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Best PDF Reader??

Best PDF Reader for iPad


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    7

lenwil

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Getting ready to get a PDF reader app for my iPad 2. After going thru the app store it seems it comes down to:

PDF Expert
GoodReader
iAnnotate

I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on any on these you own, positive or negative. iCloud syncing would be nice as well as the ability to fill out forms within the app. Also needed is google docs, sugar sync, idisk and Dropbox.

Like the rest of you, nothing worse the wasting money on a buggy app with no support.

Thxs!
 

twerppoet

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GoodReader is the better choice for accessing all your cloud storage sites, and it can store stuff in iCloud (and even generate share links for those files). PDF Expert is the better for filling out forms, especially if you have forms with editable fields. Neither of the other two apps will do that. PDF Expert also lets you delete, rearrange, and rotate pages in the PDF.

Personally, they aren't so expensive that I limit myself to just one PDF app. If I wan't to just read the PDF I use iBooks. If it want to move it around a lot (on and off the iPad) and maybe do some annotation, I use GoodReader. If I wan't to fill out forms or do some minor page rearrangement I use PDF Expert.

I have no experience with iAnnotate.
 
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lenwil

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Thanks much appreciated...Will either allow you to input media(pics/video) and with GoodReader can you fill out PDF files?
 

twerppoet

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I'm not sure what you mean by input media. If you mean add them to the PDF, then no. If you mean will the app also store and view media, then GoodReader will view a pretty good range of media file formats. GoodReader is an app with a broad range of features. It would probably be worth your while to get it even if you don't end up using it as your primary PDF app. It is just handy to have around.

GoodReader can fill out forms, more or less, by annotating with text or drawing tools on top of the form, then flattening it when exporting or saving a copy. This is how most of the PDF form apps work. It's a bit more fidelity than just clicking on a text box and typing, which is what PDF Expert will allow you to do, if the form supports it. The majority of forms you find on the internet do not support editable fields, but there are exceptions. For instance most of the tax forms you can download from the IRS site have editable fields, and work fine in PDF Expert.

PDF Expert also allow the filing out of forms by annotation, and the tools are better optimized for this purpose than they are in GoodReader (subjective opinion alert).
 

qvp

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I've been using Goodreader since it's half the price as the others and I think it does about the same thing as the others.
 

Coughfee

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Well, for reading purpose I would suggest cloud reader and since I am also reading comics, it is perfect for me. Not to mention that it is free as well. X3
 

Kisku

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I bought and downloaded iannotate . Unable to highlight pdf files in ibooks. the guide is not very helpful. Sent a email to support forum who promise reply within 24 hours. No luck. helllppppp please william
 

Jyc23

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If you're looking to be able to fill in PDFs, go with PDF Expert. I'm not sure if it can embeded video and images, as this isn't something I do with PDFs. If you're just looking for annotation, try the Adobe Acrobat Reader app. It was recently updated with some basic annotation capabilities, and it's actually pretty good in that regard. Not to mention, it's free.
 

gekkota

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I've been using GoodReader since it first came out. The developers update the app frequently with new features and will answer questions if you email them. I have never had the need to try a different PDF reader since I have always been pleased with GoodReader.
 

Yettiman

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I agree totally with gekkota, been using GoodReader since it came out and have had no reason to look back
 

DocSocket

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GoodReader - It's only getting better and it does so much more that just PDF.
 

Crash1k

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Do any of these PDF Readers include a possibility to take notes at the left/right site of the text you are reading? For example, that you can read the text and write while reading.
Thanks in advance.
 

twerppoet

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I love GoodReader for a great many things, but when it comes to actually working with PDF's, I prefers PDF Expert. It's not that it has more features, it's just that the ones it has fit what I want to do better.

If all I want is to read them, I just use iBooks.
 

Tuttle

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Crash1k said:
Do any of these PDF Readers include a possibility to take notes at the left/right site of the text you are reading? For example, that you can read the text and write while reading.
Thanks in advance.

If you mean in a separate window, I don't know of any. Many will let you make notes on whatever space is available.
 

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