The PDF viewer you choose is really dependent on what you need to do with the PDFs you download, but when it comes to viewing and editing PDFs, PDF-XChange Editor is the best program around. [jump]
Note: There are a few ways you could define a PDF viewer/editor, as features can range from simple form-filling to complete PDF manipulation. For this post we’re concentrating on the features the average person would use, meaning viewing, form completion, annotation, and so on, especially in the free version of an app, where applicable.
The Best PDF Editors for Mac (2017) The software we recommend below have passed our testings based on the criteria listed above, and we are happy to recommend them because we see the values in the products. Download Master PDF Editor for macOS, Windows and Linux. The demo version allows you to try out all the features of Master PDF Editor. There are no limitations except for the addition of a watermark on the output file.
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PDF-XChange Editor
Platform: Windows
Price: Free, $43.50 Pro
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Features
- View PDF pages and files
- Very fast to open files, no splash pages or long loading times
- Edit any text of a PDF file (not scanned files)
- Convert scanned PDFs to text with OCR
- Add comments, annotations and markup to any PDF files
- Type directly on any PDF page
- Export PDFs to many image formats
- Encrypt PDF files with a password
- Compress PDFs to a smaller size (pro only)
- Edit paths and images (pro only)
- Combine PDFs (pro only)
- Move, add, delete, or crop pages (pro only)
- Create PDF files from text or RTF (pro only)
- Add digital signatures (pro only)
Where It Excels
Best Windows 10 Pdf Editor
PDF-XChange viewer is not only very, very fast, but has a lot of annotation and editing features in its free version. Its big strength over other viewers is that it doesn’t add watermarks to your edited files; instead, it just limits what you can edit. (If you use any features marked “pro” without buying the pro version, however, it will watermark your file.) If you need to heavily edit a lot of PDFs, you may have to pay for the pro version, but for the occasional annotation or markup, PDF-XChange gets the job done better than anyone else.
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Where It Falls Short
PDF-XChange isn’t quite as lightweight as some other PDF readers, like Foxit or Sumatra, but it’s more than lightweight enough for most people’s needs, especially if you have to edit PDFs at all (it blows the pants off Acrobat). Also, the pro version is a little expensive, but you’ll be hard-pressed to heavily edit PDFs without paying $40 or so, so it’s still the best there is at what it does.
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The Competition
Foxit Reader is PDF-XChange’s biggest competition. It is also free, and can do some things PDF-XChange’s free version cannot (like create PDF files from text or RTF files). Overall, however, PDF-XChange is more powerful, easier to use, and doesn’t come with bloatware in the installer like Foxit does. But if PDF-XChange doesn’t work for you, Foxit is worth a look.
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If you don’t need to edit PDFs, Sumatra PDF is the reader for you. Unlike the other two, it’s extremely minimalist, providing just a simple, super-fast window from which you can read PDFs. No more, no less.
Best Pdf Editor For Free
Lastly, we have to mention Adobe Reader. While it isn’t the fastest or most pleasurable to use, it is still the standard reader and editor in the PDF world, meaning that sometimes, when your PDF just won’t open correctly in other programs, Acrobat will have the best compatibility. It isn’t something we’d recommend installing now, but if you ever have PDF troubles, keep Adobe in mind, as it might be the solution.
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There are tons of different PDF solutions out there, but these are the best ones around, in our opinion. If you’ve got a favorite we didn’t mention, let us know what it is and why you love it in the comments.
Lifehacker’s App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.
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