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It’s incredible to me that not only has Preview.app been the best non-Adobe way to use PDF’s for decades now and only on macOS (perhaps because NextStep, its ro

It’s incredible to me that not only has Preview.app been the best non-Adobe way to use PDF’s for decades now and only on macOS (perhaps because NextStep, its roots, used PostScript natively?) but that Linux actually also seems to have better tooling in this space than Windows (where you’re pretty much stuck with Adobe Reader if you want a free solution)

wolverine876 3y ago
> Preview.app been the best non-Adobe way to use PDF’s for decades now Where is all this stuff coming from? Why would you say Preview is the best? Foxit? Nitro? Their are endless PDF applications much more powerful and capable, some designed for professionals.
- ornornor 3y ago
  For annotating and adding a hand drawn signature to PDFs, preview really is the best: lightweight, straightforward, free, comes with the OS. I don’t know any comparable app for Linux (or windows although I rarely use it)
  - nip 3y ago
    https://simplePDF.eu https://simplePDF.eu will be the closest « Preview-like » experience on Linux (and any OS really). It’s local only (the document you load and data you fill in never leave the browser) and free Disclosure: I’m the developer behind it
    - Alifatisk 3y ago
      Any plans on implementing redaction?
      - nip 3y ago
        If the background is white, it’s already possible: https://simplepdf.eu/help/faq/how-to-add-background https://simplepdf.eu/help/faq/how-to-add-background For other colors, it’s in the backlog! (I’d aiming to automatically provide the correct color by inspecting pixels within the area to redact, to make it as simple as possible)
        Alifatisk 3y ago
        Yeah but hiding the information versus removing it is two different things. By hiding it, the information is still there but hidden.
- fauigerzigerk 3y ago
  "Best" isn't necessarily the same as "has the most features". I think many people find that Preview.app does everything they ever wanted to do with PDFs. It really is surprisingly capable. It's also fast and far less convoluted than most PDF tools I have seen. And of course it comes free with every Mac, which often makes it "best" in terms of value for money. It doesn't help that many PDF editors (including the two you mentioned) are full of the most ridiculous pricing shenanigans.
  - wolverine876 3y ago
    > many PDF editors (including the two you mentioned) are full of the most ridiculous pricing shenanigans. What shenanigans? On one computer, we have a 15 year old version of Foxit running as good as new, no further licensing needed.
    - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
      Pages and pages of dark patterns with the sole purpose of misleading people into buying some "plan" that nobody could possibly want at prices more expensive than the entire Microsoft Office suite.
      - wolverine876 3y ago
        Could you name a service that does it and give an example? I see that much more with Adobe than with anyone, fwiw.
        fauigerzigerk 3y ago
        The Foxit PDF Editor product page is one example (not the worst by far). It suggests prominently that you have to buy an annual subscription ($109 to $159 p.a unless you can live with the cloud option for $59 p.a). Microsoft Office 365 Personal is $69.99 p.a including 1TB cloud storage. https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/ https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/ The one-time license option is hidden away in a product comparison table (and linked to in a few other far less visible places). Nitro, the other PDF editor you mentioned, appears to offer only a one-off purchase: https://www.gonitro.com/pricing https://www.gonitro.com/pricing But it says "for Windows" and at the top of the page, there's a promotion saying "Get up to 1 year subscription - free when you switch to Nitro". So there is a subscription after all? If you keep scrolling down to the FAQ and there's a question asking: "Is Nitro available as a subscription or a one-time purchase? Nitro Pro, ideal for individuals and small to medium sized teams, is available as an annual subscription." No mention of a one-time purchase option. So which is it? I'm confused. Is this "one-time purchase" a perpetual license or does it stop working after a year? These are certainly not the most egregious examples of pricing shenanigans. But given the recent history of companies going subscription-only, this is enough uncertainty for me not to buy.
wpm 3y ago
Isn't SumatraPDF a decent program for Windows? In regards to Preview, I still find it insane that it doesn't have an iOS/iPadOS equivalent. Bits of the functionality are scattered all over the place, usually in ways that don't feel as good as they do on the Mac. Sometimes I just want to open a PDF and leave it open, and not have to do it from Files which assumes I want to do something else with it than just looking.
- sphars 3y ago
  I personally use SumatraPDF on Windows, but it's basically just a fantastic PDF viewer. It does little else in regards to editing/modifying PDFs. Even the PDF viewer in Edge does more. But for a lightweight, bloat-free experience, SumatraPDF is the way to go.
kergonath 3y ago
> perhaps because NextStep, its roots, used PostScript natively? And OS X and its successors use Display PDF natively, which is why it is trivial to save almost anything that can be displayed into a PDF file. The PDF stack that Preview.app leverages is a foundation of the OS itself.
izacus 3y ago
What a bizarre comment - Preview.app isn't even the best PDF software on Apple platforms (it's more likely something like Readdle's PDF Expert).
- Alifatisk 3y ago
  There are of course better softwares than the Preview.app, but that's if you are willing to pay for it. Preview.app is free.

wolverine876 3y ago

> Preview.app been the best non-Adobe way to use PDF’s for decades now Where is all this stuff coming from? Why would you say Preview is the best? Foxit? Nitro? Their are endless PDF applications much more powerful and capable, some designed for professionals.

ornornor 3y ago
For annotating and adding a hand drawn signature to PDFs, preview really is the best: lightweight, straightforward, free, comes with the OS. I don’t know any comparable app for Linux (or windows although I rarely use it)
- nip 3y ago
  https://simplePDF.eu https://simplePDF.eu will be the closest « Preview-like » experience on Linux (and any OS really). It’s local only (the document you load and data you fill in never leave the browser) and free Disclosure: I’m the developer behind it
  - Alifatisk 3y ago
    Any plans on implementing redaction?
    - nip 3y ago
      If the background is white, it’s already possible: https://simplepdf.eu/help/faq/how-to-add-background https://simplepdf.eu/help/faq/how-to-add-background For other colors, it’s in the backlog! (I’d aiming to automatically provide the correct color by inspecting pixels within the area to redact, to make it as simple as possible)
      - Alifatisk 3y ago
        Yeah but hiding the information versus removing it is two different things. By hiding it, the information is still there but hidden.
fauigerzigerk 3y ago
"Best" isn't necessarily the same as "has the most features". I think many people find that Preview.app does everything they ever wanted to do with PDFs. It really is surprisingly capable. It's also fast and far less convoluted than most PDF tools I have seen. And of course it comes free with every Mac, which often makes it "best" in terms of value for money. It doesn't help that many PDF editors (including the two you mentioned) are full of the most ridiculous pricing shenanigans.
- wolverine876 3y ago
  > many PDF editors (including the two you mentioned) are full of the most ridiculous pricing shenanigans. What shenanigans? On one computer, we have a 15 year old version of Foxit running as good as new, no further licensing needed.
  - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
    Pages and pages of dark patterns with the sole purpose of misleading people into buying some "plan" that nobody could possibly want at prices more expensive than the entire Microsoft Office suite.
    - wolverine876 3y ago
      Could you name a service that does it and give an example? I see that much more with Adobe than with anyone, fwiw.
      - fauigerzigerk 3y ago
        The Foxit PDF Editor product page is one example (not the worst by far). It suggests prominently that you have to buy an annual subscription ($109 to $159 p.a unless you can live with the cloud option for $59 p.a). Microsoft Office 365 Personal is $69.99 p.a including 1TB cloud storage. https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/ https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/ The one-time license option is hidden away in a product comparison table (and linked to in a few other far less visible places). Nitro, the other PDF editor you mentioned, appears to offer only a one-off purchase: https://www.gonitro.com/pricing https://www.gonitro.com/pricing But it says "for Windows" and at the top of the page, there's a promotion saying "Get up to 1 year subscription - free when you switch to Nitro". So there is a subscription after all? If you keep scrolling down to the FAQ and there's a question asking: "Is Nitro available as a subscription or a one-time purchase? Nitro Pro, ideal for individuals and small to medium sized teams, is available as an annual subscription." No mention of a one-time purchase option. So which is it? I'm confused. Is this "one-time purchase" a perpetual license or does it stop working after a year? These are certainly not the most egregious examples of pricing shenanigans. But given the recent history of companies going subscription-only, this is enough uncertainty for me not to buy.

wpm 3y ago

Isn't SumatraPDF a decent program for Windows? In regards to Preview, I still find it insane that it doesn't have an iOS/iPadOS equivalent. Bits of the functionality are scattered all over the place, usually in ways that don't feel as good as they do on the Mac. Sometimes I just want to open a PDF and leave it open, and not have to do it from Files which assumes I want to do something else with it than just looking.

sphars 3y ago
I personally use SumatraPDF on Windows, but it's basically just a fantastic PDF viewer. It does little else in regards to editing/modifying PDFs. Even the PDF viewer in Edge does more. But for a lightweight, bloat-free experience, SumatraPDF is the way to go.

kergonath 3y ago

> perhaps because NextStep, its roots, used PostScript natively? And OS X and its successors use Display PDF natively, which is why it is trivial to save almost anything that can be displayed into a PDF file. The PDF stack that Preview.app leverages is a foundation of the OS itself.

izacus 3y ago

What a bizarre comment - Preview.app isn't even the best PDF software on Apple platforms (it's more likely something like Readdle's PDF Expert).

Alifatisk 3y ago
There are of course better softwares than the Preview.app, but that's if you are willing to pay for it. Preview.app is free.