PDF-XChange: Another light weight Adobe Reader alternative

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

PDF-XChange: Another light weight Adobe Reader alternative

by Brad Linder Dec 28th 2007

We spend a lot of time reading PDF documents here at Download Squad HQ, so we're always on the lookout for full featured PDF viewers that don't take as long to load as Adobe Reader. We've looked at Foxit and Sumatra in the past, and we've been pretty happy. The other day when we wrote about another solution, Adobe Reader Lite, which strips some unnecessary plugins from Adobe Reader to improve performance for most users, Downlaod Squad reader Anand K Gupta turned us on to yet another excellent alternative.

PDF -XChange Viewer loads PDFs faster than Adobe Reader, which may be the only feature that matters to many users. But this free application also includes tools for editing, highlighting, or adding notes to PDF documents.

The application also has a useful snapshot tool for copying selected portions of a document to your clipboard, and a feature for attaching open documents to email messages. Considering PDF-XChange Viewer is just the free version in a set of commercial PDF creation tools from Tracker Software, it's amazing how many features this little application has. It might not be quite as fast or lightweight as Foxit or Sumatra, but comparing PDF-XChange Viewer to those applications is kind of like comparing a Swiss Army Knife to a spork.

Tags: adobe-reader, foxit, pdf, pdf-xchange, pdf-xchange-viewer, sumatra

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

iuqiddis said 10:09PM on 12-28-2007

I use this program, and it is really useful, especially for writing text in forms that one is supposed to print out and then fill out (like rebate forms, and such). It also loads faster than adobe's reader

mgthantzin said 12:02AM on 12-29-2007

But, the toolbar icons are too "Windows", I feel. Hope it's a good alternative though.

Gabriel said 9:34AM on 12-29-2007

Thank you very much - this program is brilliant. No slower than Foxit to load, but heaps more features and it does it all a bit neater (e.g. text selecting + highlighting).

Alex Leonard said 8:45AM on 12-30-2007

I've always liked sporks though. Incredibly useful ;)

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