On occasion, I need to add a comment or text to a PDF file and send it to a colleague. Unfortunately, Adobe’s free PDF Reader does not allow you to do this. Adobe’s answer to annotating PDF files is for you to shell out $290 for a copy of Adobe Acrobat
After quite a bit of research, I stumbled upon a freeware program called PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER from Tracker Software. PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER is incredible! As their website says;
PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER is the free alternative to Adobe PDF Viewer/Reader – fully featured, faster and ‘lighter’ on your PC’s resources without sacrificing quality or functionality.
Not only does PDF X-Change Viewer not sacrifice any functionality, it adds a bunch of additional features! Following is a quick overview of some of the features in PDF X-Change Viewer.
Stamp
PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER includes 12 predefined stamps you can add to a PDF. You can also create your own stamps!
Post-It Type Notes
With the Sticky Note Tool you can add post-it like notes to your PDF’s.
Text Boxes
PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER has 3 ways to add text to a PDF. The Typewriter Tool allows you to simply add text. The Text Box Tool put’s a customizable box around your text. The Callout Tool adds an arrow to your text box to call-out (or point to)what you are commenting on.
Modify Text Tools
You can highlight existing text in your PDF files. You can cross out text. You can underline text.
Lines, Arrows and Shapes
PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER has a nice selection of arrows, ovals and lines to add to your PDF’s.
In addition to PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER being a feature laden free product, their tech support is top notch. I had an issue opening a specific PDF; asked for help on their support forum; …and had a response with a resolution the next day.
You can’t go wrong with PDF X-CHANGE VIEWER. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who needs to read and/or annotate PDF files.
15 comments:
This does indeed look fantastic! Do you know whether it is possible to open the annotated pdf document using traditional Adobe products afterwards?
This is what I'm looking for, thanks for sharing :). I was use foxit reader before for PDF annotation, but when saving that put a stamp, such as "edited using ...."
The annotated PDF opens up just fine in Abobe's PDF Reader, FoxIt, etc. You can see all your comments, graphics and stamps without any watermarks (like FoxIt).
review of pdf reader 1.0.0.8
http://snsays.com/534/pdf-reader-1008/
Looks promising... I don't suppose you are a developer? ;)
Hi,
did you ever try A.nnotate (a.nnotate.com)? It is web based rather than bing installed locally, but still free if you only use it occasionally.
I was able to open the pdf I annotated using the adobe reader so that's cool. What I want to know is if this software has a mobile option? I read ebooks on the go either with my ipod touch or my blackberry curve and there doesn't seem to be a pdf annotator that lets you annotate the copy that's on your mobile device. If you know of one let me know! raegan001[at]gmail.com
Yes, there is a portable version of the PDF X-Change viewer.
hats off to you. i won't have expected so many features from a free tool. it's simply awesome.
Sounds great. Is there anything like this for macs? Thanks, LD
It does watermark the PDF in the current free version..
a nice review here: http://bestofthepack.blogspot.com/2010/10/best-free-pdf-file-editors.html
To LD, who asked if there is anything like this for Macs? Yes, Preview, which comes standard with Mac OS X (Leopard and higher) can do all of this. Annotations etc done with Preview are visible by other pdf readers.
jcw
Just installed the free version with great success!
So far it does everything I wanted (mainly customized highlights, annotations, and bookmarks) in a familiar way without undue clutter.
Still tinkering with the other features, but I would already highly recommend this for anyone frustrated with the limitations of adobe reader!
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