PDF-XChange Viewer

Adobe's popular PDF format makes files look great and Adobe's free Reader lets everyone look at the files for free. However, you can't make annotations to those documents unless someone with the full Acrobat program has saved the PDF in an editable form. If you've got a locked-down PDF, you're out of luck... unless you've got Tracker Software's free PDF-Xchange Viewer.

In addition to letting you mark up existing PDFs, PDF Xchange creates PDFs from text, RTF, image files, and scanned materials--something that you just can't do with Adobe Reader. This process is quick and easy, just select File, New Document and select your source file.

PDF-Xchange lets you add sticky notes; cross out, underline, and highlight text; add arrows, boxes, and other shapes; and add freeform drawings and markup. Just as in Adobe Acrobat, you can right-click any markup element and add a pop-up note. PDF-Xchange does not let you select text and replace it with new wording, as you can in Adobe Acrobat--and it doesn't recognize that markup from Acrobat, either. You see the text as crossed out, but the revised text is lost. This is unfortunate, since all other markups and comments appear to be compatible between programs. You can save your annotated document as a new PDF, or export it in several different image formats, including BMP and TIFF--but you can't save it as a text file.

In addition to PDF-Xchange, Tracker Software sells Standard and Pro versions that add features such as printing PDFs from Office documents and advanced PDF creation tools; at $44 and $74 respectively, they're worth considering. Before you take the leap, however, I suggest giving the free PDF-Xchange a thorough test to ensure it meets your needs. The fact that it doesn't appear to be completely compatible with Adobe Reader and Acrobat bothers me--like Adobe or not, it is the 800-pound gorilla. In addition, I do need to export text documents from PDFs from time to time, and that just isn't possible with PDF-Xchange. My reservations aside, this is a good PDF viewer and creator that will likely meet most home users' needs.

This full featured workhorse remains the top choice in this category. With the exception of the 3D files mentioned above. It was able to quickly open and accurately render all of the files in my test set of PDF files. Pages can be zoomed or rotated and can be exported in various image formats. When multiple documents are loaded, the tiled window interface allows opening either in document tabs or side-by-side comparison of files, with the additional option to view them in document tabs.

Beyond its viewing capabilities, PDF-XChange has an extensive suite of tools for form annotating and bookmarking PDF documents. This extensive commenting capability includes many drawing tools, including the option to add a grid for precision. Comments can also be hidden, exported or imported. PDF-XChange has the ability to encrypt documents as well as managing document security and properties. Controls are easily accessible and easy to use. Unlike some other readers, PDF-XChange lacks the ability to add digital or electronic signatures.

An important part of the reading experience for me is the ablility to search the text contained in the file. As a result, the one feature that makes PDF-XChange stand out from the other PDF readers is its ability to convert and save a scanned or imaged PDF document to one containing searchable text. The OCR process allows the converted document to be indexed and searched. I use the free version of Evernote extensively. It does not index scanned image based PDFs but can index them once they have been OCRed, making this function important to me.

With all of its solid qualities this proven software is starting to show its age. While there is an wide range of features for customizing the graphical user interface (GUI), no amount of tinkering can remove its dated Windows XP look and feel. With the level of features and sophistication of the contents of the package, some modernization of the interface is in order.

Unfortunately, the installation package installs the Tracker Ask browser toolbar by default. Users should use care in the installation process and most will opt out of the default to avoid including this annoying additional software.

A worthy contender in this category is Foxit Reader, particularly if you do not need OCR capability. The software was able to open and accurately render the same files, perhaps a tad faster than PDF-XChange. It contains similar features for viewing and navigating documents, while adding the ability to read documents aloud. When multiple documents are opened they are loaded in tabs to allow easy switching between them.

While other software in this category has been relatively static in its development, Foxit has been keeping in step with the state of both the computing and business worlds. Foxit most recent release offers both a "classic" and a "ribbon" interface that provides a modern look and feel to the software. The ribbon is similar to that included in the Microsoft Office toolbar. While I had a bit of trouble finding the cotrols for settiing and changing the format of annotations, I generally had the sense that the features for navigation and editing well organized, smooth and, for the most part, intuitive.

The array of annotation tools were as impressive as those in the PDF-XChange reader. The user will be able to fill forms and fully annotate documents and save them as we should expect. Foxit includes some unique controls that permit adding images and multimedia files as well as attaching other files. The reader contains some interesting collaboration and social media features that provide interfaces with Evernote, Facebook, Twitter and SharePoint. Additionally Foxit provides for both electronically signing documents using the commercial DocuSign service and validating electronically signed PDF files. While Foxit can open encrypted files, regretably absent is the abillity to add and alter file security.