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PDF reader that works

isnegjg

New Member
All PDF readers that I tried on SP3 seem to fall short.

Adobe Reader: blurry font and laggy scrolling
Foxit: touchscreen doesn't work in browser
Sumatra: touchpad scrolling doesn't work

Is there any PDF reader that works on SP3? Or is there any way to fix one of these issues?

Sumatra is the closest to being ideal, since I could scroll with mouse or touchscreen. But it's still annoying that I couldn't use my touchpad.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
Any of the MUI PDF Readers (Through the Windows App Store - Drawboard PDF, Adobe Reader Touch, etc.) will scale better than Win32 Versions, PDF Annotator v. 5 seems to scale as well (its expensive though - on sale today for $48USD).
 
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isnegjg

New Member
I need to open multiple PDFs at the same time, so Metro apps are out of question. Will take a look at PDF Annotator, but it doesn't seem worth the money.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
I open multiple PDFs in Drawboard all the time....

Of course if you can put up with small screen elements you can also disable Screen Scaling for the Win32 PDF Readers...
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
I bought drawboard while it was only a couple of quid. Definitely worth it. No complaints.
 

malberttoo

Well-Known Member
I need to open multiple PDFs at the same time, so Metro apps are out of question. Will take a look at PDF Annotator, but it doesn't seem worth the money.

Why are Metro apps out of the question for multiple PDF's?

I used to be a big Annotator fan on previous devices, but it's not optimized for touch and so it fell out of favor with me on the SP3. Drawboard is awesome in that regard though.
 

silkrooster

Member
I use Adobe Acrobat pro and so far, I have not noticed blurred text or graphics. But then again, majority of my documents I know are vector based. Keep in mind that a pdf can contain both vector or raster images, or both at the same time.
If the file is raster, it is feasible for it to be blurry, since there is scaling happing for the display.
 
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isnegjg

New Member
I've used Drawboard for annotation, and I didn't know you could open multiple instances.

In my particular use case, I prefer a desktop version because I need to refer to many PDFs while working on word processor and other desktop programs.
 

Liam2349

Active Member
I've used Drawboard for annotation, and I didn't know you could open multiple instances.

In my particular use case, I prefer a desktop version because I need to refer to many PDFs while working on word processor and other desktop programs.

Drawboard basically has tabs like a web browser.
 

riggi

Member
I use PDF Annotator about 80% of the time. I use it for all of my annotating and editing (copying from one PDF to another, or copying and pasting to word etc.). I also use it when teaching as the full screen mode and keyboard shortcuts make it a lot easier to navigate remotely with an Rii Mini keyboard and also to quickly switch between different annotation tools using keyboard shortcuts.

I use prefer Drawboard for reading.
If I'm just using the SP3 as a tablet, the interface is nicer for reading. I'm hoping that it will soon catch up to PDF Annotator in the annotation/tools/keyboard shortcuts area and then I may switch to it for all my PDF needs.

Drawboard is on half price now for $4.99
PDF Annotator often has sales around the different holidays.
 

jaekqubp

Member
Sumatra is an excellent program. In respect to the touchpad scrolling, does it not respond at all to scrolling, or just not scroll correctly? What version are you using? There may be a setting in SumatraPDF-settings.txt that could resolve the issue. I will look around. I have the latest version on my Surface Pro 1, and laptop, and scrolling works fine.

All PDF readers that I tried on SP3 seem to fall short.
...
Sumatra is the closest to being ideal, since I could scroll with mouse or touchscreen. But it's still annoying that I couldn't use my touchpad.

I use Adobe Acrobat pro and so far, I have not noticed blurred text or graphics. But then again, majority of my documents I know are vector based. Keep in mind that a pdf can contain both vector or raster images, or both at the same time.
If the file is raster, it is feasible for it to be blurry, since there is scaling happing for the display.

Acrobat Pro should render the most accurately, but might be a steep investment, just to read PDFs.

... Drawboard is on half price now for $4.99
PDF Annotator often has sales around the different holidays.

Drawboard PDF is definitely worth the five bucks, especially if you plan on doing any PDF markup, or warming up to Modern UI.
 

silkrooster

Member
If all you do is read, then Adobe pdf reader will do. Since it is free and can view anything its big brother can. But when editing is needed, then acrobat pro is needed. But then again most documents can be re-exported using your favorite program of choice.
 
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