Pdf Reader For Mac Osx

Best Free PDF Reader for Mac 1. Adobe Reader DC for Mac. Adobe Reader DC for Mac is a widely used PDF reader since the creation of the PDF itself.What are the features of Adobe Reader? At first, it is super easy to use and it is constantly updated and improved. It's hard to justify upgrading to OS X 10.7 if Preview is the only draw. If you're sticking with Snow Leopard, your version of Preview isn't bad but it's certainly not the best PDF editor/viewer.

There are plenty of ways to view and edit PDFs on a Mac, but Apple's built-in Preview application is phenomenal and often overlooked. While Lion didn't wow the crowd with most of its features, it brought some amazing additions to Apple's PDF viewer/editor that puts it over the top and makes it our choice for the best.

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.

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UPDATE: Wondershare is claiming we named their Product, PDF Editor, our top choice. We did not, and they are using a false award that claims our approval. Please do not buy their products as they are a dishonest company. We've left the original text (stricken out) about PDF Editor in the alternatives section so you can see how little of a recommendation we made.

Preview

Platform: Mac OS X
Price: Free
Download Page

Features

  • View and edit images in addition to PDF files
  • Annotate, highlight, and mark up PDFs in several ways
  • Digitally fill out forms
  • Sign PDF documents with your webcam (read on for more info)
  • Super-fast performance
  • Super-fast search
  • Insert new pages into PDFs
  • View and edit PDF metadata
  • Add and edit hyperlinks in a PDF file

Where It Excels

Preview is fast. Mac OS X isn't exactly known for its speed and efficiency, so Preview's ability to blow through PDF documents is pretty impressive. But among its many handy highlighting and annotating features, which are all solid, its ability to fill out forms is especially impressive. This may seem like a mundane thing, but when you get to the signature line it is hard to eschew at least a little reverence. Preview (in Lion) has a feature where you can sign a piece of paper, hold it up to your computer's webcam, and it'll turn it into a high-quality signature you can place in a form. It can also save multiple signatures so you don't have to continuously repeat this process. Preview is solid all-around, but it's those sorts of features that make it amazing.

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Where It Falls Short

As incredible as Preview's webcam signature feature is, it seems kind of strange that there is no ability to sign with your trackpad as well. After all, Apple Stores let you sign for purchases with your finger on an iPod touch. Additionally, Preview wasn't exactly perfect prior to Lion and Lion isn't exactly perfect on its own. It's hard to justify upgrading to OS X 10.7 if Preview is the only draw. If you're sticking with Snow Leopard, your version of Preview isn't bad but it's certainly not the best PDF editor/viewer you can find. Apple fixed a lot of quirks in Lion, which make it a pleasure to use, but if you're not running Lion you're pretty much out of luck.

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The Competition

PDFPen costs $60 but is pretty great. If you need more features than Preview can provide, it'll get the job done. PDFPen makes page rearrangement, editing, multi-document assembly, and more very easy. While it's on the expensive side, consider it a cheaper alternative to Adobe Acrobat ($200). We've never loved Acrobat and it likely provides more features than you're going to need.

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Wondershare PDF Editor ($50) is another pricey option, but it has the ability to convert PDFs to Microsoft Word documents. We're not sure how well this works, but you might want to give it a try if that's something you need. Wondershare placed a false claim on their PDF Editor software that we considered it the best. They even created a fake Lifehacker approval image to act as if we provided them with an official award. We listed it as an alternative here, but as Wondershare has opted to falsely market their product with a seal of approval from us that we never provided, we ask that you do not buy from them.

Skim is a great choice if your primary focus is annotation as that's what it was design to do. It has an impressively long list of features to make annotation easy.

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Got any other favorite PDF editor/viewer apps for Mac that you love? Share 'em 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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PDF (Portable Document Format) is one of the standard format for carrying your documents. PDF documents are more secured and easily accessible than other document file formats. PDF format is mostly used in case of printing the documents because there is no chance for change in alignment of the document. Therefore many people prefer PDF documents for carrying and printing their files.

Mac OS X have default PDF reader called “PDF Viewer” which helps to open the PDF documents. Today I’m going to list you another 12 alternative PDF Readers and PDF Editors for your Mac OS X. I categorized these applications into paid and free versions to let you find the one you need easily.

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Type: Free Version

Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker f0r Mac OS X. It has plenty of in-built features to view PDF files in your mac. It supports for apple remote control and you can download PDF files remotely using this application. You can sync some external applications like La TeX, Sync TeX, PDF Sync, etc. (Download Skim PDF Reader)

Type: Free Version

Gnostice is the developer of Free PDF Reader. It is a free, fast and portable application for your mac platform. Using this application you can export your PDF document as popular image formats. The application is portable so that you can carry in your flash drive. (Download Free PDF Reader)

Free Pdf Reader For Mac Os X

Image Via Softpedia

Type: Free Version

Haihaisoft PDF Reader is an extremely fast and rich feature set. You can read PDF documents protected by DRM-X platform using this application. One of the light weighted and highly secured application for your macbook. It won’t connect to internet without user’s permission. (Download Haihaisoft PDF Reader)

Type: Free Version

Adobe reader is one of the famous and most commonly used PDF Reader for all the leading operating systems. Adobe reader is available for most of the mobile platforms and it has lot of options to edit and print your PDF documents. Even browser add-ons are available from adobe reader to view and save your favorite PDF documents online. (Download Adobe Reader for Mac)

Type: Free Version

PDF Sam is the abbreviation of PDF Split and Merge. It is one of the best PDF Reader and especially editor for your PDF documents in mac. You can view, edit and add pages to your PDF document. Also you can set rights and permissions to your PDF documents to secure it. (Download PDF Sam)

For

Type: Free Version

PDF Info is a specialized application used only for PDF editing. Click source button to select the file from your hard disk. You can set password, change producer, creator, author, title, etc. It is mainly available for editing and you can preview your document before publishing. (Download PDF Info)

Type: Free Version

Read Right is a free, light weight PDF Reader for small portables. Documents can be opened quickly, automatically rotated and scaled to full screen easily. Read Right is a free software developed under GNU General Public License. (Download Read Right)

Type: Free Version

Open Office is one of the best open source application from sun microsystems. Using Open Office Impress you can import, view and edit your PDF documents. It includes both import and export features. Open office helps you to download your PDF document as a Hybrid PDF so that you can edit your PDF in future using open office. (Download Open Office 3)

Type: Free Version

PDF Lab lets you edit and create your own customized PDF documents. You can insert images, create new pages, insert blank pages, etc. Also you can insert watermark in your PDF documents using this application. (Download PDF Lab)

Pdf Reader For Mac Os X 10.6.8

Type: Free Version

Formulate Pro helps you to view and edit your PDF documents in mac. You can edit any type of PDF documents in formulate pro also it gives lot of options in editing your document. You can add watermark, graphics, fill registration forms, etc by using this application. (Download Formulate Pro)

Osx

Type: Paid

PDF Pen Pro is an PDF reader which is specialized for editing your PDF documents. You can fill PDF registration forms using this application. Three main features of PDF Pen Pro is you can convert a website into a PDF document, you can create your own PDF forms and you can organize a PDF report with table. It is available for download in app store (Download PDF Pen Pro)

Type: Paid

PDF Signer comes mainly for filling registration forms in PDF formats. It has in-built tools and options to fill various types of registration forms and application forms in your PDF documents. You can add signatures and watermark easily using this application. You can download this app for mac in app store. (Download Here)

Pdf Reader For Mac Os X

These are some best alternatives to do more with your PDF reading, writing and editing in Mac OS X. If you have any more better software to suggest then please do leave the name of the software in comment below. Thanks for reading and please do share this article with your friends and followers in Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

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