The best programs for working with pdf files.  The best free PDF readers (readers)

22/05/2017

Cool PDF Reader is a convenient program for viewing and converting PDF files, the distinctive feature of which is its small size and abundance of functions. This program is considered one of the smallest - its size is less than one megabyte, but the program has enough functions for the average user who only wants to view and convert pdf files. The program allows you to view documents in full screen mode, as well as print them in just a few clicks. In addition, you can easily change the scale of the document, or rotate it at an angle convenient for you. Another feature of the program is conv...

12/12/2016

Foxit Reader is an alternative popular package for working with pdf files. The program has a very clear interface, the ability to view files in several tabs, high speed and full compatibility with popular operating systems. An important factor is the presence of the Russian language in the program, which greatly facilitates working with it. The program has the ability to view documents in full screen mode, leave comments and graphic bookmarks in the text, print documents, view files without leaving Windows Explorer and install various plugins, skins, mods...

26/09/2016

PDF-XChange Viewer is a fast viewer of the famous PDF format, characterized by high speed and many different functions. For example, the program allows you to easily add comments and annotations to PDF documents, as well as set a password for opening these files. In addition, the program has the ability to easily scan text and images and add them directly to PDF files, which is quite convenient. It is also possible to import and export any file content. It doesn’t matter whether it’s text or pictures. You can add any images to the file, or vice versa, cut out these images...

04/05/2015

PDF Shaper is a collection of necessary tools for optimal work with PDF files. The program can convert a PDF document, or several at the same time, into MS Word, or rather into RTF format. But converting documents from PDF to Word is not the only advantage of PDF Shaper; it can also extract certain elements, such as pictures, tables, etc. In addition to these functions, it can split one PDF document into several, or, conversely, combine several documents into one. At the same time, the program works with encrypted documents, and can also restrict access with a password. Very easy to use, even a beginner can...

28/04/2015

Recently, more and more electronic books, magazines, brochures are appearing on the Internet, and all these files are usually in PDF or DjVu format. This program will help you view DjVu, PDF, TIFF and similar files on Windows OS. STDU Viewer is lightweight, simple and a worthy replacement for Adobe Acrobat. The program contains all the necessary tools for reading and searching for fragments in a document. The program is available in several languages, including Russian. Among the advantages, we can note a wide range of scaling options: scale to the screen, scale to the selection, display the entire page on the entire screen or only...

28/03/2015

PDF Architect is a simple program designed to convert a range of texts, images into a convenient PDF format. The utility allows you to read created documents and any files with a similar extension. For ease of interaction with the application, you can create a number of bookmarks with the necessary documents, and when you need to switch between them. PDF Architect allows you to resize the document and rotate it. To create your own document with this format, you must complete activation via email. Thanks to this function, any user can create a PDF file from a taken image, text or Comicbook file. The program allows...

24/03/2015

SoftDigi PDFViewer is a small application created specifically for viewing various files with the PDF extension. The program has a visually pleasing interface that allows you to combine various PDF documents into one common file. Allows you to set the minimum document security parameters and the necessary information about this file. The application has functions such as moving pages, deleting unnecessary pages, exporting, changing places. SoftDigi PDFViewer allows you to easily insert fragments from other files into a PDF document, as well as quickly export pages to a number of different graphic formats. Effectively exports pages...

27/01/2015

Sumatra PDF is a completely free viewer for formats such as XPS, CBR, DJVu, CHM, CBZ and PDF. The program has a very modest interface, since the developers focused on its speed and minimalism. Unlike the popular Adobe Reader viewer, this program works much faster, has only a set of necessary functions and allows you to edit documents that are simultaneously open in other applications. In addition, Sumatra PDF has a special plugin that can be embedded in a number of popular browsers. This will allow the user to open files directly from the browser window...

10/12/2014

Adobe Reader is one of the most popular programs for working and viewing PDF files. The PDF format is used to create a kind of electronic books, but its capabilities are not limited to this. Some user manuals or training materials are often written in PDF format. In the latest versions of the format, it has become possible to embed Flash video into a document. Adobe Reader perfectly supports all these features and allows you to view all types of documents, regardless of what format modification was used to create them. Among other things, the main Adobe Reader package also includes...

If you have ever downloaded books, reports or other text documents from the Internet, then you have probably come across files that have the pdf extension. Finding themselves in such a situation, users often do not know how to open a PDF file. As a rule, programs for working with PDF are simply installed on the computer, which confuses many. In this article we will briefly look at a number of popular programs that allow you to open PDF files.

One of the most popular programs is certainly Adobe (Acrobat) Reader. This program is developed by Adobe. Adobe Reader provides the user with a full set of basic functions for reading and viewing PDF documents. If this is your first time encountering this type of document and you don’t know how to open a PDF file, then Adobe Reader is the perfect choice for you.

In addition to Adobe Reader, Adobe produces software for creating PDF documents. This is an Adobe Acrobat program. This program is paid and is available in two versions: Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro.

Screenshot of Adobe (Acrobat) Reader:

You can learn more about the Adobe Reader program from the official website.

Another quite popular program for working with PDF documents. Foxit Reader has gained popularity due to its simplicity and low requirements for system resources. Foxit Reader can be used without problems even on the weakest computers. For a long time, this program was distributed without an installer, just as an EXE file ready for use.

At the same time, Foxit Reader is practically in no way inferior to Adobe Reader. It has all the necessary functions to fully work with PDF files. When people ask me how to open a pdf file, I recommend this program.

It should be noted that Foxit Reader is a cross-platform solution. Now there are versions of this program for such operating systems as: Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile, Linux, iOS, Android and Symbian.

Screenshot of Foxit Reader:

To know more about this software, visit the official website.

Another light and fast program for reading pdf documents. In addition to simply reading pdf documents, Cool PDF Reader is equipped with a number of other features that set it apart from its competitors.

Let's take a closer look at the main features of the Cool PDF Reader program:

• View and print PDF documents;
• Convert PDF documents into formats such as: TXT, BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, WMF, EMF and EPS;
• Extract text from PDF format to TXT;
• Supports all versions of PDF format;
• Supports 68 different languages;
• View PDF files as slide shows;

Moreover, the program is only 808 kilobytes in size and is not very demanding on computer resources.

Screenshot of Cool PDF Reader:

You can learn more about the Cool PDF Reader program on the official website.

Sumatra PDF is an open source program. In addition to PDF files, it can also work with files in ePub, XPS, MOBI, CHM, DjVu, CBZ and CBR formats. This program is available both as an installer and in a portable version.

Other features of the Sumatra PDF program include:

• Simple and intuitive interface;
• Supports more than 60 languages;
• Correct smoothing of images when scaling a document;
• Regular updates;

Screenshot of the Sumatra PDF program:

You can find out more about the program on the official website.

STDU Viewer is a universal program for viewing electronic documents. The STDU Viewer program supports a large number of formats and is equipped with all the necessary functions to work with them. By installing this program, you will no longer have questions about how to open a PDF file or a document in another format. STDU Viewer will solve all your problems.

Let's take a closer look at the main features of the STDU Viewer program:

• View documents in formats: PDF, Comic Book Archive (CBR or CBZ), DjVu, FB2, XPS, TCR, ePub, multi-page TIFF, TXT, EMF, WMF, PalmDoc, BMP, JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PCX, DCX , PSD, MOBI and AZW;
• Simple and intuitive interface with tab support;
• Ability to customize document display parameters (brightness, contrast, etc.);
• View page thumbnails;
• Creating custom bookmarks;
• For text documents, the user can control the size and color of fonts;
• Powerful search in text documents;
• Supports several languages, including Russian;
• Ability to print documents;

STDU Viewer is a fairly young program. The first version of STDU Viewer appeared in 2007. Then the program supported only three formats: PDF, DjVu and TIFF. As you can see, the program has come a long way during its development and now allows you to open a large number of different formats.

Screenshot of the STDU Viewer program:

You can find out more about this program on the official website.

A few words about PFD format

PDF or Portable Document Format is one of the most common electronic document formats. This format was developed by Adobe Systems. The first version of the format appeared back in 1993. After this, the format actively developed. Almost every year it added support for new functions. Thus, during development, the following features were added to the Portable Document Format: password protection, Unicode support, interactive elements, links, digital signatures, transparency, text layers, forms, encryption and much more.

The main purpose of PDF is the publication of printed products in electronic form. Most professional printing equipment supports the format and can print such documents without additional processing or conversion.

At the beginning of its journey, the PDF format was not very popular. And there were objective reasons for this:

• The necessary software to work with the format was paid;
• The format did not support external links, which did not allow it to be fully used on the World Wide Web;
• PDF files weighed significantly more than regular text documents. This also created barriers to using it online;
• Processing documents in this format required significant system resources, which led to slow document display on weak computers:
• In addition, there were other formats that created competition.

Now, none of these issues are relevant to the PDF format anymore. Adobe has released a free version of the program for viewing PDF files, and programs from other manufacturers have also appeared.

Over more than 10 years of existence, the format has come a long way in development and is currently a very powerful and flexible tool for creating documents.

For convenience, we will distinguish four types of programs: viewers (for reading and annotating), editors (for editing text and other content), managers (for splitting, compressing and other manipulations with files) and converters (for converting PDF to other formats).

Most applications can be classified into several types at once.

• Type: viewer, editor, converter, manager.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

A very intuitive and convenient program with an impressive number of functions. When you launch Sejda PDF, you will immediately see all the tools grouped by category. Select the one you need, drag the required file into the program window and start manipulating. Most things in this app can be done in a few seconds, even if you are using it for the first time.

What you can do in Sejda PDF:

• edit text, add images and shapes;
• convert PDF to Excel, JPG (and vice versa), Word (and vice versa);
• combine and separate files into pages, compress their size;
• protect documents with a password;
• add watermarks;
• discolor documents;
• trim page area;
• sign documents.

The free version of the program has limitations. For example, files should not be more than 200 pages and not exceed 50 MB in size. In addition, you cannot perform more than three operations with documents during the day. The full version of Sejda PDF costs $5.25 per month.

• Type: manager, converter, editor.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, .

PDFsam cannot boast of a polished, user-friendly interface. In addition, the program does not allow you to convert PDF and edit the contents of documents for free. But it does have several useful managerial functions that are available to everyone without payment or any restrictions.

What you can do in PDFsam:

• combine PDF in several modes (glue in parts or mix page by page);
• split PDF by pages, bookmarks (in places with specified words) and size into separate documents;
• rotate pages (if some of them were scanned upside down);
• extract pages with specified numbers;
• convert Excel, Word, PowerPoint formats to PDF;
• convert PDF to Excel, Word and PowerPoint formats ($10);
• edit text and other file content ($30).

• Type
• Platforms: Windows.

A very functional program with a classic interface in the style of Microsoft office applications. PDF-XChange Editor is not very beginner friendly. To master all the features of the program, you need to spend some time. Fortunately, all internal descriptions and tips are translated into Russian.

What you can do in PDF-XChange Editor:

• add annotations and highlight text;
• edit text and other content;
• recognize text using OCR;
• extract pages from documents;
• encrypt documents (paid);
• convert PDF to Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats and vice versa (paid);
• compress files (paid);
• sort pages in any order (paid).

These are not all the functions that you can find in PDF-XChange Editor. The program is available in several versions with different numbers of features. The cost of paid versions starts at $43.5.

• Type: viewer, manager, converter, editor.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS.

A popular universal program for working with PDF from the company. The free version is a very convenient document viewer; other functions are available by subscription starting at 149 rubles per month.

What you can do in Adobe Acrobat Reader:

• view documents, highlight and comment on text, search for words and phrases;
• sign documents (paid);
• edit text and other content (paid);
• combine documents into one file (paid);
• compress files (paid);
• convert PDF to Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats (paid);
• Convert images in JPG, JPEG, TIF and BMP formats to PDF (paid).

All these features and more are available in desktop versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Mobile versions of the program only allow you to view and annotate documents, and also, after subscribing, convert them into different formats.

• Type: viewer, converter.
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.

Fast and convenient PDF reader with different viewing modes. Ideal for users who want a simple document reader without a lot of extra features. The program is available on all major platforms.

The PDF format is used to store electronic documents. Initially, only a program from Adobe itself was used to open PDF files. But over time, many solutions from third-party developers have appeared. These apps vary in their availability (free and paid) and additional features. Agree, it’s convenient when, in addition to reading, there is the ability to edit the original content of a PDF file or recognize text from a picture.

Therefore, there are a large number of different programs for reading PDF. For some, a simple viewing function is enough. Others need to change the source text of a document, add a comment to this text, convert a Word file to PDF, and much more.

When it comes to viewing PDFs, most programs are very similar. But there are exceptions here too. For example, some have an auto-scroll feature, while others do not. Below is a list of the most popular free PDF viewers.

The most famous program for viewing PDF files is Adobe Reader. And this is no coincidence, since Adobe is the developer of the format itself.

This product has a pleasant appearance and standard functions for viewing PDF. Adobe Reader is a free app, but some features, such as text editing and recognition, are only available if you purchase a paid subscription.

This is undoubtedly a disadvantage for those who need these functions, but do not want to spend their money.

STDU Viewer

STDU Weaver positions itself as a universal combiner for viewing many different formats of electronic documents. The program is able to “digest” Djvu, TIFF, XPS and much more. The number of supported formats also includes PDF. It is convenient when one program is enough to view a variety of files.

You can also note the presence of a portable version of STDU Viewer, which does not need to be installed. Otherwise, this product does not stand out among other PDF viewers.

Foxit Reader

Foxit Reader is almost an analogue of Adobe Reader, with the exception of some differences. For example, the program has the ability to enable automatic scrolling of document pages, which allows you to read a PDF without touching the mouse or keyboard.

The program is also capable of opening not only PDF, but also Word, Excel, TIFF and other file formats. Opened files can then be saved as PDF.

At the same time, the disadvantage of this application is the inability to edit the source PDF text.

PDF XChange Viewer

PDF XChange Viewer is probably the best program presented in this article. It is completely free and allows you to edit the original PDF content. PDF XChange Viewer is also able to recognize text in an image. Using this feature, you can convert books and other paper text into digital format.

Otherwise, the application meets all standards of software solutions for reading PDF files.

Sumatra PDF

Sumatra PDF is the simplest program on the list. But that doesn't mean she's bad. In terms of viewing PDF files, it is not inferior to others, and its simple appearance is perfect for those users who have just begun to get acquainted with working on a computer.

Solid Converter PDF

Solid Converter PDF is a program for converting PDF to Word, Excel and other electronic document formats. The application allows you to preview the document before converting. The disadvantages of Solid Converter PDF include a shareware license: you can use it for free only during the trial period. Then you need to either buy it or reinstall it.

PDF is one of the most common formats for documentation, e-books and instructions. In PDF format, you can save information in any form, and it will be displayed the same everywhere, i.e. The formatting and layout of the document will always be the same. This is why the PDF format has earned its recognition.

To begin with, I would like to immediately clarify that the programs that will be discussed open PDF files only FOR VIEWING, i.e. It is IMPOSSIBLE to change anything in a document using them. Some programs only allow you to modify the text, but not the content. The PDF format itself is quite specific, and even with the help of editors, the process of editing it is not at all similar to working with a Word document.

In the simplest case, you can read the file in any modern browser: Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Edge. The functionality will be limited: only viewing content and printing. To do this, simply drag the file to an empty browser tab. But if the PDF file does not open this way, then try installing one of the programs.

Uncompromising Acrobat

In order not to have any problems with displaying PDF files, it is best to install the program of the format developer itself - Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Just select the program language “Russian” if the download page itself does not correctly determine it. The installation process is trivial, just click “Next” all the time.

Adobe has a complete package for working with PDF documents, including creating and editing - but it is paid.

Acrobat Reader provides a good set of features and flexibility in customization for ease of use. It's completely free for both home and commercial use and is on my list. When you first start, you will need to confirm the use of a free license. Most likely, you won’t even have to go into the settings, because the program works great by default.

In the latest versions of Adobe Reader, there is still a small opportunity to change a file. These are tools for highlighting text and inserting comments. The title “Text Highlighting” is probably not a very good Russian translation, because... “Text highlighting” is more suitable. To highlight the text, click on the icon in the toolbar and select the text, and the add comments icon is located immediately to the left.

By default, text is highlighted in yellow. You can change the highlight color only after highlighting with the default color. To do this, double-click on the selection and in the window click on the icon and select “Properties”. From there you can remove the highlight and add or change a comment.

Alternative programs for PDF

Acrobat Reader, of course, is far from the only PDF viewer. The developers managed to make an ordinary viewer a relatively heavy product. Basically there are no problems, but the program takes a long time to install and sometimes slows down.

Foxit Reader

The program is lightweight and has a simple interface. As a result, Foxit Reader launches quickly and is less demanding on computer resources.

Particular attention is paid to security, namely, at the first launch it is suggested to set the safe mode, in which attachments in the document are not opened and scripts are not run. Foxit Reader allows you to select text, insert comments, graphic objects, multimedia files (video and audio), but you can edit text only in the paid package Foxit PDF Editor.

However, over time, Foxit Reader has also become heavier, so I advise you to run its portable version.

Portable versions are distinguished by the fact that they are lighter and installation is very quick or not required at all. When you first start it, a window with two buttons will pop up, select “Not Now”. For the program to become in Russian, you need to go to the menu “File -> Preferences -> Language -> select Russian”

And restart the program with the “Restart Now” button.

The easiest one is Sumatra PDF

This is already an open source project, the program is the lightest and is not at all demanding on resources. Can open not only PDF, but also CHM, XPS, DjVu, CBZ and CBR files.

Two versions are available: for installation and portable (works without installation). Since Sumatra PDF is already very lightweight, I advise you to download the full version, so you can immediately install the program to open all PDF files by default.

The program has practically no settings, everything is easy and simple.