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Best PDF Editor/Annotator?

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liutszho

New Member
Hey Lee, I don't mind dropping a fortune on tablets but since I'm used to inexpensive, excellent IOS/Android apps such as Branchfire's Annotate which absolutely blows doors on anything I've seen on Windows at 1/10 the cost, it's just a struggle.

For reference here is a link. iPad App for Editing, Note Taking & Annotating PDFs| iAnnotate by Branchfire

Bring this to Windows 8!

To be honest I just need the reader app to not corrupt my big pdfs after making notes. But because it does, I now have to drop an extra $79 for pdf annotator
 

noodle758

New Member
thx for all the shares.
Once I used Adobe Acrobat. but it becomes more and more expensive for public users who haven;t got many pdf files to process. here I would like to share with you the tool Im using now ,it is denefinitly easier to handle than Adobe Pro.This pdf annotator will enable you to mark up, highlight and underline PDF document content by adding and drawing annotation.If you donnot have a good choice.You can download the free trail package and have a try.
 

jimsmart

New Member
Default Reader isn't so bad

My job requires me to go through a lot of PDFs and have to always make notes in PDFs really quick.

Anyone recommend a pdf editor/annotator that allows someone to draw/write on PDFs? I don't mind paid apps.

The default "Reader" app is too buggy, sometimes I make notes and save, my drawings/notes become corrupt and blotch all over the PDF. Also it only lets me note in black so when a PDF has black text with black drawings/notes it is VERY VERY hard to read for others.

Actually the text only looks blotchy. Zoom all the way out and then back in and it is clear. Or, after you save it, open it in Acrobat. The writing will be crystal clear. I know this is late, but hopefully it is helpful.
 

mlt

New Member
Drawboard PDF. How can you leave this out? This is clearly the best PDF annotator by a mile.
I gave that a try. It is nice it distinguishes touch from pen right away reserving touch for scrolling unless changed in settings. This is a plus compared to PDF Annotator as not need to waste screen space for that grey area to be used for scrolling. The big minus is that you can't edit annotation text associated with a highlight or any other comment. Also eraser does not work right away for comments from the previous session. One has to do some extra clicking to remove such highlights.
While not a biggie... it is not pressure sensitive but rather require hard coded values.
 

gabe406

Member
I have looked at all the recommendations and tried most of them, yet I have not found a very simple feature that I long for. I would really like to know if anyone has come across a PDF annotator that allows you to create or display a set of favorite pens and highlighters. In OneNote you can customize the quick access bar to include a variety of predefined pens and highlighters. The goal is to open a PDF, have a simple menu bar display 3 or 4 pens so that highlighting and writing is a quick and simple matter of clicking on the pen you need. I am still looking...

EDIT: Just found out that along with PDF Annotator having favorites, Drawboard PDF now has a favorites bar option. So this will be the best selection from what I can see, and at a great price point.

[video=youtube;f_JxJlLLZj0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_JxJlLLZj0[/video]
 
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RagavJ

New Member
My job requires me to go through a lot of PDFs and have to always make notes in PDFs really quick.

Anyone recommend a pdf editor/annotator that allows someone to draw/write on PDFs? I don't mind paid apps.

Before, I was using a MacBook air and highlighting and typing text, it was quite the hassle and I thought a surface pro with stylus would be awesome! Especially with an eraser!

The default "Reader" app is too buggy, sometimes I make notes and save, my drawings/notes become corrupt and blotch all over the PDF. Also it only lets me note in black so when a PDF has black text with black drawings/notes it is VERY VERY hard to read for others.

I tried the following and here are my dislikes:

Reader - dislikes noted above. Can't rely on making notes with it if it corrupts/garbles up my notes. Wasted hours.

Foxit Mobile PDF - Does not have an erase function or undo function once something is drawn/noted on PDF, unusable.

Note Anytime - Can't export as PDF and would be good if it supports the stylus eraser.

PDF Touch - No eraser from stylus function. Once something is drawn and you draw something else later, the undo queue is cleared and you cannot clear previous notes anymore. Unusable.

One Note 2013 - Zooming and editing and saving very cumbersome, have to import to one note, and then each page have to click a few times to zoom to fit page width, and then have to export back out as a PDF miraculously as one PDF with multiple pages. So much setup for each PDF I gave up.

Right now I am using Word to convert the PDFs to make notes. But this is a bit silly too because once in "Ink" mode and you are making notes, your finger touches also make notes too so going to the next page with your finger requires you to deactivate the "Ink" mode first. Really annoying and just kills productivity.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Getting kind of desperate here and to be honest, frustrated this isn't even a default demand, considering surface pro was built for work.

Try Annotate101 app on your Surface Pro - http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/annotate101/a8c958fd-2248-499f-96ba-647fbafc4ef3 (or this shortcut URL - http://qr.net/ann) to experience the Rich PDF Annotation capabilities like Highlighting, Free Hand Annotation, Signature, Compare Sid-by-Side PDF, Bookmarks and much more. It also has extra features like full integration with Microsoft SharePoint 2010/2013/Online, DropBox, OneDrive, OneDrive For Business, Box, Evernote and much more.
 

m06w41

New Member
Drawboard is what I've been using since I got the SP3. Trial runs for 3 days I think. Flattens annotations nicely, pen integration is very well thought out. Works like a charm for me. I annotate research pdfs all the time and it's been a fantastic addition.
 

Fabian F

New Member
Drawboard looks quite nice, but is there an option to get this "Onenote"-like highlighting?

My pdfs from med school are always formated in a terrible way. Therefore, this "select the text and highlight it" is not useable at all. The build-in pen 2 (which intents to be some kind of highlighting) is also not perfect, as it draws just over the text and do not raises the contrast, so that the text is less readable.

Any Suggestions?

Btw, Annotate PDS does this kind of highlting, too.
 
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