Best app for annotating .pdf files on Pro?

[Readdlemate]

Yes-I'm a big fn of Readdle's apps.

However, there are 2 things that would make PDF Expert my go to annotation app:

1. Full Pencil support. Like JuBE above, I am getting random marks from my palm when I try to use the Pencil. So, is Pencil fully supported yet? Support was supposed to be coming "soon" as of December 3, 2015. That's 3.5 months ago... I believe you may have implemented limited Pencil support, but the random palm marks make me think it's not quite right yet...

2. Direct Dropbox integration. I don't want to have to import/export PDF files, and the Sync function only seems to work on folders, not individual files within a folder. Adobe Actobat has direct Dropbox integration with no importing or syncing.

I love PDF Expert except for these 2 things. Add these and PDF Expert would be the killer PDF annotation app.

Readdlemate, what's up with Pencil support?

Hey Thanks a lot for sooo kind words and sorry for the delay in reply.

Apple Pencil is not the same old good stylus, so it works fine when you disable wrist protection. It most cases it doesn't you don't get marks or dots, but sometimes it happens. It depend on the speed of writing, documents, annotations ets. Of course, we are working on improvements, but it takes some time.

You can set two-way sync to keep your files up to date You can check this step - by - step instruction on our Knowledge Base:

https://helpspot.readdle.com/pdfexpert/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=484

Let me know if you need any further assistance

best regards,
Readdle Team

 

[iRaynor SK]

PDF Expert is great, I have purchased it for Mac and iPad and Handoff support is great

Readdle is not only making great software, support is great too, one time I got answer in minutes

Very happy with PDF Expert.

 

[JTravers]

PDF Expert is great, I have purchased it for Mac and iPad and Handoff support is great

Readdle is not only making great software, support is great too, one time I got answer in minutes

Very happy with PDF Expert.

Absolutely LOVE the Mac app. With the coming editing and OCR additions, it will be THE premier PDF app out there.

I do have a question about PDF Expert vs. PDF Office, though. It seems that PDF Office has more editing features and was supposed to be the most complete, feature-rich PDF editing app by Readdle. However, PDF Office hasn't been updated in quite a while. Has it been abandoned in favor of PDF Expert? If so, will the additional features in PDF Office eventually make their way to PDF Expert?

Thanks!

 

[Readdlemate]

PDF Expert is great, I have purchased it for Mac and iPad and Handoff support is great

Readdle is not only making great software, support is great too, one time I got answer in minutes

Very happy with PDF Expert.

Thanks a lot for sooooo kind words

Now we are even more motivated to make PDF Expert better

best regards,
Readdle Team
[doublepost=1459506456][/doublepost]

Absolutely LOVE the Mac app. With the coming editing and OCR additions, it will be THE premier PDF app out there.

I do have a question about PDF Expert vs. PDF Office, though. It seems that PDF Office has more editing features and was supposed to be the most complete, feature-rich PDF editing app by Readdle. However, PDF Office hasn't been updated in quite a while. Has it been abandoned in favor of PDF Expert? If so, will the additional features in PDF Office eventually make their way to PDF Expert?

Thanks!

We are so happy to hear that you enjoy PDF Expert

You are absolutely right, PDF Office has a full pack of powerful features for creating and editing PDFs and we are thinking about deeper integration about PDF Expert and PDF Office

best regards,
Readdle Team

 

[MacFinnley]

I have Documents and PDF Expert and wonder what the difference between those two apps is. The UI looks exactly the same.

 

[archagon]

Paper notebooks have long been an essential part of my software development workflow, and now I'd like to take them digital with the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the notetaking apps on iOS are fairly proprietary: your sketches are stored in some hidden database or in the cloud, and the only way to get something standard out of them is to perform a clunky export. I'd like my notes to be in a standard format, and I'd like them to be editable directly; in other words, there should always be a 1:1 mapping between the files sitting in my Dropbox and the notes that the app is editing.

So I was wondering: are there any Pencil-supporting iOS apps that simply let you create a new, blank PDF — maybe even with a custom cover image — and then use it directly for sketching and perhaps even text and image entry? (Huge bonus points for handwriting recognition!) Does PDF Expert allow this? What about Notability?

 

[GerritV]

Paper notebooks have long been an essential part of my software development workflow, and now I'd like to take them digital with the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the notetaking apps on iOS are fairly proprietary: your sketches are stored in some hidden database or in the cloud, and the only way to get something standard out of them is to perform a clunky export. I'd like my notes to be in a standard format, and I'd like them to be editable directly; in other words, there should always be a 1:1 mapping between the files sitting in my Dropbox and the notes that the app is editing.

So I was wondering: are there any Pencil-supporting iOS apps that simply let you create a new, blank PDF — maybe even with a custom cover image — and then use it directly for sketching and perhaps even text and image entry? (Huge bonus points for handwriting recognition!) Does PDF Expert allow this? What about Notability?

Both PDF Expert and Notability (and others) allow for annotating pdf documents. Theoretically, you can create a blank pdf document, open it in PDF Expert and start annotating away. It will somewhat feel like a handwriting note taking app, and you have tools like Marker, Text...

Noteshelf has a built-in function to create a pdf document (instead of a proprietary file) within the app and write notes by hand or by using the Text tool. You can insert images as well. Noteshelf has Evernote sync as an IAP, which would allow you to open the note in Evernote and continue to work in it.

 

[Readdlemate]

I have Documents and PDF Expert and wonder what the difference between those two apps is. The UI looks exactly the same.

I have Documents and PDF Expert and wonder what the difference between those two apps is. The UI looks exactly the same.

Documents 5 is a file manager for reading and sharing books, videos and music. PDF Expert 5 is a PDF editor for filling out forms, adding free-hand annotations ets.

You can unlock all pro PDF Expert 5 features in Documents 5. Just go to Add ons tab and find PDF Expert 5 there.

best regards,
Readdle Team
[doublepost=1459932981][/doublepost]

Both PDF Expert and Notability (and others) allow for annotating pdf documents. Theoretically, you can create a blank pdf document, open it in PDF Expert and start annotating away. It will somewhat feel like a handwriting note taking app, and you have tools like Marker, Text...

Noteshelf has a built-in function to create a pdf document (instead of a proprietary file) within the app and write notes by hand or by using the Text tool. You can insert images as well. Noteshelf has Evernote sync as an IAP, which would allow you to open the note in Evernote and continue to work in it.

Hello

You can create a new PDF file using PDF Expert 5:

1. Go to Documents tab,
2. Tap Edit at the top,
3. Tap Create at the bottom left corner,
4. Tap New Document,
5. Choose background color and pattern,
6. Tap Done.

After that you can annotate, add text and images and new pages to this PDF file.

best regards,
Readdle Team

 

[Gaday1985]

Hi Readdlemate!
Got a q about pdf expert- love it, but there is noticable delay when annotating pdf with apple pencil on ipad pro 9,7; any plans on improving it?
Sry 4 my english.

 

[MacFinnley]

Hi Readdlemate!
Got a q about pdf expert- love it, but there is noticable delay when annotating pdf with apple pencil on ipad pro 9,7; any plans on improving it?
Sry 4 my english.

They said they will improve apple pecil support in future updates. Looking forward to it, too.

 

[Gaday1985]

Is there any way to erase annotation in pdf expert after it is saved (I mean u cant undo it allready)?

 

[MacFinnley]

Is there any way to erase annotation in pdf expert after it is saved (I mean u cant undo it allready)?

You can select any annotation with the select tool (the square in the tool bar) and then delete it.

 

[Gaday1985]

You can select any annotation with the select tool (the square in the tool bar) and then delete it.

No, I didnt mean annotations with pencil but that "A"- like marker or smth, dunno right naming of that (marker, underline). Thx for ur responds.
Edit: it is called highlights))

 

[Readdlemate]

No, I didnt mean annotations with pencil but that "A"- like marker or smth, dunno right naming of that (marker, underline). Thx for ur responds.
Edit: it is called highlights))

Just tap on "Book" icon and select "A" tab in appeared menu. Then tap "Clear" to delete all annotations.

best regards,
Readdle Team

 

[Cptnodegard]

Readdle are a great app team.

Readdle is a necessary evil - they have the best PDF apps on iOS, but not necessarily GOOD apps. There are issues in the apps that have been there for years, without getting addressed. It also still lacks support for some basic features that other apps support.

The idea behind Documents and plug-ins was great, but it never got properly integrated with some of those plugins, the core app sometimes gets updates before Documents, and it was never extended to PDF Office. Speaking of which, their most expensive app doesn't support the iPad Pro resolution, and hasn't been updated since September.

I use Readdle apps daily for work, and couldn't use an iPad without them, but they certainly aren't winning any awards for best developer.

I know GoodReader is working on a big update, and I just pray that they will finally make that able to compete with Readdle apps - although I seriously doubt that.

 

[iRaynor SK]

I want to get PDF Office, but not optimized for iPad Pro :-(

 

[C DM]

Readdle is a necessary evil - they have the best PDF apps on iOS, but not necessarily GOOD apps. There are issues in the apps that have been there for years, without getting addressed. It also still lacks support for some basic features that other apps support.

The idea behind Documents and plug-ins was great, but it never got properly integrated with some of those plugins, the core app sometimes gets updates before Documents, and it was never extended to PDF Office. Speaking of which, their most expensive app doesn't support the iPad Pro resolution, and hasn't been updated since September.

I use Readdle apps daily for work, and couldn't use an iPad without them, but they certainly aren't winning any awards for best developer.

I know GoodReader is working on a big update, and I just pray that they will finally make that able to compete with Readdle apps - although I seriously doubt that.

Have you contacted them about the issues? They seem to be fairly responsive, even here.

 

[Cptnodegard]

Have you contacted them about the issues? They seem to be fairly responsive, even here.

I have a whole other speech to give about their CS. I suspect their CS is actually fairly well-meaning, but tied by company policies that heavily favor superficial features emphasizing selling large quantities of apps to individuals whose needs could be fulfilled by MS Paint rather than breaking into the business market. As an example, I reported a massive bug to them while a new update to the app was in beta once, which was still pushed to live a few weeks later (with bug intact), and took 9 more months to fix. It was the type of bug you could be oblivious to the existence of (most were) but that would cripple you should it affect you. I couldn't update the app at all in that time as the bug made it impossible for me to do my job.

It's their choice to do business that way, and in the grand scheme of things they probably make more money that way. It does however mean that Readdle software is now in the curious position of being software I cannot work without, software I would love for to be perfect, yet software I refuse to recommend to others (to the point I've warned people and companies against it) because you quite literally need to have backups of the app handy in case they decide, 100% knowingly, to break parts of the app for the next year.

 

[gaanee]

Hi, I don't see any option to create on iphone. When I tap Edit, the options on the bottom bar are: Copy, Move, Rename Delete, Actions.

Documents 5 is a file manager for reading and sharing books, videos and music. PDF Expert 5 is a PDF editor for filling out forms, adding free-hand annotations ets.

You can unlock all pro PDF Expert 5 features in Documents 5. Just go to Add ons tab and find PDF Expert 5 there.

best regards,
Readdle Team
[doublepost=1459932981][/doublepost]

Hello

You can create a new PDF file using PDF Expert 5:

1. Go to Documents tab,
2. Tap Edit at the top,
3. Tap Create at the bottom left corner,
4. Tap New Document,
5. Choose background color and pattern,
6. Tap Done.

After that you can annotate, add text and images and new pages to this PDF file.

best regards,
Readdle Team

 

[Readdlemate]

I have a whole other speech to give about their CS. I suspect their CS is actually fairly well-meaning, but tied by company policies that heavily favor superficial features emphasizing selling large quantities of apps to individuals whose needs could be fulfilled by MS Paint rather than breaking into the business market. As an example, I reported a massive bug to them while a new update to the app was in beta once, which was still pushed to live a few weeks later (with bug intact), and took 9 more months to fix. It was the type of bug you could be oblivious to the existence of (most were) but that would cripple you should it affect you. I couldn't update the app at all in that time as the bug made it impossible for me to do my job.

It's their choice to do business that way, and in the grand scheme of things they probably make more money that way. It does however mean that Readdle software is now in the curious position of being software I cannot work without, software I would love for to be perfect, yet software I refuse to recommend to others (to the point I've warned people and companies against it) because you quite literally need to have backups of the app handy in case they decide, 100% knowingly, to break parts of the app for the next year.

Hello,

Thanks a lot for your feedback and thoughts about our apps. We've started creating iOS apps more than 7 years ago and we try to make you more productive and happy users Of course we hear all your feedbacks and our support and social media team read and discuss your ideas with our developers. Really, every day We try to add more and more useful features with every new update and we try to analyze new features and make sure it will be cool and useful.

We add tons of new functionality and improve current features with every new update, so hope all your requests will be add in the nearest future

best regards,
Readdle Team

 

[pj-uk]

You can set two-way sync to keep your files up to date You can check this step - by - step instruction on our Knowledge Base:

https://helpspot.readdle.com/pdfexpert/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=484

Let me know if you need any further assistance

best regards,
Readdle Team

2-way sync only works with folders which isn't much good if you have a folder full of other files that you don't want to sync. Unfortunately this is not a good option and would much prefer single file 2-way syncing. Will this ever be an option as PDF Expert would be close to perfect with this function.

 

[cdcastillo]

I bought the iPad Pro in part for two main reasons: I play music and wanted the larger screen size for sheet music, and I also am an editor for a publishing company so I need the ability to annotate .pdf files of books on the iPad itself so I can save myself stacks of paper from annotating by hand.

I have a pencil on order so I have some time to decide on the best .pdf app out there. Is there any specific one that you guys recommend for the annotation of .pdf files?

PDF pen by Smile Software

 

[JTravers]

2-way sync only works with folders which isn't much good if you have a folder full of other files that you don't want to sync. Unfortunately this is not a good option and would much prefer single file 2-way syncing. Will this ever be an option as PDF Expert would be close to perfect with this function.

There is a way to sync changes to individual files. You have to access the files through the iCloud Drive interface and then tap on the Locations button in the top left. The only problem is that Dropbox doesn't allow direct file opening through the iCloud Drive interface -- only importing and exporting. If you don't mind keeping your PDFs on Google Drive or Box instead, this should work for you. It does take a few extra taps to access files through the iCloud Drive interface, though.

 

[superdx]

Found this thread and was happily surprised to see Notability supporting this. I bought both the Mac and iOS app without knowing this function existed!

 

[Praxiteles]

Is there any specific one that you guys recommend for the annotation of .pdf files?

We are mystified by all the upvotes for PDF Expert, PDF Reader, or iAnnotate PDF. These apps are terrible. Here is an example.

Imagine that when you put your pencil onto a piece of paper that all it did was move it: it won't write.

Then imagine that in order to get your pencil to work you had to tap a specific place on the side of the paper.

Then imagine that once you activated your pencil, now every time you touched the paper your finger would leave a mark.

What's the point of having a pencil?

The design of these apps makes marking up documents less efficient than actual pen and paper. What does it make faster? Nothing as far as we can tell.

It would be great if app developers took a lesson from Steve Jobs on skeuomorphic design: fingers move the paper; pencils write.