tests, a rigorous selection process took place. Any reader that could not read the PDF document correctly, with the exception of this 3D file, was immediately excluded from consideration.
• File opening speed. In this case, the criterion was somewhat softer. It was about seconds. If the difference in opening was a second or two, then it was acceptable. Agree that delays of a few seconds cause resentment. Especially if the document is small.
• Graphical user interface (GUI). In this case, both functionality and ease of use were taken into account. In other words, how aesthetically arranged the controls and functions are, as well as how easy the entire interface will be for ordinary users to use.
• Experience in reading documents. This factor includes both intuitiveness (what to expect? where to look for? what to click? etc.; basically all navigation elements) and text and image rendering speed.
• Annotation (commenting) tools. One important aspect of PDF readers is the ability to tag, annotate, and add images to an existing document. And later save the result without trial version watermarks.
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR). OCR is the ability to convert a scanned image into readable text. And this is quite an important feature. This feature makes the text inside the document searchable and copyable. Unfortunately, only one of the reviewed products contains this feature. More details in the discussion.
• Installation process. In addition to everything, all programs were considered in terms of ease of installation. There is a sad tendency to include various third-party and unnecessary, and sometimes even harmful, software products in the installer.

Note: The software has not been tested on Windows 8. However, Windows 8 support is available on the developer's websites.

Overview of Free PDF Readers (Readers)

Of the entire set of free PDF document readers available, the first two stand out the most. They include extensive options for viewing and commenting on PDF files. But, about this in more detail and in order.

PDF-XChange Viewer full featured reader

This fully functional horse remains the best choice in this category. Subject to the exclusion of 3D image files above. The program was able to quickly open and accurately display all files from the test build. At the same time, you can resize pages, turn them over. Export documents and their parts to various image formats.

The tiled window interface with many tabs allows you to read and comment on multiple documents at once, without having to navigate through multiple open copies of the program. Plus, for quick movement, not only different options for displaying documents in the program window are provided, but also maintaining navigation history. You can go through all the viewed parts of different documents with just a few clicks.

In addition to viewing capabilities, PDF-XChange includes a wide range of tools for annotating and bookmarking PDF documents. The Annotation Toolbox contains many drawing tools, including a grid display to create an accurate drawing. Comments can be hidden, exported or imported.

The program also supports document encryption, security management and document properties. All controls are easily accessible and easy to use. Unfortunately, unlike some other PDF readers, XChanger lacks the ability to add digital signatures.

One of the important parts of any PDF reader is searching for text in a file. And it is here that PDF-XChanger bypasses all its counterparts. It can convert and save a scanned image or text as a picture in a PDF document into readable and searchable text. The OCR process allows for a user-friendly and indexable document.

Note: If you use various services or programs that can index the text of PDF documents, then most likely you have already remembered those foolish documents that, by a lucky chance, are made up of many beautiful pictures, including text.

It is worth noting that the interface is somewhat reminiscent of Windows XP. However, once you open the program, you will not have any particular complaints. The graphical interface is quite neat and pleasant.

Unfortunately, the installer includes a special panel for the browser. So if you don't like to use portable versions and prefer to install programs, then you should be careful during the installation process to avoid installing unnecessary and unnecessary software.

Foxit Reader PDF Reader alternative to PDF-XChange

A worthy contender in this category is Foxit Reader, especially if you don't need OCR tools. The program was able to open and transfer all the same files accurately, even slightly faster than PDF-XChanger.

Foxit contains similar features for viewing and navigating documents, adding to them the ability to read documents aloud. As with XChanger, all documents open as tabs, allowing you to quickly read and comment on multiple documents at once.

While other programs in this category have been relatively static in their development, Foxit has been constantly evolving. The latest version of Foxit already offers different GUI display options. Depending on how familiar you are with different kinds of views, you may like both the "classic" interface and the "ribbon" interface. The ribbon is somewhat similar to the Microsoft Office panel.

Of course, the annotation form tools may initially cause some problems, but otherwise, and this is navigation and editing, the controls are quite well organized. If we talk about the interface as a whole, then it is largely intuitive.

The array of annotation tools is just as huge and impressive as PDF-XChange's. The user can fill out forms, fully comment on the documents and save all the work in the form in which he made them. Foxit includes some unique controls that allow you to add pictures, media files, and so on.

The program supports some features for collaborative editing and sharing via social media. The program allows you to sign and check for validity documents with an electronic signature using the commercial DocuSign service. Even though Foxit can open encrypted files, it unfortunately lacks features for configuring file security.

Carefully! Foxit comes with various unwanted components that will try to install toolbars in the browser and change system settings. The components themselves change regularly. Users need to take great care during the installation process to avoid problems.

Sumatra PDF Viewer is a great simple pdf reader

If all you want from a PDF reader is reading and printing. Then Sumatra is what you were looking for. Perhaps the utility is not so rich in features and has a number of limitations in rendering images, but this is compensated by a large set of different viewing options. As you probably already understood, Sumatra does not provide for editing or commenting on documents.

Note: To be somewhat honest, not many ordinary users know about the very possibility of commenting. Most use this class of programs exclusively for reading documents.

Quick Guide (PDF Reader Download Links)

PDF-XChange Viewer

Foxit Reader

We will consider the best readers for Android. After that, we will choose among them the best program for reading in PDF formats (first of all), FB2 (). Each pdf reader, among other things, allows you to view a number of other popular e-book formats. Choose the right app depending on what kind of books you download to your phone and what format you think is the most suitable.

If you're dealing with PDF format, you should know that Android phones and tablets don't have a handy program like Adobe Reader for reading documents and e-books. Reading pdf on Android is difficult without special software. However, it is easy to install one of the pdf readers. Here is what we offer to choose from:

PocketBook Reader - pdf reader for Android

PocketBook Reader is a mobile application for reading books for Android. With it, it is convenient to read books from your phone, highlight text on pages. The pdf format allows you to create text notes "in the margins", and PocketBook successfully copes with this task.

The PocketBook application is a universal viewer for various files, the reader recognizes most book formats, including PDF (Adobe DRM), EPUB (Adobe DRM), DjVu, TXT, CHM, html (basic), CBZ, CBR, CBT and others (see table below articles).

After scanning a smartphone/tablet, PocketBook Reader will present all content as thumbnails or a list. The library display mode is easily changed: the thumbnail view only displays the covers, while the list provides more information about each book, including title, author, document format. In the next one you will see recently read books.

If we talk about more general moments of the reader, then navigation is available not only for the books already in the library, but also for the sd card and phone memory. That is, the PocketBook Reader application is also a convenient navigation through your electronic library.

In addition to browsing the local contents of the Android device, you can also go to the online library and download any book from there for free. This is a very convenient feature of PocketBook Reader, with a convenient viewing and download mechanism directly to a mobile smartphone or tablet.

Text navigation

• Flip through pages by touching the screen, slide, or using the volume buttons
• Quick search function for PDF files, including multi-page documents and books
• Quick access to content and notes

Book display

• 3 reading modes: page view, two page view, scroll view and other display options
• Changing the screen brightness of an Android phone
• Manual and automatic adjustment of page margins for the most comfortable reading on small screens on phones, smartphones and tablets
• Zoom in and out with two fingers. Double tap to zoom to screen size of a specific part of a page or column
• Change text color and background color.
• PocketBook reader supports four preset themes (night, day, sepia and newspaper)

Editing PDF Documents

• Taking notes (marking text, adding comments, taking screenshots of books)
• Export notes from PDF to file

Add. features of PocketBook Reader

• Support for OPDS catalogs, work with network libraries. It's also easy to add any other source from where you can seamlessly download books to read directly to your tablet.
• Support for ABBYY Lingvo dictionaries. It allows the user to use the translator to read foreign books and documents

Summary. There are many settings in the PocketBook mobile reader: font sizes, scale, text and background colors, page margin settings and other options that affect reading comfort. Easy navigation, wide support for book formats. An excellent universal program for reading books on a tablet. In general, PocketBook is a good phone reader.

PDF reader Universal Book Reader

Universal Book Reader is a free app for reading pdf documents and e-books on Android. It has a stylish and friendly interface, provides all kinds of document reading modes on smartphones and tablets. The built-in file browser allows you to open, read and save any electronic books directly on your phone. In addition, UBR will help you open protected EPUB and PDF files on Android (about supported book formats for Android).

In short, if you need to open a PDF on Android, the Universal Book Reader app is quite a decent reader for Android. However, despite the prefix Universal (universal), this program will be useful purely for opening EPUB and PDF formats - alas, other documents are not supported.

As usual, you can download the reader for Android from Google Play in Russian, the size of the apk file is about 20 MB.

Radaee PDF Reader

If you need a very fast, nimble PDF viewer, check out Radaee PDF Reader. This is a free application that has fast rendering and support for various languages. Radaee PDF Reader is basically a PDF reader app for Android. As for editing, there are also several useful tools here, but their composition cannot be called anything other than basic.

Main features of Radaee PDF Reader for Android:

• Excellent caching and rendering performance, optimized for modern mobile processors. Fast rendering speed without cache preload.
• Zoom (multi-touch), search, text selection and highlight
• 6 book display modes
• stock customization
• Easily add annotations to a pdf document with one click
• Editing and viewing media content

You can download the Radaee PDF Reader for Android from the link.

Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android - a PDF reader with a big name

Adobe Acrobat Reader is a well-known, free pdf reader for Android, free of charge. The main functions of the Reader are reading, annotating, signing pdf files. Everything that is typical for the desktop version of Adobe Acrobat Reader is present here in full. In addition, Adobe's viewer offers access to pdf files via the cloud. This is a convenient opportunity to synchronize documents, books on different devices.

In fact, Adobe Reader is a very functional pdf viewer for the Android mobile platform. In addition to reading, you can

• create notes (which is one of the features of the pdf format)
• export documents to word and excel
• save files to the cloud
• create pdf documents right on your phone or tablet. When it comes to editing Adobe Reader on Android, there is practically no equal.

The main functions of Adobe Reader for Android look like this:

• Easily view pdf files on your phone
• Quickly open pdf files via email, on the web, through any application with the Share function.
• Search, scrolling, zooming pages of a pdf document
• Selection of a separate page, scrolling settings, special reading mode
• Annotation and preview of pdf documents
• Annotate documents, sticky notes and draw, mark text
• Print, store pdf documents in the cloud (Dropbox or Adobe Document Cloud)
• Printing pdf documents from Android

EbookDroid - book reader for Android

The EbookDroid program is not only a pdf reader for Android. The program easily opens EPUB and other e-book formats.

The interface of EbookDroid is not very friendly, and the speed of downloading files is not optimal (compared to other programs). However, the viewer is quite suitable for viewing pdf on Android. To read pdf, you need to install a separate plug-in that is downloaded automatically from the Internet.

In the book display settings, you can change the reading mode (single-page / two-page), divide spreads, crop pages by margins or manually, change the screen orientation, hide unnecessary panels.

EbookDroid uses local directories and network libraries to organize pdf files and other documents in the library on your phone. Synchronization with the cloud in EbookDroid is not provided.

In general, despite the rather gray interface, the EbookDroid reader is suitable for viewing pdf. Do not forget that in addition to this format, the application displays books in djvu and fb2 without any problems.

AnDoc - pdf reader for Android

Librera Reader - free reader for Android

Librera Reader is a program for reading books, documents, musical notation (for musicians). Differs in versatility, ease of use. Designed for comfortable reading with maximum adjustment to the user's vision.

Formats of readable documents and books:

PDF, DJVU, FB2, EPUB, MOBI, TXT, RTF, HTML, AZW, AZW3, CBZ, CBR.

Text files that provide for the display of figures.

Archive reading Zip, GZ (without the need to upload documents).

Setting individual user parameters:

Changing the format, style and size of text (adjusting indents and spacing).

Change the color settings that adapt to the peculiarities of vision at different times of the day.

Setting the modes "for reading", "for musicians" (provides for vertical movement of musical text at a given speed).

Converting information to another format.

In Librera Reader, you can add books from the device's memory, from external network sources. Provides access to OPDS catalogs.

Google Play Books - reader for ePub and pdf

Google Play Books is an Android reader that opens books from the Google Play library. Designed for easy reading by users with Android smartphones. The advantage of the program is the careful setting of a comfortable mode for vision.

Formats supported by the program:

Custom Parameters:

Creating an individual text mode (adjusting the parameters of texts, images).

Color adjustment (day and night mode).

The application has access only to the Google Play library, which is vast. You can add books from the device's memory. They are subject to storage within the same Google account, taking into account the progress read.

Other PDF Reader Apps for Android

1. PocketBook Reader- a universal program designed to read not only PDF, but also EPUB, TXT and other formats on a tablet and phone for Android files, it is convenient to scroll through, it has night and day reading modes, the ability to organize an electronic library.
2. - android version of the well-known competitor Adobe Reader for Android. Supports annotations, bookmarks, works with cloud hosting. It performs well on smartphones and tablets as a program for reading pdf documents.
3. As for, this pdf reader for the phone is unrivaled, because it has a gorgeous interface and functionality. Able to adapt to the desired screen, add annotations, supports both files with a graphic layer and text.
4. SmartQ Reader, like , also works on most android phones. Allows you to create a library, has a file manager available. You can synchronize files on the Internet through the program.
5. - an office suite that has a program for working and reading PDF format, including editing and annotating. In addition, documents can be printed directly from the phone, and password-protected documents can also be opened.

Answers to questions from readers

I was sent a book by e-mail in pub, text, mobi formats. But I can’t open more than one format, it shows “download a program for reading books on your phone in the Android Market”, but I don’t know which program. What to do?

Answer. Most android readers support the e-book formats you listed. So put any application mentioned in the article on your phone and open any of the formats. Enjoy reading!

PDF has become one of the most popular formats for distributing documentation, typographic layouts, and even books. This is explained by two factors. First, a PDF file, unlike a regular text file, cannot be modified by the recipient. This is important, for example, for documentation. Secondly, the recipient of the file can easily open it with the public and free Adobe Reader. And at the same time, neither font installation nor adjustment of any intervals and indents is required - constant companions when opening a complex document prepared by someone in Word. Today, Adobe's PDF viewer is not the only tool. We will talk about several products that will allow you to create or view a PDF file.

How to create PDF

All modern office suites, whether it's the paid Microsoft Office or the free Libre Office, support the PDF format. This is what the "Save As..." dialog looks like in Word.

And for the rest of the programs, the applications that I will describe in this article create a virtual printer, and printing to PDF is carried out as an option for regular printing. It's just that instead of a physical printer, you choose "print to PDF". Here is what such a printer looks like in Foxit Reader.

If you have a text file and want to get a PDF from it, but you don't want to install an office suite for this, you can do it from the Google Drive or Office Live online services. Both are free.

How to read PDF

regular browser

Almost all modern browsers can view PDF format. It just turns out badly for them. Those who have tried to view some really complex PDF through them will understand what I mean.

In browsers, document scaling is not so convenient, sometimes this leads to incorrect display of content. Plus, the table of contents navigation is not very convenient. The functionality for viewing PDF files ends only with the viewing function itself, which is somewhat reminiscent of print preview mode.

Foxit Reader

Download Foxit Reader 6.1.5.0624 ENG

Foxit Reader is much better with both PDF display and functionality. This is perhaps the most popular after Adobe Reader, and the most convenient "reader" of PDF files. It is smaller than Adobe Reader and works faster.

Foxit Reader has a convenient fragment search that works only in those files where their manufacturer has allowed text to be left. There is also a version of a PDF file that is closed from searching and extracting text, which can only be converted into text by an automatic recognizer, like FineReader.

Those who have met with this program for a long time will be very surprised by its new appearance. In appearance, Foxit Reader is very close to Microsoft Office! It is difficult to list all the operations that it allows you to do with PDF files - there are a lot of them.

You can mark chunks of text with a marker, take notes on individual words and paragraphs, and write text directly on top of a PDF file.

Cool PDF Reader

Download Cool PDF Reader

Perhaps the interface of Foxit Reader will seem too fancy and complicated to you. Then you better pay attention to Cool PDF Reader. He is the leader in the minimum size of the program. Its size is a little over one megabyte, but this does not prevent this program from doing its job of viewing PDF files and searching in text well.

In addition, the program can convert PDF to a number of graphic formats (GIF, BMP, PNG, WMF, JPG, EMF, EPS) and text (TXT). Cool PDF Reader can also remove graphics from a PDF file for easier viewing. But this is a paid feature.

View PDF in Windows 8

And finally, I’ll tell you about PDF support in the Windows 8 operating system. In it, a regular application called “Reader”, made in a “modern” full-screen interface, is responsible for viewing files of this format.

There are no special settings, and the possibilities are minimal, although search by fragment is implemented. At the same time, a very good and useful search results window has been made.

On our site you can download the PDF Master program immediately and without any registration. The PDF text format is one of the most famous, so it's no surprise that there are many utilities that help open such documents.

PDFMaster has an excellent interface and will allow you to easily read the entire text or find the right part in a large document. PDFMaster includes a free PDF Printer module.