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After trying all sorts of pdf readers, I come close to the conclusion that reading pdf documents on a PDA is not practical at all and even irrealistic.
Due mainly to the fact that one cannot view an entire page with a readable font size without having to scroll sideways.
I end up converting pdf to lit.
Please, give opinion and eventually solutions.
Thanks all, and take care
Come on folks, just a few words about your experience with pdf...
donno i read a book as pdf once
on my pda
only had to scroll down not sideways
depend on the doc in question really i suppose
pref lit though because of bookmarks and cleartype
and not being as much a res hog as acrobat reader which i used at the time
VGA a requirement
I use an older version of Adobe reader on a VGA screen. My eyes are still good enough that I can zoom out, get a full page on the screen, and still read it. I have read an entire book this way. I am sure there are better ways to do it on a PDA. But my goal is to be able to grab a document off of the web and read it as I travel. If there is going to be conversion between formats, it would have to take place on the PDA.
That being said, it is still easier to read a word or text document than a PDF. But if you have the screen resolution and size to work with, PDF's are not impossible.
Thanks folks, that was my impression.
Answers
There are ways to improve PDF experiance. Using reflow when creating PDFs (available as an option when saving PDFs from OpenOffice, for example) greatly improves things.
Anothr good option is Repligo - you can print / convert PDFs to that format. It uses less space, documents open faster and look better (less jagged fonts).
Believe me, PDFs are annoying even in actual, desktop environments. >_>
That said, I'm using Foxit for the PPC. It loads 15MB++ files faster than Adobe, follows the original PDF format faithfully (doesn't try to rearrange like idiotic Clearvue), yet it is a standalone program that requires no installation.
That said, PDF reading is only for devices with a big screen. Definitely bigger than a Mini, let alone an Atom. Otherwise, at a big enough text to be legible, scrolling to the side is necessary - and that tends to lag a bit with bigger PDFs for devices with only 64MB of RAM or less.
I have train skeds and the Tokyo Metro Map plus a crap load more pdf files
that I use on my X01HT and yes you do have to scroll both ways but I mean
have you seen the detail of the Tokyo Metro Map?!?
It works for me. I actually like it.
Plus I get 'really cool' nods from Japanese when they see me looking
through the Tokyo Metro map on my X01HT because most of them
use the low tech pocket paper fold out.
Yes, I am a gaijin otaku and proud of it!!!
imexp then big pictures makes pdf useless on pda's as they can move the text to scale but in there is a picture in the middle they cant really handle scaling the picture down to match the width of the pda screen
I think converting to repligo is the most elegant solution since images are conserved...but it is not free
Otherwise, if pics are not important, converting to text then to lit and using microsoft reader is an acceptable free solution.
To "AquiEsta!": why don't you use the excellent "metro" freeware?
You can use the free xpdf (pocketpdf). It at least has better zoom functions then adobe and it has the option to read pdf as text files with associated functions. You lose pictures but pure textfiles are a breaze to read...
elio said:
I think converting to repligo is the most elegant solution since images are conserved...but it is not free
Otherwise, if pics are not important, converting to text then to lit and using microsoft reader is an acceptable free solution.
To "AquiEsta!": why don't you use the excellent "metro" freeware?
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I didn't know such a thing existed. Where would I find that? In English
would be great too!
Thanks
AquiEsta! said:
I didn't know such a thing existed. Where would I find that? In English
would be great too!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://nanika.net/Metro/
You will love it
elio said:
http://nanika.net/Metro/
You will love it
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"more than 350 cities covered now"... I'm already in love with it because
I travel a lot and this hopefully will save me time and advils.
THANK YOU!!!
off I go to set it up...
Adobe Reader for PPC 2 works with my HTC Athena/Advantage VGA screen without legibility problems using its reflow function which wraps the text to your screen - no sideways scrolling needed.
Even if your documents were not prepared specifically for this Active Sync will do the necessary conversion when you transfer the docs from your PC (turn it on in file settings). If you bypass ActiveSync your reflow button gets greyed out.
For documents like maps you can switch to sideways scrolling whenever you want.
My only gripe is that the characters are a little fuzzy, so I'm looking for a fix for this.
UPDATE: fuzzy characters fixed:
Switch resolution to 95 dpi using RealVGA before opening Adobe Reader. Now works as it was meant to. Only downside is the the resolution switch involves a reset.
For reading articles and such offline I use ScrapBook (a Firefox extension) to capture the page/selection and delete ads/sidebars and then 'Save Page as...' and copy the html and corresponding images folder to my SD card. It's a pain but it's the best solution that I could find.
I use Mobipocket Reader to do the conversion and reading, it's free and works well for me www.mobipocket.com
For PDFs Picel Browser, and Foxit Reader for Windows Mobile are pretty good.
I second the picsel reader. http://www.picselpowered.com
Don't let the number of Cons over Pros put you off.
Even with these problems I still use it on a daily basis, and preferred to buy it over using free alternatives like Adobe.
Proof that mobile apps don't have to look like clunky old windows apps.
Pro
Excellent rendering of PDF files
Fine control over zoom, can use a gesture (tap & drag)
Cons
Out of memory errors with just a few other apps running
Remembers last document opened, but not page
No Search
No way of jumping to a page
pdemoore said:
I second the picsel reader. http://www.picselpowered.com
Don't let the number of Cons over Pros put you off.
Even with these problems I still use it on a daily basis, and preferred to buy it over using free alternatives like Adobe.
Proof that mobile apps don't have to look like clunky old windows apps.
Pro
Excellent rendering of PDF files
Fine control over zoom, can use a gesture (tap & drag)
Cons
Out of memory errors with just a few other apps running
Remembers last document opened, but not page
No Search
No way of jumping to a page
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I back this as well, it is bar far, THEE most impressive on a PDA.
It has no rendering lag, making it the fastest PDF reader on WM.
I would only recommend that VGA users view PDFs, QVGA isn't practical.
Dear All
Is there a good PDF reader for Android? I have tried almost all available, and they all seem to have one deficiency or another. Some cannot reflow text, some don't remember their settings, some are fiddly and slow, the clown prince of them all being Adobe Reader.
One thing they ALL are missing is an ability to place bookmarks. See, I'd like to read some PDF books on my Desire but I haven't found one which enables me to place a bookmark.
Any help?
I totally agree. And those reader that do exist do not get any updates - as if they were sufficient.
have you tried Repligo PDF reader.........better than beam reader ( a good 2nd choice)
ThinkFree Office that came preloaded on my Vibrant seems to do it all just fine for me on PDFs.
+1 for RepliGo.
It does not support bookmarks but it remembers when you stopped reading. I've also tried tons of PDF readers and RepliGo seems like the best option.
repligo is great, the fastest at rendering a page out there, and i've tried them all
The real problem isn't the reader software, it's with the PDF format. It was never designed to be "portable". It was designed to represent a PRINTED page, and as such features such as text reflow are not even possible with some PDF's which are essentially image files. Even when it is possible, so much fluff behind the scenes formatting-wise makes reflowed text difficult to render correctly, as images often lose their relevance.
Fact is, PDF is a HORRIBLE format for mobile devices at the very base, it is nothing like HTML or CSS which is designed to be screen/device agnostic to some extent. The best readers can do is try.
Hey guys,
I normally lurk the forums as I'm always able to come to some sort of solution, but this time I'm truly lost! I've tried everything to find a PDF viewer for WM7 that has a search function. I need an app that can search for keywords in a PDF by tomorrow and I have tried everything from:
1. DotNetNuzzi PDF Viewer-- incredible lag, completley inoperable.
2. Convert PDF to .doc ( using Adobe Acrobat X Pro, NitroPDF 7) to search keywords in WM7 Office-- PDF formatting goes to complete ruin, no use.
3. Convert PDF to ePUB (using various online converters/standalones) to read via eBook readers from marketplace (Freda, Bookvisior)--PDF formatting goes to complete ruin, no use.
I don't know what to do, and I need to be able to search large PDF files by tomorrow. Please helppp me!
Hmm... normally I wouldn't recommend this, but maybe something like Google Docs (plus, if needed the Find On Page commandlet for IE on Windows Phone)? Another, even hackier option, would be to use RemoteDesktop (an app, does exactly what it says) and open the PDF on a PC instead. Yeah, it would lag, but a "large" PDF is likely to realllly strain the phone anyhow.
Searching PDFs is surprisingly difficult; I believe the default viewer on Android can't do it either. What do you need this particular capability for? There might be a better way. For example, I think the Adobe app lets you jump by page, so you could search text in another tool (that messes up the formatting, so long as it leaves the page breaks) and then jump to the relevant page. Alternatively, does the PDF have headers? You could navigate by table of contents, if the headers are sufficiently fine-grained...
I've been looking for an app which organizes pdfs and epub documents and has a reader in-built.
I know iOS has iBooks and I own Samsung Galaxy Tab which had eBooks app - you can see all the recently opened files and it lets you open them too.
Is there anything similar for Surface? What are you guys using for PDFs?
I've tried PDF Touch, Freda, Overdrive Console etc but haven't found them up to the mark.
Thanks!
PS: I don't see a forum for posting Surface Q/A, so I posted it here.
Montastic said:
I've been looking for an app which organizes pdfs and epub documents and has a reader in-built.
I know iOS has iBooks and I own Samsung Galaxy Tab which had eBooks app - you can see all the recently opened files and it lets you open them too.
Is there anything similar for Surface? What are you guys using for PDFs?
I've tried PDF Touch, Freda, Overdrive Console etc but haven't found them up to the mark.
Thanks!
PS: I don't see a forum for posting Surface Q/A, so I posted it here.
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PDFs open natively and the reader buit into the SAurface is actually pretty good IMO- Annotations, highlights etc. I open large Pdfs from the insurance industry and it does the trick so far..
Regarding a general ebook reader, I am not impressed with anything yet as far as being able to import in my own epubs (as opposed to Kindle and Nook, Kobo, etc which only let you read their conten)t - I have Freda installed and its just so so - It uses the Calibre ebook management system on a desktop Pc which is a hassle, and as far as I can tell there is no way to remove books from Freda once imported in - Not too many features
it seems like the ebook readers are always a hassle on these types of devices (same form my Android) - You always need to have like 3 of them loaded to cover everything if you have your own epubs, and other formats
guitar1969 said:
PDFs open natively and the reader buit into the SAurface is actually pretty good IMO- Annotations, highlights etc. I open large Pdfs from the insurance industry and it does the trick so far..
Regarding a general ebook reader, I am not impressed with anything yet as far as being able to import in my own epubs (as opposed to Kindle and Nook, Kobo, etc which only let you read their conten)t - I have Freda installed and its just so so - It uses the Calibre ebook management system on a desktop Pc which is a hassle, and as far as I can tell there is no way to remove books from Freda once imported in - Not too many features
it seems like the ebook readers are always a hassle on these types of devices (same form my Android) - You always need to have like 3 of them loaded to cover everything if you have your own epubs, and other formats
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Click to collapse
The inbuilt reader is okay but not many features. I wish I could choose highlight colors.
On my Galaxy Tab, I have ezPDF reader - what I like is that it shows the recently opened file on a bookshelf. I don't care about the skeuomorphism but it would be nice to be able to see bunch of recently opened files.
On a side note, is there some setting where it asks me what program to open the PDF each time I try to open a PDF file? I know how to set the default program but depending on what I'm doing, I like to use different programs.
We should all contact the maker of Mantano Reader to petition for a WinRT port. The premium version is the best pdf/epub reader I have found for any mobile device yet.
guitar1969 said:
I have Freda installed and its just so so - It uses the Calibre ebook management system on a desktop Pc which is a hassle, and as far as I can tell there is no way to remove books from Freda once imported in - Not too many features
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There will be a couple of further releases in the next weeks - adding various features (including the one you mention - removing imported ebooks). In the current version, you don't need to use Calibre - you can also use a filesystem/SkyDrive browser, and Freda does register itself as able to open EPUB and FB2 - so you can open them direct from internet/file explorer.
I've posted more info on the Freda development roadmap here.
Jim Chapman said:
Freda does register itself as able to open EPUB and FB2 - so you can open them direct from internet/file explorer.
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I have run into this while using your app and it is a great feature! Yours is the best epub reader available for the SurfaceRT, and I will be keeping an eye on it.
Jim Chapman said:
There will be a couple of further releases in the next weeks - adding various features (including the one you mention - removing imported ebooks). In the current version, you don't need to use Calibre - you can also use a filesystem/SkyDrive browser, and Freda does register itself as able to open EPUB and FB2 - so you can open them direct from internet/file explorer.
I've posted more info on the Freda development roadmap here.
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Thanks for the info! Freda is currently my favorite epub reader.
Is highlighting supported for epubs?
Montastic said:
Is highlighting supported for epubs?
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Well, once the next release passes through Microsoft certification (in the next few days if we are lucky) it will support bookmarks/annotations - so you can select a word, and associate some annotation text with it. Bookmarked words are shown with a diamond-shaped tag, rather than a highlight stripe, though. I have been looking at a feature that would let you select several words or a whole block of text for highlighting, but it's tricky to get right (mainly because the UI for selecting text is complicated).
Jim Chapman said:
Well, once the next release passes through Microsoft certification (in the next few days if we are lucky) it will support bookmarks/annotations - so you can select a word, and associate some annotation text with it. Bookmarked words are shown with a diamond-shaped tag, rather than a highlight stripe, though. I have been looking at a feature that would let you select several words or a whole block of text for highlighting, but it's tricky to get right (mainly because the UI for selecting text is complicated).
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Thanks for the info.
I'm not sure what kind of use case others have, but for me, highlighting is pretty important. I have PDF and epub versions of the same periodical and the only reason I go to PDF is so that I can highlight text.
Thanks for your effort though - Freda is an awesome app and I'm sure it will get better with your continued effort.
Since I can't seem to post this in the correct place (Windows 8 > Windows 8 Development & Hacking on one of the jailbroken RT app threads):
SumatraPDF 2.2.1 - look it up on Wikipedia or Google since I also can't post links...
This is a reasonably capable PDF reader. (Also, from my use of it today, it's certainly more friendly t- o touch than Foxit Reader is on a touch-capable Win8 Pro system.) It also appears to support many other formats - I tried an ePub with it and that also worked well.
I had to make a few minor patches to the source in places (expectations of x86/x64 in a few libraries), and replace the bundled JPEG library to get it to build. I'm assuming printing support will work, but I haven't had reason to test that.
A few visual anomalies seem to exist, but they also seem to be pretty minor. (The toolbar doesn't render quite right, which looks like broken icon references.)
I've attached the binary; contact me and I'll send the link to the source.
Chris
Do you know a good open source PDF editor for Windows? I am not saying you have to compile it to ARM, I can take a look at it myself
SumatraPDF is only a reader as you said.
I need to annotate PDFs and fill out forms. One app at the store does this to some extent, but it's kind of limited.
Thanks for the port; it's added to the list!
@someniceguy: You can actually ue Word 2013 to edit PDFs. If you just need annotation and form filling, though, those can be done with the built-in PDF reader (the Metro-style one). Note that annotation requires a stylus, though, so not available on Surface RT.
First of all, thanks for the info.
GoodDayToDie said:
@someniceguy: You can actually ue Word 2013 to edit PDFs.
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It asks me to convert the PDF to a Word document first. That's a deal break for me.
GoodDayToDie said:
If you just need annotation and form filling, though, those can be done with the built-in PDF reader (the Metro-style one).
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I can use Reader to make basic annotations such as highlighting with a given color and adding notes. Nothing else, it seems. It's a very limited program.
The only semi decent program I found is PDF Touch, but it too has limitations. For example, it gives you a very limited selection of colors for highlighting. And it does not support all types of annotations (or I could not see them), such as adding notes. The worse of it, though, is that it does not show the table of contents of the PDF, and I could not find any way to search inside the PDF.
Use ezPDF (Android) for a brief time and you realize Store Apps for PDF handling are from the stone ages.
Again, thanks for the suggestions, but still looking for that open source advanced program for PDF manipulation.
The progromm is a little bit ugly but works realy fine ! even faster then the mtro app
Yeah, it doesn't take too much to beat the speed of the Reader app. Of course, I was interested in using it with big PDFs - on average, 300 pages, mostly D&D books actually, which left me wanting a program that responded in a timely manner, and would allow me to have multiple files open at the same time, since I'm usually using them as reference material while playing... Reader blew chunks for that on an i5-480m @ 2.66, so there wasn't a chance it would do better on a far wimpier processor...
Has the developer integrated GPU rendering yet? I know he previously complained about the cost/reward ratio. Without it, though, Sumatra really lags all other readers on scanned (old) PDFs or complex ones.
Merconium said:
Has the developer integrated GPU rendering yet? I know he previously complained about the cost/reward ratio. Without it, though, Sumatra really lags all other readers on scanned (old) PDFs or complex ones.
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Didn't look like it had any Direct2D dependencies or other such things in it. I also ended up potentially slowing it down a bit by replacing libjpeg-turbo with the original libjpeg, which had it's own gcc dependencies.
On the other hand, at least for the purposes that I wanted a PDF reader for - multiple files open at once, easy access to bookmarks, decently quick rendering - it seems to be good enough. The rendering speed isn't great, but it's better than Reader, which is the other reader I tried before building this one.
The version of SumatraPDF posted here did not work for me. I got the error message "SumatraPDF crashed Sorry, that shouldn't have happened!".
However, this version worked for me. https://github.com/plumeqi/RT_Arm32_Porting/tree/main/SumatraPDF3.3.3/Bin
Now I can read PDF as well as DjVu and ePubs on my Surface RT.
apandada1 said:
The version of SumatraPDF posted here did not work for me. I got the error message "SumatraPDF crashed Sorry, that shouldn't have happened!".
However, this version worked for me. https://github.com/plumeqi/RT_Arm32_Porting/tree/main/SumatraPDF3.3.3/Bin
Now I can read PDF as well as DjVu and ePubs on my Surface RT.
Click to expand...
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Thank you, bro. I can use it now in 2022.