Best PDF handling application

Software
1

have tried several Nitro PDF, Preview, PDF Expert, PDF Pen, and others I can’t remember.

any recommendations for the “best” pdf handler that can do markup,highlighting as well as signatures, encryption and just long form reading??? on mac and ipad and iphone. Not asking much, am I ??? hahahaha

2

Seems like you’ve tried them all … but didn’t mention Adobe Acrobat. That work?

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3

I like PDF Expert but you might want to try UPDF which has the features you’re looking for and keeps adding new ones. I don’t know about long form reading, but it is available for the iPad.

4

Probably not what you’re looking for, but my two favorite PDFs for annotation and markup are MarginNote 4, and LiquidText.

Katie

5

I also tried many… I stuck PDF Expert which does most of what I need very well - also excellent OCR for scanned documents.
To highlight and work with scientific paper PDFs I use Highlights which is excellent for exporting highlighted text. Occasionally I still have to use Adobe Acrobat Reader for specific PDF forms (COI forms for publications) because all others are not compatible.

6

thank you. I have looked at Acrobat, but it’s typical Adobe pricey.

7

thank you. might have to give PDF Expert another run

8

You can do much of what you may want to do with DEVONthink on the Mac. DT is expensive unless you already have it. I should add, it doesn’t do signatures, but you can open a PDF from DT into another PDF app. I was primarily referring to highlighting, extracting highlights, and reading. Highlighting and reading can be done on the iPad, but I don’t believe extracting can be. DT also has the advantage of automatically OCRing any PDFs sent to it.

9

Hijacking thread to ask are there any PDF editors which allow you to sort pages like PowerPoint’s slide sorter view? Preview gives a vertical view in the sidebar but I’d like something that shows a little preview of each sheet in a grid and don’t know how to search for that.

10

In Preview, press Option+Command+6

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11

Thank you very much, exactly what I was looking for. View > Contact Sheet, didn’t know that existed. :pray:

12

Coming back to this thread… I’m currently using a legacy version of PDFPen Pro however I’m hoping for some more “advanced” features. Primarily I use Preview for filling out forms and signatures, however I have other PDF needs for my business. Here are the two main workflows I’m looking to keep or solve for:

  • Keep: Using Hazel to automatically OCR a document when added to a folder on my Mac/iCloud Drive
  • Solve: Add a PAID “stamp” to the pdf when I change the macOS tag from “un-paid” to “paid”
  • Solve: Similar workflows on iPadOS
  • Need: Functionality with Apple Shortcuts on macOS and iPadOS.

Any suggestions are welcomed!

13

Acrobat is the best because it guarantees compatibility. PDF Expert is a close 2nd.

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14

Yes, I also use Acrobat, it is amazing.

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