How do you view pdf files

Discussion in 'polls' started by lodore, Jan 1, 2016.

?

how do you view pdf files?

  1. browser

    40 vote(s)
    26.3%
  2. third party program (please list)

    112 vote(s)
    73.7%
  1. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    That information was in the info that I linked to in my March 25 reply.
    The PDF-XChange Editor Feature List specifies 63 licensed features and 106 free features.
    Features are categorized to the left. You can select a category to show what features are in that category. You can switch showing licensed and free features by selecting "Licensed Features" or "Free Features" (to the right).

    (Additional, as I wrote March 25: in the installed PDF-XChange Editor, in Preferences\Registration, one can check Hide all licensed features from toolbars and menus, so one isn't bothered by any licensed features.)
     
  2. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    my bad, I forgot about that. Thanks again.
     
  3. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    That's OK. You're welcome.
     
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  9. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    Is there any free PDF editor that actually works and without watermarks or PUPs?
     
  10. ViVek

    ViVek Registered Member

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  11. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    Just tried it, what a stupid method of installing you have to open a command prompt and install it using a -install command. Sounds like this was written 20 years ago. Horrible UI and it is only a reader there are no tools to edit.
     
  12. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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  13. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    Regarding Sumatra PDF,
    You're right, it is a reader, not an editor.
    I never tried it, but I never read anything of the need to install it by command-line. Can't you simply hit the installer.exe file?
    And yes, it has a very simple GUI for viewing, that is why some want it and like it. There are a lot of command-line arguments available, but those are not essential for simple viewing.
    But again, if you need an editor, you need something else.
     
  14. BoerenkoolMetWorst

    BoerenkoolMetWorst Registered Member

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    Yes, for SumatraPDF you can just start the installer exe and install with a graphical menu, no command line necessary.
     
  15. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    Well when I did try to install it, it gave me an error saying you are trying to use the installer version, to install it, run it with the -install command or download the portable version. Anyway, forget it I won't touch it anymore.

    As for PDF-Xchange Editor, I have it personally and do have a license but I am asking for clients, because the editing features are not all open and they leaver watermarks so I was wondering if there was a proper editor that is really free. Seems like this is the only thing no one is willing to develop (like no open source stuff or anything)
     
  16. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    I don't know what happened, Spartan, or why. Perhaps some other SumatraPDF user reading this may understand what happened and can tell you.

    If your clients want PDF editing options for free, for Windows, the free options of PDF-XChange Editor are the best they can get for free, I think. And as I mentioned, if they select the Hide all licensed features from toolbars and menus box to remove licensed features from the free version, they won't be bothered by watermarks. I suppose you need to tell them that.

    Okular, on Kubuntu, is far more limited in editing PDF files. LibreOffice Draw offers additional PDF editing options.
    For reordering, splitting and merging PDF files, on Windows I used PFTK Builder, on Kubuntu 18.04 I use PDF-Shuffler, on Kubuntu 20.04 I will use PDF-Arranger, and other available alternatives are PDFsam Basic and PDF Mix Tool.
     
  17. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    Thanks a lot man. I can't thank you enough for all the detailed instructions. I will advice them to use PDF-Xchange FTW
     
  18. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    Spartan, out of curiosity I wanted to test PDF-XChange Editor, but unfortunately the installation hangs forever, spikes my i7 CPU to 20%, it can only be cancelled through Task Manager, and Windows can only be powered down with a forced shutdown, a real disaster... I tried twice and got the same results, I don't care really, but it is the first time in many years that a program seems so stubborn. As you are going to recommend it, I think you ought to know that it might behave erratically in some computers.
     
  19. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    Make sure to right click on the file(s) you just downloaded, go to Properties, then hit Unblock from the bottom right as it may be blocked since it was downloaded from the internet, if you don't do this before you run the file or extract it, then it may not install correctly.

    To prevent this automatic blocking of files in the future so you don't have to go unblocking every file you download to ensure it runs properly, follow the guide in this thread:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/are-you-sure-you-want-to-run-this-file-yes-or-no.825668/
     
  20. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I followed your instructions verbatim, unblocked the zip file, but unfortunately the same problem occurred as described on my previous post. Mind you I have downloaded many zipped folders in the past and have never ever experienced something like that. Now it is good to know this unblocking protocol for future reference, it might be helpful, but it didn't work with this program. No worries I have Sumatra and FoxitReader portable, more than enough.
     
  21. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    Hi Osaban,
    I don't know what could be the cause of that.
    I think I never used the PDF-XChange Editor zipped exe installer. On Windows 7, I used the 64 bit MSI installer. You could try the MSI installer, to see if that runs correctly.
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2020
  22. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

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    I understand, but I would prefer to fix the problem if there is any underlying issue perhaps with some other software incompatibility or whatnot. I never had a problem installing it in the past 4 years that I've been using it. Last try I would do is disable all running tasks and AV then try installing it just to try to isolate the issue.
     
  23. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I had no running tasks and as you know it is not easy to switch off MS Defender without installing another AV, besides I have lost interest in investigating this problem. My original post was to inform you that my case may not be isolated...
     
  24. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    Thanks Stupendous Man, but these kind of programs are only interesting to me as portable applications...
     
  25. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    Thanks, Osaban, I didn't understand you meant the portable version, I thought you meant the zipped exe installer.
    I have no experience with the PDF-XChange Editor portable zip, only with the 64 bit MSI installer.

    By the way, as you mentioned zip and portable, I suppose you meant Tracker Software's portable zip - or did you mean the PortableApps.com PDF-XChange Editor Portable (which is no zip, but a paf.exe)?
     
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