Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat

Question

Anyone got any recommendations for an alternative to Adobe Acrobat that can handle annotations like comments etc? We've successfully used PDFCreator for making PDF files but we often get involved in marking up PDF documents.

The reason for asking is that we object a little to paying as much for Acrobat as we do for the entire Office suite.

Thanks, Rob.

Answer 1

I believe the pro version of foxit reader supports that. It's a very lightweight program, 5mb I believe.

Answer 2

Windows :

CutePDF: – This PDF conversion software is an extremely popular alternative to the PDF conversion applications offered by Adobe. Not only is this software fast at converting files created using Windows applications to PDF files, but it’s also free. This software works with virtually any Windows application (as long as it can print), and there’s no annoying ads or popups associated with CutePDF. If you now how

Mac OS X :

Instant PDF: – This professional-grade PDF software is definitely a viable alternative to Adobe Acrobat, although it does cost about the same price. This software is able to create, edit, and print PDF documents, and it works seamlessly with the most popular design programs currently on the market to produce professional looking PDF documents. This software is popular amongst people who need to produce professional looking press releases for the web or print

Linux

PDFedit: – If it’s just a PDF editor that you’re looking for, then PDFedit is a cost-effective solution to your problem. This is an open source editor for manipulating PDF documents. It may not be the most advanced PDF editing software on the market, but you get what you pay for…And since the software is free, I’d consider this a good choice for people looking for a basic PDF editor.

source

Answer 3

Wikipedia has a list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5FPDF%5Fsoftware

Answer 4

I do not know will if fit at your needs but, a lot of good stories about Foxit READER

Answer 5

We're currently trialling Foxit Phantom which is the big brother of Foxit Reader. It is currently 1/4 the price of Acrobat Standard and so far seems very good on features & compatability.

Answer 6

The FREE PDF-XChange Viewer offers all the feature's you would expect such as support of all PDF file formats from Version 1.0 all the way to the latest 1.7 (Acrobat 8)

You might be surprised just how quickly your large PDF files open and pages smoothly refresh as they are scrolled.

Here are some of the features available in the PDF-XChange FREE Viewer

Add Comments and Annotations to any PDF file (subject to security settings) - unlike the Adobe Viewer which requires the PDF creation tool to be 'certified' by Adobe !

Add & apply Custom Stamps from any Image or PDF File and even your Windows Clip board !

Mark-up pages with text and objects

Type directly on any PDF page, not just Adobe enabled forms documents - in Typewriter mode.

Export PDF pages or entire files to any one of the supported Image formats including BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG and many more ...

Extract text from a PDF page/File

Make your navigation of large or complex PDF files both simple and enjoyable with the extended functionality of our 'Loupe' and the 'Pan' Window tools

Fill and Save Adobe Forms to disk, email or 'post' !

Integrate seamlessly with your favourite translation software to translate text on the 'fly' - including : ABBYY Lingvo 12, Translate It!, Lingoes.

Portable version also available - can be run from any suitable device such as a Memory stick/CD/DVD etc - simply unzip and use - no installation required - just 4MB download !

Answer 7

http://xournal.sourceforge.net/manual.html#pdfannotate

I've never used this before. It sounds like it may be messy for your usage.

Answer 8

May want to look into DocQ's Online service.

Answer 9

I believe OpenOffice.org has a PDF editing facility (you have to install it separately) as an add on.