Pretty Damn Frustrating

July 19, 2009 8:37 AM

I need some tips on using PDF's in learning setting. I have just started an online certificate program, part of which involves reading long PDF research documents on the computer. This involves an infinite amount of scrolling. It seems deadly to me. I can't highlight or underline the text nor retrieve the parts i want easily. I don't want to have to cut and paste to a new doc. file nor waste paper with hard copies. Help me be an online PDF wiz
posted by Xurando to technology (17 comments total)

google docs? correct me if am wrong but i think you can
highlight and comment PDFs using google docs
posted by liza at 8:51 AM on July 19

Look into some PDF editing software that will allow you to add text where you want it. One example is PDFPen for the Mac (which is free if you don't mind the logo stamp on your documents; the paid version doesn't stamp the logo).

Scrolling down is less tedious if you use the "page down" button or an equivalent.
posted by Ery at 8:53 AM on July 19 [1 favorite]

Acrobat Standard has highlighting and other document manipulation features.

If you're dealing with protected PDFs, Elcomsoft Advanced PDF Password Recovery can usually un-protect them.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:27 AM on July 19

You can get a free trial version of Adobe Acrobat that should come with a highlight and note taking tool, which even works on locked PDFs.

I'm sure there are freeware tools out there that will let you take notes on PDFs.
posted by delmoi at 10:04 AM on July 19

I use bluebeam. It's pricey but not too bad if you can get the education discount. Also I think the trial is 30 days free first.
posted by nat at 10:14 AM on July 19

Foxit Reader will also let you comment, hightlight and all that.
posted by jadepearl at 10:51 AM on July 19

On windows try Foxit reader. Basic version is free and it does all sort of wonderful stuff.
posted by Ookseer at 10:53 AM on July 19

Liza is right about Google Docs: it accepts PDF Files (up to 10MB from your computer, 2MB from the web) 100 files, and you get to use tags.
posted by idb at 11:03 AM on July 19

If you use a Mac (or iPhone), Papers is really nice both for organizing and notating.
posted by hydropsyche at 11:23 AM on July 19

Another vote for Foxit - it takes a tenth of the time to open documents compared to Adobe Acrobat.
posted by ceri richard at 11:35 AM on July 19

Nobody has mentioned your monitor yet. You can get one that's 20+ inches for under $150. It's the best academic expense that I have made since beginning grad school because it replicates the old-timey experience of reading two pages photocopied onto a single sheet of paper bound in a reader, but big enough that you can read it without straining your eyes.
posted by billtron at 1:59 PM on July 19

You didn't mention whether you're on a Mac or PC, but on a Mac, I like Skim and when working in browser, I use Zotero. Both are free.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 4:00 AM on July 20

Also, an online method of cracking pdfs. And a shoutout to Mendeley as a new academic oriented pdf/citation organizer.

(zotero is awesome for citation management but is clunky for keeping track of files you already have on your computer).
posted by stratastar at 5:53 AM on July 20

Also, if the pdf files you're getting are scans, you may want to spring for a full version of acrobat (academic version maybe?) so you can OCR and highlight...

OTOH, Mendeley does allows annotation and highlighting, and its highlighting is based entirely within the program (for better or worse, for now), whereas acrobat or foxit, the highlights are saved within the document (thus requiring the document to be cracked for editing).

Mendeley is very new but is supposed to have OCR coming; so you can save your money as well....
posted by stratastar at 5:57 AM on July 20

A triple re-post, man...

An trick in acrobat that may be more relevent for answering your specific question. If you do have the full version of acrobat (not sure about reader....), you can set it so that whatever text you highlight is automatically placed in a "annotation" along with the highlighting.

From there its relatively trivial to export all the annotations you've made in the document, grabbing all the quotes that you want.
posted by stratastar at 6:11 AM on July 20

A triple re-post, man...

Here's a trick in acrobat that may be more relevent for answering your specific question. If you do have the full version of acrobat (not sure about reader....), you can set it so that whatever text you highlight is automatically placed in a "annotation" along with the highlighting.

From there its relatively trivial to export all the annotations you've made in the document, grabbing all the quotes that you want.
posted by stratastar at 6:11 AM on July 20

Also check PDF XChange Viewer -- I prefer it to Foxit.
posted by rumbles at 6:59 AM on September 24