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I have been using SumatraPDF on Windows for a long time. After opening a PDF file with it for the first time, I never went back to Adobe Reader. SumatraPDF is m

I have been using SumatraPDF on Windows for a long time. After opening a PDF file with it for the first time, I never went back to Adobe Reader. SumatraPDF is much faster, cleaner and less memory hungry.

tolai 5y ago
Same experience. Great piece of software, been using it for a long time as well. THANK YOU SO MUCH !
- ncpa-cpl 5y ago
  Same experience here too! It's one of the first apps that I install on every new system.
Leparamour 5y ago
Same experience here. It's one the first programs I install on every new system and have recommended it to friends for years. If any of the programmers involved read here: Thank you very much for all the hard work. It was worth it.
- criddell 5y ago
  I use the PDF viewer built into Firefox and Edge. Am I missing out on something?
  - parsecs 5y ago
    It's very noticeably slower and computationally intensive compared to Sumatra (or Okular) with larger files like 1000-page long reference manuals as well as massive textbooks, both of which I frequently use. On web browsers, it generally takes a whole few seconds to load if you scroll quickly past a few pages. I guess if you don't need to jump around in big pdfs, Firefox viewer is perfectly fine.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
b3lvedere 5y ago
Totally agree. SumatraPDF is an awesome reader. Been using it for many years.
robtherobber 5y ago
My comment is bound to be redundant in this thread, but so have I. SumatraPDF is an excellent piece of software that has made life for countless people easier and without them having to pay anything in exchange. It's as simple as it gets (with a UI), it's fast, robust and reliable. I wish governments would set aside some generous budgets for this type of projects that are consistently useful and reliable, like they do for arts and education (well, some governments).
krylon 5y ago
I agree 100%, it is awesome. Also, it remembers the position in a file.
michaelcampbell 5y ago
Other readers likely have this feature, but one I love is that you can re-generate the PDF out from under it and it reloads the new content. As someone writing in LaTeX on emacs and constantly re-generating the PDF, this is very helpful.
- grungegun 5y ago
  Plus, when you double click a spot in a pdf you generated with latex, Sumatra opens up your default .txt application with the line highlighted.
- evanbubniak 5y ago
  Yes! I often write LaTeX in vim under WSL with this setup and it works pleasantly. VimTeX re-compiles whenever I save the document, launches SumatraPDF on the first compilation, and SumatraPDF hot-reloads it without any extra effort on my part. I'm pleased to see a native Windows program and VimTeX under WSL interoperate so well.
Markoff 5y ago
tried it for some time, but quickly moved away since it had problems with rendering, comments and I need to highlight and annotate PDFs, also ocasionally I sign there documents with my transparent GIF signature, I don't think sumatra can do any of these but I am adobe hater, didn't use their software for decades, now I am using for years Foxit reader
- marktangotango 5y ago
  > comments and I need to highlight and annotate PDFs, also ocasionally I sign there documents with my transparent GIF signature, I don't think sumatra can do any of these Indeed, it's a "viewer" not an "editor" :)

tolai 5y ago

Same experience. Great piece of software, been using it for a long time as well. THANK YOU SO MUCH !

ncpa-cpl 5y ago
Same experience here too! It's one of the first apps that I install on every new system.

Leparamour 5y ago

Same experience here. It's one the first programs I install on every new system and have recommended it to friends for years. If any of the programmers involved read here: Thank you very much for all the hard work. It was worth it.

criddell 5y ago
I use the PDF viewer built into Firefox and Edge. Am I missing out on something?
- parsecs 5y ago
  It's very noticeably slower and computationally intensive compared to Sumatra (or Okular) with larger files like 1000-page long reference manuals as well as massive textbooks, both of which I frequently use. On web browsers, it generally takes a whole few seconds to load if you scroll quickly past a few pages. I guess if you don't need to jump around in big pdfs, Firefox viewer is perfectly fine.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

b3lvedere 5y ago

Totally agree. SumatraPDF is an awesome reader. Been using it for many years.

robtherobber 5y ago

My comment is bound to be redundant in this thread, but so have I. SumatraPDF is an excellent piece of software that has made life for countless people easier and without them having to pay anything in exchange. It's as simple as it gets (with a UI), it's fast, robust and reliable. I wish governments would set aside some generous budgets for this type of projects that are consistently useful and reliable, like they do for arts and education (well, some governments).

krylon 5y ago

I agree 100%, it is awesome. Also, it remembers the position in a file.

michaelcampbell 5y ago

Other readers likely have this feature, but one I love is that you can re-generate the PDF out from under it and it reloads the new content. As someone writing in LaTeX on emacs and constantly re-generating the PDF, this is very helpful.

grungegun 5y ago
Plus, when you double click a spot in a pdf you generated with latex, Sumatra opens up your default .txt application with the line highlighted.
evanbubniak 5y ago
Yes! I often write LaTeX in vim under WSL with this setup and it works pleasantly. VimTeX re-compiles whenever I save the document, launches SumatraPDF on the first compilation, and SumatraPDF hot-reloads it without any extra effort on my part. I'm pleased to see a native Windows program and VimTeX under WSL interoperate so well.

Markoff 5y ago

tried it for some time, but quickly moved away since it had problems with rendering, comments and I need to highlight and annotate PDFs, also ocasionally I sign there documents with my transparent GIF signature, I don't think sumatra can do any of these but I am adobe hater, didn't use their software for decades, now I am using for years Foxit reader

marktangotango 5y ago
> comments and I need to highlight and annotate PDFs, also ocasionally I sign there documents with my transparent GIF signature, I don't think sumatra can do any of these Indeed, it's a "viewer" not an "editor" :)