Showing posts with label PDF reader. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PDF reader. Show all posts

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Free PDF reader apps: PDF Reader Lite

Parent blog entry: http://kenamored.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-pdf-reader-apps.html

PDF Reader Lite is my favorite free PDF reader app.

PROS:
  • Nice flexibility in ways of getting PDF files onto iPod.
  • Text Reflow allows flowing the text into a single column for reading, which can be a boon. However, images are not displayed in Text Reflow, and "images" which are composed of specialized fonts, such as some chess diagrams, will be displayed in an unusable form.
CONS:

  • PDF Reader Lite lack's Safari's capability of allowing you to tap twice to either zoom in or zoom out on a column of text, a "natural" part of functionality for an iPod. To zoom without changing the total document form of the text, you can either use the spread-and-pinch of the iOS, or use PDF Reader Lite's magnifying glass functionality (tap in the center of the screen to bring that up), both methods of which require more manual futzing around to center a column of text (but see Text Reflow under PROS above).
  • Included manual would benefit from smoother English (see TIPS below, for a clearer explanation of how to move a file) -- author may be a native Chinese language reader based on a screenshot(s) in the manual.
  • Free version can only store or open 10 files. My usage over time will determine whether it's worth upgrading.
TIPS:
  • To move a file from one folder to another: Go into the folder, tap Edit, select the file you want to move by tapping on the circle to its left, tap cut (copy is also possible, if you want the file to appear in multiple folders), tap PDF Documents to go up a level, tap the folder you want to move the file into, tap paste. If you nest folders, extrapolate additional actions accordingly.
  • To get a file from the web, enter the URL of a page having a link to the PDF; don't enter the URL of the PDF. Then, when you click on the PDF link, choose Save Linked File. For example, enter http://www.myersandchang.com/index.php?p=385 (the Myers + Chang restaurant menu page), don't enter http://www.rwmanager.com/uploads/myerschang/DINNER_MENU_102510_1295711602.pdf (the dinner menu PDF).

Free PDF reader apps: iPDF

Parent blog entry: http://kenamored.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-pdf-reader-apps.html

PROS:
  • Has capability like Safari to tap twice to either zoom in or zoom out on a column of text, a "natural" part of functionality for an iPod.
  • Simple ("naive") search capability to find PDFs on the web might be useful for a casual search for a focused topic or title (e.g., "Pride and Prejudice").
CONS:
  • Very basic functionality.
  • Number of potential search results seems to be artificially limited.  When searching for PDFs associated with "chess", the "View More Results" button no longer appeared after I tapped it 7 times. I find it very unlikely such PDFs on the web are exhausted after 8 screens' worth of results. For more complete results, try Google's Advanced Search, specifying File Type as "Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf)", after which you'll have to transfer the file to some other PDF reader, like PDF Reader Lite (which I discuss here).
  • Ads.
TIPS:
  • To rename a file: get into the Reader, tap Menu, Rename File.  A name like CH_2009_04-06.pdf (for the April-June 2009 issue of Chess Horizons) of a series is typically more helpful than having the first few words of the PDF content showing as the title (the apparent default).  For a magazine, those words could easily be the same from issue to issue.

Free PDF reader apps: Dropbox

Parent blog entry: http://kenamored.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-pdf-reader-apps.html

PROS:
  • Its built-in PDF reader has the capability, like Safari, to tap twice to either zoom in or zoom out on a column of text, a "natural" part of functionality for an iPod.
CONS:
OBSERVATIONS:

Free PDF reader apps

Below are the free PDF reader apps I'm trying out. Each one also gets its own separate blog entry, into which incremental updates will flow over time. If I ever feel those entries are sufficiently mature, I may make a chart comparing all of these apps.

7/2/11: I only rarely use PDF files on my iPod, and my focus to date has been on those typically having 2 or 3 columns in portrait orientation. PDF files having no columns will typically need to be read in landscape orientation for the text to be big enough to read; I'm not sure yet how much I will eventually cover that type of usage. I have also since loaded more PDF-reading apps on my iPod, but to date I have looked at those even less than the few I list below.
  • Dropbox (whose main functionality is to allow sharing of files over the web after you make an account, but which has a built-in PDF reader)
  • iPDF
  • PDF Reader Lite by Kdan Mobile Software LTD (my favorite)