PDF Tools on an iPad for Scholars

As iPads grow in popularity their multi use nature becomes more obvious.  This can range from designing high end graphics, exploring the solar system, assembling chemical structures to playing Sudoku.  One of the major uses for an iPad for scholars is as an eReader.  Unlike the Kindle or the Nook the iPad was not designed primarily to be an eReader.  This causes confusion for people that are used to being able to easily interact with PDF’s on devices like the Kindle or Nook.

To interact with PDF’s on an iPad you have to use an app.  The apps for reading items on an iPad range from the most basic to pretty advance.  None of the apps are so expensive to break the bank but you might want to consider your needs before deciding to buy an app to read PDFs.

iAnnotate PDF

This is a very powerful app that allows the user to do everything to a PDF as if it was printed out and more.

These features include being able to mark the text with highlighter, underline or just free hand, although if you plan to go free hand it is much easier to use a stylus than fingers.  Another great feature allows you to sync iAnnotate with the original documents on your computer and it updates them with your notes and underlining,  allowing you to share those enhancements to the PDF with others.  It is also possible to share and access PDF’s directly from DropBox, another great feature.  IAnnotate will also pull PDF’s from your email directly.

There are some downsides though.  There are so many features it may take some time to learn.  Also the uploading and syncing process can be a bit frustrating and takes some time to get used to.  At the same time if you plan to use PDFs heavily and want the ability to take notes on them then the $9.99 price tag is completely worth it.

PDF Expert

PDF Expert is the most advanced and versatile PDF interaction software for the iPad. Made by Readable, it has almost all the same features as iAnnotate with a few perks.  The major advantages for PDF Expert are first that you can sync entire folders with DropBox, while with iAnnotate it is one file at a time.  Second, the interface for PDF Expert is cleaner and more intuitive then iAnnotate.  Third, PDF Expert does allow you to read other formats types including docs and txt.  The downside is PDF Expert will only allow you to modify PDFs, not other file types.  The last advantage is the app has a recent tab that allows you to quickly view your recently read PDFs.

There are a few downsides to PDF expert.  First you cannot move notes, and often the notes end up in the wrong place.  Second, it is less flexible then iAnnotate.  Third, quick uploading is dependent on using a cloud system like DropBox or iDisk.  A document upload  from your computer can be a bit cumbersome then because it has to be done one at a time.

ReadableDocs

ReadableDocs is the less expensive version of PDF Expert, and while it does not mean lower quality necessarily, there are fewer features and a slightly different mission then PDF Expert.  The main purpose of ReadableDocs is to let you read, organize and share different doc types.  This allows viewing image, PowerPoint, video and web archive formats from one app.  Although it lets you share and move documents around cloud sharing environments it doesn’t let you change them.  That means if you want to work on GoogleDocs this app will not let you.

The big advantage of this app is that it is half the price of iAnnotate and PDF Expert.  It also allows you to view PowerPoint files as if the PowerPoint had been exported as a PDF, on your iPad.  At the same time it does not have the same features as the more expensive apps.

GoodReader

GoodReader is considered by many to be the best bang for your dollar PDF app on the iPad.  It is not as powerful as iAnnotate or PDF expert however it has about 90% most useful features that powerful ones have, such as the ability to take signatures, create secure files, interact with cloud computing and file conversion.  Yale and the University of Chicago Medical schools both require GoodReader as the PDF app for students to use with their iPads.

The major advantage of GoodReader is that it has its own editing tool to crop pages.  PDF’s, especially ones from old books, can have giant margins not needed in the digital world.  Sometimes these margins are just black area left over from the scanning.  With the crop tool one can cut out the area not needed and just work with the text.  Another advantage is that read files are marked in a different color than files that have not yet been read, making it easy to see what still needs to be read.

One of the major downsides is that unless a file is pulled directly from a computer or the web GoodReader will not interact with it.  So if you have a file sitting in iBook and you want to read it with GoodReader you will need to find the file on your computer and upload it directly to GoodReader.  Another downside is the steep learning curve because of all the features.

PDF HD

PDF HD is the low end PDF reader by Readable.  It allows the user to read large PDFs, flip pages and highlight text. If you need to take notes or want to connect to cloud computing you will need to use a more higher end software and then it is worth the upgrade for two dollars to GoodReader.

iBooks

There are two major draws for iBooks.  First it is free.  Second, it is preloaded on the iPad. You cannot highlight passages or take notes.  If all you intend to do on your iPad is pleasure reading, then this is fine for you.

Conclusion

Remember there are many more PDF apps on iTunes then listed here.  Many of them are free and allow basic interaction.  In general the more expensive the app the more it will allow you to manipulate and share the PDF.  If you require a basic app that will allows users to highlight and take notes GoodReader is a solid option.  For someone that needs something more advanced, iAnnotate or PDF Expert may be the way to go. 

Lastly these apps are constantly updated and changing.  I have used iAnnotate for over a year now and the software is very different then it was when I first used it.   A year ago GoodReader did not let you take notes or highlight in different colors and now it does.  When the update patch comes along it always a good idea to read what new features are available.