Facebook Plunges Again
Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Nitro PDF Reader is a powerful, free Adobe Reader alternative
There are all sorts of compelling reasons to try an alternative PDF reader, security not being the least. Adobe Reader is also quite stingy with its functionality – you can't even annotate PDFs.
Nitro PDF Reader is an alternative reader with a modern-looking interface, and it offers generous annotation options. Unlike Foxit Reader, Nitro doesn't appear to watermark your PDF when you annotate it. You can highlight sections of the document, add text, add sticky-notes, and stamp your signature (not a digital signature – just a scanned one).
If you're lucky, you may also be able to extract graphics and text from your PDF. Ironically, I was unable to extract the images from Nitro's own sample PDF (the Welcome file that comes with the reader). Another thing you should know is that it's quite a memory hog. I tried the same document with both Foxit and Nitro; Foxit clocked in at 8MB, while Nitro consumed a whopping 63MB. Again, this is for the same exact one-page document. This is even more than Acrobat Reader 9.3, which consumed 50MB for that same document.
Still, if you've got a little RAM to spare (and most of us do), I think Nitro is a worthy contender, if only for its annotation capabilities and simple interface.
Comments
10
Subscribe to commentsjoeSep 21st 2010 11:41AM
other pdf reader alternatives:
mupdf
sumatra
foxit
a few years ago there were no alternatives. now there are too many!
F-ZeroSep 21st 2010 12:36PM
sumatra doesn't do that kind of editing
AdoboLOLoSep 21st 2010 7:55PM
Never heard of Mupdf. Maybe I'l try that
Foxit has gone to Adobe status since their reader has since then get bloated....very bloated
Sumatra is for reading...and reading only
TomSep 21st 2010 2:34PM
PDF-XChange Viewer is good and has plenty of editing options
Richard CrockerSep 21st 2010 6:24PM
Erez, thanks so much for the coverage -- much appreciated! While I'm here, I wanted to clarify one thing. The file on which you used the 'Extract Images' feature did not contain any sort of images, instead it contained scalable, vectored-based graphics. Images (typically jpeg, tif, gif, bmp, etc.) extract fine and as intended in Nitro Reader. Extracting and retaining decent quality vector-based graphics from PDF files is extremely complicated and is really in the realm of a few super-advanced commercial conversion tools (which includes our Nitro PDF Professional product). I'm aware of only 3-4 tools that even attempt it.
jia luSep 21st 2010 7:29PM
Hello, is there any alternative for Mac? (including annotate) Thanks!
airerikSep 22nd 2010 11:43AM
Foxit does not give any watermark at all. You should try it out. Sumatra is good, but not many features. Foxit seems to have the most features.
AddySep 27th 2010 4:11AM
+1 for PDF-XChange Viewer http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer. Between it and PDFSAM http://www.pdfsam.org/ you can get most of the features of Adobe Professional for free!!
mickey929Oct 8th 2010 12:06AM
Foxit reader 4.0 or later wont watermark your pdf. Go To HELP > Remove evaluation Key.
happy999Oct 8th 2010 12:07AM
yes, you're right.