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Readdle rolls out PDF Expert 5: iCloud support, shared folder with Documents by Readdle
PDF Expert (US$9.99) is already a favorite of many of the bloggers at TUAW; now Ukraine-based development powerhouse Readdle has announced the availability of PDF Expert 5. The app is used to annotate PDFs, fill out PDF forms, sign PDF contracts and otherwise work with Adobe PDF documents in ways that Adobe's Acrobat app can't even touch. What's new in version 5? Well, first of all, PDF Expert 5 now supports iCloud, so your PDF documents can be stored on Apple's cloud service for quick availability. There's a new function that allows users to take multiple PDF files and merge them into one document; helpful when doing a set of scans that need to be saved as one document for easy search or emailing. I'm personally smitten with the new shared-folder capability. PDF Expert has some amazing annotation functionality, while the free Documents by Readdle app is designed for easier sharing and organization of PDFs. With the shared folder, it's possible to pass documents quickly between the two Readdle apps for a more complete solution when and if you need it. The upgrade to version 5 will require a full repurchase of the app, so current owners should be prepared to shell out $9.99 for the new capabilities. PDF Expert 5 should be available in the App Store today.
Adobe Reader update for Android adds costly PDF conversion features
Catching up to its iOS counterpart, Adobe's Reader app for Android has been updated with the same PDF conversion tools. This means that from within the app, you can now create PDFs from various popular file types, and vice versa. While the new version improves search, changes the file browser UI and adds multi-window support for free, you'll need to reach for your wallet to use the PDF transmogrification features. Continuing Adobe's love of subscriptions over purchases, the ExportPDF add-on for turning PDFs into other files costs just under $24 per year. The PDF pack, which lets you make PDFs from other files as well as the reverse, comes at a monthly charge of $10. We're good, thanks.
Daily Mac app: PDF Reader X is a lightweight, tabbed PDF reader with some annotation features
Adobe Reader may be the most popular option for reading PDFs on your Mac, but the 77 MB app is far from being lightweight and nimble. If you are looking for an alternative that takes up less space and is easier on your computer, then you should check out PDF Reader X. When you launch PDF Reader X for the first time, you'll immediately notice the UI, which is not as polished as some OS X apps. Its interface is functional and efficient, but that can be a benefit as a basic reader app does not require a lot of fluff. It can also be a turn off for folks who want something more than square buttons and grey backgrounds. The best part of the experience and the reason to check out the app is the tabbed interface, which allows you to open multiple documents and easily switch between them. Beyond reading, PDF Reader X supports bookmarking and has some light annotating features like highlight, strikethrough and underline. You can also add notes, text boxes and a few other goodies. Adding notes is a little quirky as the text in the box disappears off the side of the document if you place the note at the edge of the margin. This only appears when you are editing -- the note looks fine when you are viewing the final document. There are a few minor features like autosave which will backup your changes as you make them and a multiple-level undo that will allow you to erase your mistakes. It's all pretty standard fare for a basic PDF viewer. PDF Reader X is available for free from the Mac App Store. It is also available on github. It's worth a download if you routinely open multiple PDFs as the tabbed interface will make switching between them a breeze.
Adobe Reader 11 for iOS adds PDF conversion, but it'll cost you
When we're not wandering through an eerie wilderness or virtually feng shuing our pads, life occasionally calls for us to be productive on our mobile devices. To ensure we are, Adobe has updated its Reader app for iOS with all kinds of new PDF conversion features. The addition of CreatePDF means you can now turn images, various MS Office files and other formats into PDFs from within the app. ExportPDF, as the names suggests, is another new service that does the reverse, allowing you to create Office or RTF docs from PDFs. These features come at price, though, as they're activated through in-app purchases -- ExportPDF costs $19.99 / £13.99 per year and a CreatePDF subscription (which includes ExportPDF) goes for $89.99 / £59.99. Any chance we can pay you in hugs, Adobe?
Adobe Reader now available for Windows Phone 8, no longer limited to 7.5
Something as simple as a PDF-friendly application can make things so much better for any mobile user -- and who other than the file pioneer to be the provider of such element. While Adobe Reader was already available for folks on Mango, the app is now expanding its horizons and reaching a more recent version of Microsoft's OS, Windows Phone 8. As far as features go, Adobe's app is the very same one that's been present on WP 7.5 for some time, but with the exception that it's now bringing its PDF opening / viewing traits to a broader audience. The Windows Phone 8-ready app is up for grabs now, so hit the source link below if you'd like to get the download process initiated.
Skitch 2.5 for Mac and iOS lets you mark up PDFs with notes and stamps
Evernote released a substantial Skitch 2.5 update for both OS X and iOS today, which makes the four-month wait since the last Mac update seem worthwhile. The new features are primarily geared toward adding feedback and notes to PDFs, and Evernote Premium members get two of the best ones: PDF Annotation and Skitch Summary. As the name suggests, the former lets you mark up PDFs with text, arrows, shapes and highlighter tools, while the latter collates all the added notes into a single "summary" so users can get a visual overview of what's changed. %Gallery-186024% Other non-premium updates include a new Stamps tool that'll let you mark a document with symbols to indicate approval, disapproval, a question mark, an exclamation point and (of course) a heart. You can also add notes to those symbols to flesh your opinion out a little more. What about filling out those pesky PDF forms? Skitch is bundling a plain text notation mode just for that, too. Last but not least, there's a handy Tool Tip to guide users through all the new features. Those on the Apple side of things can download the new Skitch straightaway, but as there's no word on when Windows and Android users will get the update, they'll have to content themselves with staring at the screenshots above and below for now.%Gallery-186025%
Documents by Readdle comes to the iPhone
Readdle is rolling out another version of its Documents app today. This latest version brings the popular document management app to the iPhone, expanding it beyond its iPad roots. Just like its iPad predecessor, the Documents version for the iPhone is a fast document viewer that includes both a media player and file manager. The now universal app will let users store and view all the common file formats including PDF files, Office documents and photos. There's an online component that'll let you sync with common cloud services like Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, any WebDAV and iCloud. You can also browse and download files from the Web via built-in browser. Documents by Readdle is available for free from the iOS App Store.
PDF Converter Pro for Mac: A versatile tool for PDF files
PDF Converter Pro (US$34.99, currently on sale in the Mac App Store) is a powerful multifunction tool for converting and tweaking PDF files. The app has a wide variety of conversion options and is able to output to Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, EPUB, HTML, text (plain and RTF), .jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp and .tif file formats. A lot of PDF Converter Pro's power comes from its built-in OCR capabilities, which turn a scanned PDF file into an editable document. The app also notifies you that the PDF you are working with started as a scan that was run through the optical character recognition engine. PDF Converter Pro can do batch conversions of up to 50 documents. How did PDF Converter Pro stand up to a test? Very well. I gave the app some complicated PDF files made up of technical manuals loaded with diagrams. PDF Converter Pro created an editable Word file that had all the graphics in the right place. It was impressive, though the OCR mode was not perfect. There were a few misspellings in areas with very small print and some line drawings got garbled, but overall the accuracy of the app was good. Another bonus of PDF Converter Pro is that conversions are fast. A 42-page manual took less than a minute to convert. PDF Converter Pro is a great app if you find yourself with lots of PDF files you want to edit. I'd like to see it add more Mac-oriented conversion options, like Pages, Numbers and Keynote, but those applications can open many of the document file types the app produces. I saw some negative comments online about the OCR accuracy but I personally found it to be quite good despite those user complaints. How well PDF Converter Pro manages scanning depends on the quality of the original text. %Gallery-185141% The app description indicates that you can convert regular files to PDF. I can't find any place to do that in the app, and OS X handles that conversion anyway for most documents through the Print to PDF capability. PDF Converter Pro is usually prices at $79.99, so the sale is a good deal even if the sale price is still expensive for a casual user. The app requires OS X 10.6 or greater and works fine on Mountain Lion.
PDFpen 6 released with special limited time pricing
Smile Software has released PDFpen and PDFpen Pro version 6.0 for the Mac. The popular app lets you edit PDF documents by adding signatures, correcting text, ticking boxes and a lot more. It's a powerful piece of software. The new version adds the following goodies, among others: Microsoft Word export New editing bar and enhanced design for better ease-of-use Support for Auto Save and Versions Optimized for Retina displays Drag and drop to reorder Library items To celebrate the release of PDFpen 6 and PDFpen Pro 6, Smile Software has released the apps at a special discounted price for the first 48 hours of availability. The company also wants to address those who've bought previous versions from the Mac App Store, as the store doesn't allow upgrade pricing. Smile explains the situation on its blog: It has always been our policy to offer current users an upgrade path when a new version is released. Because PDFpen is available in both the Smile Store and the Mac App Store, upgrades are more complicated. There is no mechanism for offering upgrades in the Mac App Store. To accommodate customers who wish to purchase Mac App Store versions, special pricing will be offered for the first 48 hours. PDFpen will be $29.99 and PDFpenPro will be $39.99 for this very limited time. The special pricing expires on March 20 at midnight PDT. Got it? Just to be clear, here's the arrangement in a nutshell Upgrade Pricing - Mac App Store (First 48 hours only. All prices are USD.) PDFpen 6 is selling for $29.99 PDFpen Pro 6 is $39.99 during the initial sale. This version includes iCloud support. Here's the deal on upgrade pricing when buying directly from Smile: PDFpen 6 is $30. PDFpen Pro 6 is $30. PDFpen to PDFpen Pro 6 is $40. Note that this version -- purchased directly from Smile -- does not include iCloud support. Why? Because Apple restricts iCloud access to apps purchased on the Mac App Store / iOS store.
Firefox 19 now official with a built-in PDF viewer, themes on Android
Web denizens who regularly run Chrome or Safari are used to seeing PDFs in-browser, but their Firefox-using counterparts have had to settle for either a download or a third-party plugin. With the just-launched Firefox 19, they're on an even playing field: Mozilla's browser now has a built-in PDF viewer to save the hassle. Other updates on the desktop involve more incremental CSS and startup speed tweaks, although Android users do receive theme support, Chinese localizations and lowered minimum hardware requirements. Both Firefox versions and their release notes await at the download links.
Mac 101: Use Automator to extract text from PDFs
More Mac 101, tips and tricks for novice (and expert) Mac users. Have you every tried to copy and paste text from a PDF into a word processor document like Pages or Microsoft Word? Most of the time the text loses all its formatting from the PDF, which can be a real pain. Too often I've spent a frustrating amount of time putting text back into a coherent order after copying it from a PDF, while wondering why there isn't a simpler way of doing this on my Mac. Thankfully, a friend (who discovered how to from MacWorld) showed me, using Automator. And provided the text in the PDF is formatted correctly (and you're not trying to extract text that is actually an image), it's foolproof as well as free! Here's how. On your Mac, open Automator from Applications. Automator will ask you to select a type for your document. Select Workflow, then hit return. In the far-left column of Automator, click on Files and Folders. In the second column, select Ask for Finder Items and drag and drop it into the far-right space which reads "Drag actions or files here to build your workflow." This becomes your first action. Now click on PDFs in the far-left column and select Extract PDF Text from the second column. Drag and drop Extract PDF Text into the space to the right, where you dragged Find Files and Folders. You'll now see that Automator has created a workflow or one action following another. You're almost there. In the Extract PDF Text bubble of the workflow, select Rich Text instead of Plain Text (next to Output -- this will retain formatting like italics and bold) and choose where you want Automator to place your extracted text files from Save Output To. To finish, simply title and save, but make sure you've save as an application and not a workflow. Now open your new Automator application and select the PDF you want to grab the text from. A new Rich Text document will be created. From there, simply open this document and copy and paste the text into your preferred word processor.
Documents by Readdle: Free and easy content management for iPad
Readdle is a development firm that has made a name for itself with apps like Scanner Pro (US$6.99) and PDF Expert ($9.99) that make creation and markup of documents a snap. Now the company has released Documents by Readdle (free), a significant update to the earlier ReaddleDocs app that is essentially a completely new app. The iPad app is, according to the company, about 80 percent new code. The company launched the app as an update to ReaddleDocs, as that app currently has over 230,000 existing users and this will make their transition to the new app as painless as possible. Several of us at TUAW had an opportunity to beta test Documents by Readdle, and it is a polished and speedy app. Documents combines a fast document viewer with a media player and file manager. There's a built-in browser, so you can view web pages or other online documents within the app, then save them in folders on the device or in the cloud. %Gallery-176531% Once saved, you can call up the documents at any time, annotate them and share them easily. But Documents by Readdle not only handles PDFs and Office documents, it also lets you look at and store images, play music or watch videos. Documents by Readdle syncs with Dropbox, Box and iCloud, but works with many other cloud storage solutions. In fact, it's hard to find a service that doesn't work with Documents: I tested it with a WebDAV server on a web host, Google Drive and FTP and SFTP servers with no problems, and it also works with CloudMe, Storegate, Filesanywhere, MyDisk.se, SkyDrive, Office 365 Sharepoint and SugarSync. Since Documents by Readdle is free, I don't think it's going to be a "hard sell." Go out and download it to give it a try. If you're not sure that you'll need the app, download it anyway; you'll be amazed at how quickly you start moving documents into this well-implemented app.
Bookeen Cybook Odyssey HD FrontLight joins the lit e-reader fray
Offering a front-lit e-reader isn't reserved just for the heaviest hitters. Bookeen is leaping into that still-exclusive club with the Cybook Odyssey HD FrontLight. Its lengthily-named upgrade to the original Odyssey focuses on the read-anywhere light, and a lightweight body, as its standout aspects -- at just under 6.4 ounces, it's more featherlike than Amazon and Barnes & Noble counterparts with similarly legible screens. Claims of display superiority are a bit suspicious when Bookeen touts the same 62 percent jump in resolution that we saw in the Kindle Paperwhite, but we'll appreciate the extra crispness alongside a tweaked interface and a new PDF reflow option. Readers who balk at going with the dominant device makers can pick up the Cybook HD FrontLight in November, when we'll also learn whether or not Bookeen can offer a challenge on price.
Gmail now searches attachment text, homework hoarders rejoice!
As Google continues to improve other areas of its broad ecosystem, it's always great to see that the company hasn't abandoned its search simplification roots. A spokesperson for the company told us, "we recently added the ability to search within Gmail attachments as part of our ongoing efforts to improve search." This potential time-saver plays nice with Word docs, PDFs, PPTs and many other file extensions. Currently in its infancy, some of your older attachments may not have been indexed yet, so you might not be able to "share" last year's term paper with your younger sibling until Google brings the feature up to speed. However, if you're just looking to locate that recently received Word doc filled with notes from your study buddy, then have at it.
Adobe announces Acrobat XI with tablet-friendly touchability, cloud services
Adobe has just updated its Acrobat lineup, including Pro, Standard and Reader to version 11 -- and thrown in two new programs, FormsCentral and EchoSign, to boot. The latter two are cloud-enabled services which permit "web contracting, forms creation, data collection and analysis" according to Adobe, which didn't yet specify exactly how that works. The company has also added improved tablet capability, and portable versions of Adobe Reader will now let you sign and save forms, as well as annotate and add comments. You'll also be able to modify paragraphs, images and objects by dragging them around; save PDFs as PowerPoint, Word or Excel files; and add extra security measures to documents. The upgrades will ship within 30 days and cost $449 and $299 for the Pro and Standard versions, respectively -- so if you've no time for frivolity on that new slate, check the PR for more info.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Where did Preview's link annotation go?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I recently upgraded Lion to Mountain Lion. Such a beautiful and fluid OS. For a particular assignment, I wanted to convert a document into a PDF which Apple's Preview does it effectively. The problem arose when I wanted to annotate a hyperlink in the PDF. In Lion, I could do this simply by clicking Tools and then Annotate-Add a link. Apparently Mountain Lion has removed this important function! Its like taking 3 steps forwards and 2 steps backwards. Do you know of any other cost effective/free ways of incorporating hyperlinks within the PDFs. Adobe Acrobat is expensive!! Aunt, please help!! Your loving nephew, Zav Dear Zav, Auntie has some rather sad news for you. Although Preview apps stun easily, it appears that their URL annotation feature is not dazed but rather definitely deceased. Its total lack of presence is not due to being tired or shagged out following a prolonged Mountain Lion catnap. It's not coming back to life, no matter how much you or how hard you HIT THE SCREEN. It may be a remarkable app, with remarkable features, but Auntie knows a dead feature when she sees one. It is an EX-FEATURE. Oh what the flaming goose wattles. Auntie suggests you run, not walk, to Apple's OS X Feedback page and give Apple a bit of what you're thinking. Auntie uses Acrobat herself -- not the solution cost effective/free solution you're looking for. If you have the money, PDFPen on the Mac App Store costs US$30, or US$60 direct from the vendor's site. Buying from the vendor adds a 90-day money back guarantee. (A pro version of the app is $50/$100) The developer shot Auntie over a promo code so she could give PDFPenPro a go. It did allow her to add linkies to a PDF in a workmanlike manner. Auntie is sure the app is full of many worthy features beyond this, even if she found the URL option a little hard-to-locate (tap-and-hold the second button in The tools group), that it didn't quite operate as expected (it adds a URL field, regardless of what text has been highlighted, and not centered around that highlighted material), and that the icon is pretty ugly. If you need the feature, well, there it is, and you'll only be out thirty bucks. Hugs, Auntie T. P.S. - Got another app replacement suggestion for Zav? Leave it in the comments!
TUAW Origin Stories: Model Release
There are a few "model release" apps on the market. These apps have boilerplate contracts which allow a model in a photo or video to virtually sign those contracts. Model Release was created by a fashion photographer to meet his needs, however, and as such I think it's one of the best of its kind out there. After all, who understands the needs of a photographer better than a photographer? Add in a solid feature set (like iCloud) and lovely design and Model Release quickly moves to the top of the must-have list for working photographers. In this episode of Origin Stories we look at how Model Release came to be. You can get the app for iPad or iPhone here.
Qualcomm building babel-fish chip to support multiple LTE bands
Qualcomm has revealed that it's developing a new mobile radio that'll operate across multiple LTE bands. While dreams of a cross-network standard were burned to the ground last July, the chip company revealed that the MSM-8960 will connect to three frequencies below 1GHz and four above. Qualcomm has said that the hardware will make its way into handsets by the end of the year at the same time it voiced opposition to the FCC's plan to standardize the lower 700MHz band -- something the smaller networks feel is necessary to prevent them being squeezed out by the big three.
HyperPDF for OS X offers page-turning reader for PDF books
Why should iBooks have all the fun? The US$9.99 HyperPDF app for OS X from developer NeoMobili lets you turn PDF pages nearly as beautifully. Use swipe gestures to move through pages in the app's easily accessible "reader mode." That's not all you can do with HyperPDF. The app offers many of the same annotation features as Preview as well as a presentation mode (although you cannot as-of-yet combine PDFs or move around pages). In presentations, you can transform your PDFs into slides, using numerous built-in transitions to move from one screen to the next. I gave the features a once-over and they all seemed to work as advertised. It's the reader mode here, however, that's the visual stand-out. The page turns offer a really nice way to browse books on your Mac. I was less impressed by the tedium involved in the presentation mode. Perhaps I missed the point, but adding separate transitions for each page left me cold. Instead, I'd really like to see the app grow and focus more on the reader component. It needs to offer more built-in options as part of the reading presentation, rather than separating out the annotation aspect. For example, I'd love to be able to add bookmarks, highlights, and other annotations from within the reader. Also, I wish search were integrated directly, as that's a big part of how I work with books on my Mac. And, unfortunately, you cannot highlight or copy text from that view. Put these together into a coherent single UI, and NeoMobili might have a winner on its hands. HyperPDF shows great promise but as it stands, it lacks a little maturity that end-users might expect from a $10 App Store app, especially when compared to iBooks on iOS. I like the reading presentation a lot but I was left wishing for more. The app developer tells me that he plans to port the app to iOS and to offer shared iCloud syncing between platforms. Other things on his to-do list include: "a find feature, outline and link support in reading mode, bookmarks support (with iCloud synch), zoom in reading mode, and notes in reading mode." Thanks, Chris Roy
Ultima Online publishes comprehensive player guide
Older MMOs can often present a substantial barrier to entry with their complexity, foreign gameplay mechanics, and cumbersome UIs. However, the team at Ultima Online is looking to knock down the largest obstacle of all, lack of comprehensive information, with its brand-new play guide. The 19-section, 102-page guide is dedicated to walking new players through the first few days of the game as well as providing detailed resources for experienced players curious about a point or two. Topics covered include getting started, travel, pets, guilds, housing, and game terminology. The guide is available in three parts as a downloadable pdf document on the UO Herald website.
