Adobe Reader allows you to use the highlight tool but changes its behaviour so that it's basically a freedraw round brush. Other PDF readers will not let you use the regular highlight tool but offer an "Area highlight" tool instead which allows free draw of rectangles. One interesting difference between it and other software is in how it deals with Type 4 and 5 documents. Adobe reader is generally a good enough tool for what you would need to do, though it has its own quirks and drawbacks. This is probably everybody's first option since PDFs are automatically associated with Adobe. So without further ado: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC: Compact functionality In addition, sometimes you also run into scans that are in the wrong orientation and need to be rotated, which requires its own tools. Scanned documents that cannot even be highlighted by Adobe Reader (might be some sort of protection).Scanned documents where the text is not recognised.Scanned documents that have highlightable text, but the highlight and search seem to think the words are sometimes on different positions than they actually are, leading to highlights that run on from the line or skip portions of the text.Scanned documents that have accurately highlightable text.To elaborate on "awkward files", what I mean is that student readings fall into five rough types: These requirements disqualify quite a number of the very light readers. ![]() All software chosen are also capable of signing documents and do not require signup. I focus on student-relevant details such as a good UI, highlighting, search, and the ability to handle all sorts of awkward files you might encounter. This comparison is written for university students and those in similar positions who want a free PDF reader but do not need the full features of a PDF editor. ![]() So I tested them out myself and made a writeup that I hope helps others in my position. The current web results for this are disappointing to say the least, with review sites doing very little to highlight what makes each reader unique and really comparing features people care about, not to mention frequently omitting major options. Then use the zoom slider at the bottom right to resize the text.I've recently been doing a whole bunch of research into software for each purpose, and PDF readers are one of the staples. Click File, Preferences, General, then tick the ‘Use single-key accelerators to access tools’ box, then click OK.Ģ You can switch to Foxit Reader’s new Reflow Mode by clicking the Reflow button in the View section of the Home tab. Hopefully, version 9.0 will be available in a portable format soon.ġ To use Foxit Reader’s new keyboard shortcuts, you must turn them on. Note that there is a portable version of Foxit Reader available from but, at the time of writing, this was still only version 8.32. Also, you can design and export your own digital signature.ĭownload Foxit Reader 9.0 from the URL above and run the file to install it, taking care to de-select the option to install a trial version of Foxit PhantomPDF (a paid-for professional PDF editing tool) when prompted. You can now more easily find tools you need by typing into the ‘Tell me what you want to do…’ box at the top of the screen. Reflowing doesn’t permanently change the PDF file, which reverts to its original formatting as soon as you switch Reflow Mode off. This reformats the text in a PDF automatically when you zoom in, so that it fits the width of your document, meaning you can read it without having to scroll horizontally. For a full list of the new shortcuts, check page 218 of the user manual, which you can download from Another useful addition is Reflow Mode. These new shortcuts aren’t enabled by default – see below to find out how to switch these on. ![]() So, hitting the S key now lets you open a new sticky note, for example, while pressing X switches you to the text-box tool. But few free PDF programs offer as many useful features as Foxit Reader – and a major new version release has just added even more handy tools.Īmong these is a new selection of very useful new single-key shortcuts that let you quickly carry out common actions using your keyboard. However, if you don’t want to install anything, you could just use Microsoft Edge, which now – following the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update – includes the ability to annotate PDFs. ![]() There’s no shortage of free PDF readers available.
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