question about PDFs on ipad

[Theraker007]

Hi.. I always scan my school textbooks into a pdf and read them on my macbooks preview so that I can take notes and highlight and also not have to carry heavy books around everywhere with me.

I was wondering if the iPad had any pdf app that would let me highlight txt on pdfs or take notes like skim or preview does on the macbook.

thanks in advance




disclaimer:
***I BUY THE BOOKS LEGALLY, but I usually don't like to carry them out of the house.***

 

[Busymom23]

Hi.. I always scan my school textbooks into a pdf and read them on my macbooks preview so that I can take notes and highlight and also not have to carry heavy books around everywhere with me.

I was wondering if the iPad had any pdf app that would let me highlight txt on pdfs or take notes like skim or preview does on the macbook.**

Goodreader has the ability to do what you asked about. Awesome program! I am not sure how it would compare to the Mac programs, however.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Hi.. I always scan my school textbooks into a pdf and read them on my macbooks preview so that I can take notes and highlight and also not have to carry heavy books around everywhere with me.

I was wondering if the iPad had any pdf app that would let me highlight txt on pdfs or take notes like skim or preview does on the macbook.

thanks in advance




disclaimer:
***I BUY THE BOOKS LEGALLY, but I usually don't like to carry them out of the house.***

GoodReader would do it as of it's latest update, so it's still evolving; it's also cheap.

But my favorite app for this purpose is iAnnotate. It's a mature app that has proven reliable to me. I currently use it to do most of my PDF reading, and to underline and highlight information in them. I can create notes that expand when clicked on their icon, and also handwrite on top of the document. But currently it doesn't let you type on the document itself. That's coming in the near future according to the developer.
I've tried several other apps I bought, but in my opinion iAnnotate is the best one so far. Very user friendly. Also your PDF file remains as a PDF, and when you transfer to your PC/MAC, you'll be able to see your annotations too. Ah, and it now connects with Dropbox.

Noterize is decent app but it's also evolving. At this stage of it's evolution, annotations are kind of difficult due to the was the app interprets certain gestures and your regular handwritten annotations.

I'm tempted to purchase NoteTaker HD and Penultimate, but I'm afraid of spending more money and get mediocre results.

The problem is that some of these other apps will convert your PDF file to a proprietary file format which you can later export as a PDF file. To me, this is not a good thing.

Anyways, if you find something better, please let me know. I'm always looking for the perfect PDF annotations / digital-notepad app, one that would allow me to handwrite and edit what I handwrite.

 

[SteveKnobs]

Goodreeder works well. Noterize is my favorite though.

 

[Don Kosak]

Yeah, another vote for Goodreader. I use it constantly. Very well designed app.

You might want to check into the PDF capabilities of iBooks also. I haven't tried annotating a PDF in iBooks though.

 

[tekchic]

Yeah, another vote for Goodreader. I use it constantly. Very well designed app.

You might want to check into the PDF capabilities of iBooks also. I haven't tried annotating a PDF in iBooks though.

Sadly (and kinda ridiculously), you cannot annotate/highlight PDF's in iBooks. Only epub format is supported if you want to annotate or highlight.

I used to use iAnnotate until GoodReader came out with its highlighting and annotation feature. Now it's easier just to use GoodReader for everything. I still have iAnnotate on my iPad, but I'm using it less and less now since the GoodReader update.

I wouldn't recommend Noterize for PDF highlighting/annotation if you are trying to highlight a several hundred page textbook. It doesn't have the best PDF support for large textbooks as it takes a "photo" of the page essentially to let you mark it up. Just my $0.02.

 

[damnyooneek]

i use goodreader for my textbooks. some of the pdf files are over 1gb and it works very well. saves me from carrying a bunch of books.

 

[X1Lightning]

Hi.. I always scan my school textbooks into a pdf and read them on my macbooks preview so that I can take notes and highlight and also not have to carry heavy books around everywhere with me.

I was wondering if the iPad had any pdf app that would let me highlight txt on pdfs or take notes like skim or preview does on the macbook.

thanks in advance

disclaimer:
***I BUY THE BOOKS LEGALLY, but I usually don't like to carry them out of the house.***

how are you scanning an entire book in, wouldn't that take forever?

 

[psychotropic]

I actually posted this same question in the ipad application forum. I didn't see this post so i apologize for making the same post there. I agree with the majority of what has been said about good reader, although good reader makes you embed a note with an icon, rather than simply using a text box and typing directly onto the PDF file. This becomes annoying when you want to study your notes and you have to tap every note icon to see what it says rather than being viewable on the pdf I am also looking for a program that mimics apples preview program. I wish apple or skim would create an ipad app that mimicked their mac based program.

 

[afireintonto]

how are you scanning an entire book in, wouldn't that take forever?

He must have tons of time on his hands!
I was going to try to scan all my books in this semester, and bring them back to the bookstore, so my books would be free didn't work.
I scanned like five pages before I gave up. Its a lot of work to scan at a high enough res to be readable.
I wish that apple would sell textbooks in the ibooks store. I would buy all of my books that way. Even if they were just PDF. Carrying books to class blows. Apple needs to get publishers on board.

 

[Don Kosak]

I wish that apple would sell textbooks in the ibooks store. I would buy all of my books that way. Even if they were just PDF. Carrying books to class blows. Apple needs to get publishers on board.

<old-man-voice> Back in my day, textbooks were carved into big stone tablets that we used to have to carry to school 25 miles through the snow, up hill, Both Ways... </old-man-voice>

I thought a lot of publishers had epub format textbooks already? I know most of the major text book companies pledged to support the Kno textbook specific tablet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kno

 

[southernpaws]

Goodreader