The PDF format 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 changed by the recipient. This is important, for example, for documentation. Secondly, the recipient of the file can easily open it with a public and free tool. Adobe reader... And at the same time, you do not need to install fonts, or adjust any spacing and indents - constant companions when you open a complex document prepared by someone in Word. Adobe's PDF viewer isn't the only tool today. We will share several products that will allow you to create or view a PDF file.
How to create PDF
In all modern office suites, whether paid Microsoft Office or free Libre Office, PDF supported. This is how 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 virtual printer, and printing to PDF is carried out as a normal printing option. You just choose "print to PDF" instead of a physical printer. This is how such a printer looks like in Foxit Reader.
if you have text file and you 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 online services Google Drive or Office Live. Both are free.
How to read PDF
Regular browser
Almost all modern browsers are able to view PDF format. Only it turns out they are still bad. Those who tried to view some really complex PDF through them will understand what I mean.
Scaling of the document is not so convenient in browsers, sometimes it leads to incorrect display of content. Plus, the navigation through the table of contents is not very convenient. The functionality for viewing PDF files ends only with the viewing function itself, which is somewhat reminiscent of the mode preview when printing.
Foxit Reader
Download Foxit Reader 6.1.5.0624 RUS
Foxit Reader does much better with both PDF display and functionality. This is perhaps the most popular after Adobe Reader, and the most convenient "reader" of files in PDF format... It is smaller than Adobe Reader and faster.
Foxit Reader implements a convenient fragment search that works only in those files where the 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 turned into text by an automatic recognizer like FineReader.
Those who have met this program for a long time will be greatly surprised by its new outward appearance... Foxit Reader is very close to Microsoft Office in appearance! 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, write text directly over the PDF file.
Cool PDF Reader
Download Cool PDF Reader
The Foxit Reader interface may seem overly sophisticated and complex to you. Then you better pay attention to Cool PDF Reader. It is the leader in the smallest program size. Its size is a little more than one megabyte, but this does not in the least prevent this program from performing well its responsibilities for viewing PDF files and searching through text.
In addition, the program can convert PDF to a number of graphic formats (GIF, BMP, PNG, WMF, JPG, EMF, EPS) and text (TXT). Also, Cool PDF Reader can remove graphics from a PDF file for easy viewing. But this is a paid feature.
Viewing PDF in Windows 8
Finally, I'll tell you about PDF support in the operating room. Windows system 8. In it, a standard application called "Reader", executed in a "modern" full-screen interface, is responsible for the function of viewing files of this format.
There are no special settings, and the possibilities are minimal, although the search by fragment is implemented. At the same time, a very good and useful search results window has been made.
Hello teapots and teapots. Today we'll talk about programs with which you can open PDF files. Surely you have come across these, right? Basically, such files are encountered by people who use literature downloaded on the Internet.
So what exactly is PDF format? PDF format(eng. Portable Document Format) Is the format electronic documents which uses the PostScript system. It is this format that makes it possible to provide printed products in in electronic format.
As in the case with, the editors of the site use different programs for opening PDF files and, accordingly, considers its program the best, but also appreciated other existing types of programs. Let's consider them the same.
The first and possibly best program on the list is Adobe reader... This paid program, but it can be found on the Internet already hacked. We will consider free option Adobe acrobat Reader DC. In principle, it has all the most necessary functions. Opening files, recognizing them and converting them to Word and Excel format. It can be used both on computers and on mobile devices... The interface is pretty self-explanatory. It is the leader among computer users.
Interface - 5.
Functionality - 9.
Performance - 8.
System requirements - 6.
Quality - 9.
The second program, which in our opinion is a good and functional tool for PDF files- it Foxit Reader... Analogue of Adobe Reader, but free, which is, in fact, its advantage. Also, the plus is that this program is loaded much faster than the "paid" analogue. But, there is one significant drawback - processed text and images are not always of high quality. And so, in terms of its functionality, it rightfully takes the second place in our rating.
Interface - 6.
Functionality - 8.
Performance - 9.
System requirements - 8.
Quality - 5.
In third place, less functional program - STDU Viewer... In principle, it is only suitable for opening PDF files. But, unlike other programs, it also opens most other formats - PDF, DjVu, TXT, TCR, TIFF, Comic Book Archive (CBR or CBZ), XPS, JBIG2. Therefore, we give her the "bronze".
Interface - 7.
Functionality - 6.
Performance –8.
System requirements - 7.
Quality - 6.
Fourth place - Cool PDF Reader... Free, very multifunctional program. The advantages are its size (less than 1 mb) as well as converting PDF to TXT, BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, WMF, EMF, EPS files. Has over 60 languages.
Interface - 7.
Functionality - 6.
Performance -7.
System requirements - 7.
Quality - 5.
Well, this can be the end of our rating, but after consulting, we decided to add such a program to this rating as Sumatra PDF... An elementary program to open PDF files. Its plus is that it is made in the style of "minimalism". Simplest design, high-speed, but, unlike the above, is less functional.
Interface - 8.
Functionality - 4.
Performance -6.
System requirements - 7.
Quality - 5.
Also, there are many other programs for opening PDF files, but they are all similar and have the same functions.
Size: 24139 KB
Price: Free
Russian interface language: yes
Adobe Reader is the most popular PDF reader application. An important factor in the distribution of Adobe Reader is its presence on many discs with drivers, games and other applications. The developer has attached PDF documentation to his product, but standard means Windows won't let you read it. Need to add to disk special program... Her choice in the overwhelming majority of cases is not original - it is Adobe Reader.
New versions of applications, the development of which began a long time ago, often acquire a mass of secondary functions, the interface becomes more complicated, and the speed of work slows down. And now more progressive and nimble competitors are slowly pushing the old man out of the market. But this has nothing to do with Adobe Reader. On the contrary, the latest versions of the program are much easier to learn than their older brothers. The program is developing, first of all, towards support of new PDF standards, allowing to display more complex documents using the latest technology visualization.
The working window of Adobe Reader contains a toolbar with small amount buttons (nothing superfluous), as well as a small side panel from which the main service modes applications. There is no status line in its usual sense.
Toolbars are flexibly customizable. You can add or remove buttons on them, move them, block changes.
Ease of reading documents is provided by a powerful scaling system. You can show the entire page on the screen, snap its scale horizontally or vertically. The latter option is not found in other applications. In addition, you can bind relative to the page content. The document is shown slightly larger due to the exclusion of fields.
Supported viewing on Full Screen... Unlike some competitors, this mode lives up to its name one hundred percent. There are no controls left on the screen, only the pages of the open document. There is also a second, less radical regime. It hides all panels, except for the window title and the main menu. Again, there is a big saving of free space on the screen.
The program has a powerful search engine. You can search for text not only in open document but also in all PDFs inside the specified folder. Full word search is supported, case sensitive. You can search not only directly in the text of the document, but also in bookmarks and in comments.
Adobe Reader has support for working with forms. With its help, you can enter, save and send information. There is support for bar codes. You can customize the rules for automatic form filling. If you have permission, you can add comments to the forms. And, the main thing that distinguishes Adobe Reader from other applications is the ability to check spelling in text input fields.
There is support for document authentication, viewing protection. You can specify trusted persons, certificates. The Accessibility Assistant allows you to change the rules for displaying the current document, if its protection does not prohibit such actions. This is necessary, for example, for visually impaired users. Adobe Reader makes it easier for people with disabilities to view and navigate PDF documents. Advanced features include automatic text scrolling, PDF reflow, keyboard-only control, and reading document text aloud.
A separate panel allows you to view a list of document comments. You can search them for text. It is possible to sort them by type, status, reviewers. All changes made to the document are monitored by the revision inspector. You can view your own adjustments, history of changes, a list of what needs to be done.
The program contains an RSS news reader. You can subscribe to channels, read them in a separate dialog box. To be honest, it's not entirely clear why the PDF reader also needed an RSS reader. Network functions this is not limited to. You can also organize online conferences with with Adobe Reader, and also carry out joint viewing of documents.
You can work with digital signatures. For this, certificates are used. By configuring directory servers, you can determine the location of certificates, store them.
The last Adobe version Reader supports all modern standards used in PDF documents. For this reason, a hardware accelerated 3D viewer is included in the product. A special panel of models allows you to view their list, open, rotate, scale.
The program has a fairly detailed local help system... But the most complete information is provided online, at official page applications. It is already in English.
If there are no specific requirements for the application, then Adobe Reader is today the best choice for reading PDF documents. Support for all standards allows you not to worry about whether any complex file will display correctly. In addition, the program is built into modern browsers, which makes it possible to quickly view online documents downloaded from the Web.
The only point where an alternative application can be at its best is system requirements... Adobe Reader has a fairly large distribution size, takes up quite a lot of space in random access memory and is slightly slower than some competitors. However, the program was tested on a fairly old machine, and even opening electronic versions of magazines, books with a volume of tens of megabytes did not lead to noticeable slowdowns. Adobe works Reader.
22/05/2017
Cool PDF Reader is a convenient program for viewing and converting pdf files, distinctive feature which is small in size and abundance of functions. This program is considered one of the smallest - its size is less than one megabyte, but the program has enough functions for an ordinary user who only wants to view and convert pdf files. The program allows you to view documents in full screen mode, as well as print them in just a few clicks. In addition, you can easily change the scale of the document, or rotate it at a convenient angle. Another feature of the program is the conv ...
12/12/2016
Foxit Reader is an alternative popular package for working with pdf files. The program has a very clear interface, the ability to view files in several tabs, high speed work and full compatibility with popular operating systems... An important factor is the presence of the Russian language in the program, which greatly facilitates the work with it. The program has the ability to view documents in full screen mode, leave comments and graphic bookmarks in the text, print documents, view files without leaving Windows explorer and install various plugins, skins, mod ...
26/09/2016
PDF-XChange Viewer is a fast viewer of the well-known PDF format, characterized by high speed and many different functions... For example, the program allows you to easily add comments and annotations to PDF documents, as well as set a password to open these files. In addition, the program has the ability to easily scan text and images and add them directly to PDF files, which is quite convenient. Also, it is possible to import and export any file content. And it doesn't matter if it's text or pictures. You can add any images to the file, or vice versa, cut these images ...
04/05/2015
PDF Shaper is a collection of essential tools for optimal work with PDF files. The program can convert a PDF document, or several at the same time, to MS Word, or rather to RTF format. But converting documents from PDF to Word is not the only advantage of PDF Shaper, it can also extract certain elements, such as pictures, tables, etc. In addition to these functions, it can split one PDF document into several, or vice versa, combine several documents into one. At the same time, the program works with encrypted documents, and can also restrict access with a password. Very easy to use, even a beginner can help ...
28/04/2015
Recently, more and more e-books, magazines, brochures appear on the Internet, and all these files are usually in PDF or DjVu format. This program will help you to view DjVu, PDF, TIFF and similar files on Windows OS. STDU Viewer is lightweight, simple and a worthy replacement for Adobe Acrobat. The program includes all necessary tools to read and search for fragments in a document. The program is available in several languages, including Russian. Among the pluses, one can note a wide range of scaling options: scale to fit the screen, scale by selection, display the entire page to full screen or only to ...
28/03/2015
PDF Architect - simple program, designed to convert a number of texts, images into a convenient PDF format. The utility allows you to read the generated documents and any files with a similar extension. For the convenience of interacting with the application, you can create a number of bookmarks with the necessary documents at once, and when you need to switch between them. PDF Architect allows you to change the scale of the document, rotate it. To create your own document with this format, you need to go through activation by email. Thanks to this feature, any user can create a PDF file from a taken image, texts or Comicbook files. The program allows ...
24/03/2015
SoftDigi PDFViewer is a small application designed specifically for viewing various files with the PDF extension. The program has an outwardly pleasant interface, allows you to combine various PDF documents format in one common file... Allows you to set the minimum document security parameters, necessary information O this file... The application has functions such as moving pages, deleting unnecessary pages, exporting, swapping. SoftDigi PDFViewer allows you to easily insert fragments from other files into a PDF document, as well as quickly export pages to a number of different graphic formats. Exports p ...
27/01/2015
Sumatra PDF is a completely free viewer for formats such as XPS, CBR, DJVu, CHM, CBZ and PDF. The program has a very modest interface, since the developers focused on the speed of its work and minimalism. Unlike the popular Adobe Reader viewer, this program works an order of magnitude faster, has only a set of necessary functions and allows you to edit documents that are simultaneously open in other applications. In addition, Sumatra PDF has a special plugin that can be embedded in a number of popular browsers. This will allow the user to open files directly from the br ...
10/12/2014
Adobe Reader is one of the most popular programs for working and viewing PDF files. The PDF format is used to create a kind of e-books, but this is not limited to its capabilities. In PDF format, some kind of user manuals or training materials are often written. V latest versions format, it became possible to embed Flash video into the document. Adobe program Reader perfectly supports all these features and allows you to view all types of documents, regardless of what format modification was used when creating them. Among other things, the main package of Adobe Reader also includes ...
Some documents have a .pdf format extension, unfortunately in all Windows versions, with the exception of Tens, there is no built-in program for reading PDF files. Therefore, to this day, such software remains in demand.
There are a lot of them on the Internet. There are both paid and free programs with different functionality. Which one is right for you? We suggest you figure it out. It is enough to read our article and choose the program that meets your requirements and is suitable in terms of functionality.
Best PDF Readers
In the first place we have the Acrobat Reader from Adobe. Why this particular software? It's simple, this program has huge functionality and is in great demand among users.It has everything you need to work with documents in PDF format. For example, you can copy, view structures, print individual countries, change their orientation. In addition, it is constantly updated and is absolutely free, thanks to which it is installed on a huge number of computers around the world.
The characteristics are as follows:
- You can view, manipulate and annotate the 3D content of documents;
- Scale hotel parts of the PDF file;
- Play m / media content (text, graphic, sound and video files);
- Read e-books;
- Print documents with wireless networks directly from the program interface;
- Organize or participate in online video conferences;
- Use digital signatures to protect your documents from editing;
- With the help of the new Start Meeting function, several people will be able to work on one document at once;
- Russian-language interface.
Not a bad set, don't you agree? And it's all absolutely free. But there is also a paid version - PRO, there are no restrictions at all. With its help, you can not only view documents in PDF format, but also edit them.
Foxit Reader is a more humble alternative
Acrobat Reader is undoubtedly the leader. However, there are some very interesting alternatives. For example, Foxit Reader.The fact is that the "reader" from Adobe is very bulky: large size, increased system requirements. And here the developers have relied on user-friendly interface and performance, cutting out all unnecessary functionality.
Main characteristics:
- With this reader you can add comments to the finished document and print it with them;
- Increased security level: Foxit Reader will not connect to the Internet without your permission;
- High-speed performance. As mentioned above, although Acrobat Reader is the most popular, it is rather bulky and can “boot” an old computer quite well, while Foxit will not allow this.
Still undecided about the choice? Let's continue!
STDU Viewer - Fastest PDF Reader
In third place is a modest and well-known program called STDU Viewer. Its size does not even reach three megabytes. Of course, because of this, it was necessary to "shorten" the functionality very much, but, moreover, it copes well with reading PDF documents. In addition, STDU supports other formats as well. For example, .txt, .tiff, .DjVu.
Main characteristics:
- Ability to simultaneously view several pages on one screen;
- You can add your own bookmark while reading and return to it at any time;
- Hyperlinks are supported;
- Reading pages one by one and in the form of a book;
- Convenient search according to the text of documents;
- Demonstration of sketches and navigation through the content;
- Instant jump to the selected page.
Isn't that enough for the average user? Such modest functionality can be forgiven due to the size of only a little over two megabytes!
PDF-XChange Viewer is a powerful competitor
PDF-XChange Viewer is free program to read PDF files. But unlike STDU Viewer, its functionality does not end there. You won't be able to edit documents, but you can easily supplement them.
For example, if you wish, you can fill out a spreadsheet, save a form, add an annotation or note, increase the size of text or images, and much more - even exporting individual PDF pages to images.
Main characteristics:
- Ability to add annotations in the form of stickers and your own comments in any PDF files;
- Custom stamps from any drawings;
- Test notes;
- Print any page;
- Convert pages to image;
- Work with several documents at once - each in its own tab;
- Availability of add-ons for popular browsers;
- Portable version;
- Support for the Russian language.
To choose the desired program, you should rely solely on its functionality. If you only need to read documents, then the STDU Viewer is enough, and if you are more demanding and you need a professional solution, then the leader in this segment is undoubtedly Acrobat Reader from Adobe.
