thejoker1993
Member
What is a good textbook or PDF reader app that allows you to take notes and highlight. The native reader app and adobe reader and foxit isn't good.
good textbook reader app
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kristalsoldier
Well-Known Member
Drawboard PDF (which you can get from the app store).
malberttoo
Well-Known Member
+1 for Drawboard. Money well spent.
For me, PDF Annotator is the best PDF app. When in full screen mode, there is a customisable toolbar that displays when you hover over the edge of the screen. Makes swapping between different colour pens and different drawing or text tools really easy.
It might take an hour or so to work out which tools and pens you will use the most and set up your favourites, but once you have them set up, back them up so if you do a system refresh or use another machine, you can just import them.
The inking in PDF Annotator is superb. You can ink with the pen and scroll / zoom with you fingers at the same time.
It's not as simple and easy to use as Drawboard, but it is a lot more powerful, if that is what you need. (I haven't used Drawboard for about a year when I was trying it out, so I'm basing it off my experience back then).
It might take an hour or so to work out which tools and pens you will use the most and set up your favourites, but once you have them set up, back them up so if you do a system refresh or use another machine, you can just import them.
The inking in PDF Annotator is superb. You can ink with the pen and scroll / zoom with you fingers at the same time.
It's not as simple and easy to use as Drawboard, but it is a lot more powerful, if that is what you need. (I haven't used Drawboard for about a year when I was trying it out, so I'm basing it off my experience back then).
malberttoo
Well-Known Member
I do agree with you, PDF Annotator is an excellent app, and I have owned it since my first Windows XP "Tablet PC Edition" Tablet PC.
But it's not as awesome an app on the SP3 IMHO, because it is not optimized for touch. It's a desktop app only, and a Modern app will always run better and use less battery on the SP3 than a desktop app.
My .02...
SwindonTown
New Member
See if your textbook is available through CourseSmart. They have a Windows app through the store. Any notation you make is synced across your devices. In addition, they have a web interface.
I do agree with you, PDF Annotator is an excellent app, and I have owned it since my first Windows XP "Tablet PC Edition" Tablet PC.
But it's not as awesome an app on the SP3 IMHO, because it is not optimized for touch. It's a desktop app only, and a Modern app will always run better and use less battery on the SP3 than a desktop app.
My .02...
I'm not sure if you've updated to the latest version that was released about 3 or 4 weeks ago, but it is now optimised for touch now as it let's you write / highlight with the pen and scroll/zoom with your fingers at the same time. The previous version would write with either pen or finger if a pen tool was active.
Agree, that it's not optimised for touch in that the buttons may be a bit small for a finger, but no problems with a pen. Also, I often use key part shortcuts to swap between pen, highlight and text anyway.
I used PDF Annotator from the pre-1.0 beta days and I switch to Drawboard PDF as it works some much better from a price/performance ratio, I used all versions and prefer the MUI Drawboard PDF....
Another benefit of the MUI App is it will have less of an impact on battery than a Win32 Application like PDF Annotator.
Another benefit of the MUI App is it will have less of an impact on battery than a Win32 Application like PDF Annotator.
malberttoo
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that info, it is useful. I have not used Annotator in probably 3 or 4 months, and never considered using it once I got my SP3 and Drawboard, so was not aware of the changes he's made.
Annotator is more full-featured for sure, but a lot of features I did not use, and when I got the SP3 I was doing my best to embrace Modern apps as much as possible, within reason.
For someone looking for "basic" PDF annotation needs I'll continue recommending Drawboard, but I'll definitely keep recommending Annotator for power users. For the price, Drawboard is a better value for the casual or light user, but Annotator's price is not unreasonable for someone wanting impressive features.
