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Foxit posts

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Foxit 2.3: Would you like tabs with that PDF reader?

Windowsby Brad Linder Apr 25th 2008

Foxit 2.3
Foxit Reader 2.3 has just been released, and not only is it quicker and lighter on system resources than Adobe Reader, but the latest version adds a ton of useful features like tabbed viewing. For some reason tabs took the web browser world by storm a few years ago, but failed to catch on in other applications. But if you spend a lot of time reading PDF files, we don't have to tell you how much less clutter you have on your desktop when you open your documents in tabs instead of separate program windows.

In addition to tabbed viewing, Foxit 2.3 adds:
  • Bookmarks
  • Multimedia playback in PDF files
  • Text tool for adding comments to documents
  • Rulers for aligning documents properly
  • Magnifier for zooming in portions of a document
  • Automatic scrolling
  • Improved ability to print just a selected area of a document
[via CyberNet]

Tags: foxit, pdf, tabs

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

PDF-XChange: Another light weight Adobe Reader alternative

Windowsby Brad Linder Dec 28th 2007

PDF-XChange
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

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Filed under: Utilities, Freeware

Foxit Reader 2.2 released: Now with improved text select

by Brad Linder Oct 1st 2007

Foxit 2.2Adobe may have innovated the PDF file format, but Foxit Reader is our favorite application for reading PDFs. That's because it's light-weight and blazing fast. You can open and close Foxit 2 or 3 times in the amount of time it takes Adobe Reader to load.

But while Foxit is light in terms of resources, it's also been a bit feature-light when it comes to things like copying text. Foxit 2.2 has an improved text copy feature, and a few other updates that make the program a full-fledged rival to Adobe Reader.
  • Search for text either in a single PDF file or in multiple PDF files.
  • Minimize to system tray
  • View the actual size of PDF pages
  • Better command line support
  • Bug fixes
The basic version of Foxit Reader is free. If you want to edit or annotate documents, you'll have to update to the Foxit Reader Pro pack.
[via CyberNet]

Tags: foxit, foxit-reader, pdf

Filed under: Productivity, Adobe, Freeware

Make Adobe Reader almost as fast as Foxit

by Brad Linder Aug 21st 2007

Adobe ReaderIt's no secret that while Adobe created the PDF format, Adobe Reader isn't exactly what you'd call an efficient tool for reading PDF files. In the past our solution has been to install the lightweight and free Foxit Reader.

But there might be another solution out there. Prevent all those plugins that load up with Adobe Reader from running.

Adobe Reader Speedup is a little application that lets you selectively uninstall some of those plugins. If you know what you're doing, you can select the plugins to enable. If you're a little less technically inclined, you can choose from one of four presets. Each one will do a pretty good job of speeding up Adobe Reader's load times.

If you accidentally disable a service that you need, you can just run Adobe Reader Speedup again and restore the default settings. You uninstall the application by deleting its folder. If you're running Windows Vista, you'll need to right click on the .exe file and select "run as administrator," or Adobe Reader Speedup won't be able to make any changes.

[via gHacks]

Tags: adobe reader, AdobeReader, foxit, pdf, speedup

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Sumatra PDF viewer: free, fast, tiny, and open source

Windowsby Brad Linder Aug 8th 2007

Sumatra PDF
While Adobe may have invented the PDF format, it's no secret that Adobe Reader is a bloated program that runs slowly on most computers. We're big fans of Foxit as a lightweight alternative that opens PDF files in a flash. But the How-To Geek just turned us on to Sumatra PDF viewer, an even smaller free and open source PDF viewer.

Sumatra is a single 802KB executable file for Windows. No installation required. That means you can run Sumatra off of a flash drive. You can also set it as your default PDF viewer.

The program opens most of your common PDF files faster than you can say Adobe. It also uses keyboard shortcuts for quick navigation. And it's still under development. The most recent update came out about two weeks ago with a few new features like "save as," and the ability to display recently opened files.

Tags: adobe reader, AdobeReader, foxit, pdf, sumatra pdf viewer, SumatraPdfViewer

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

How to print just about anything to PDF for free

Windowsby Brad Linder Mar 6th 2007

doPDF
One of our favorite programs here at Download Squad HQ is Foxit Reader. It's basically a replacement for Adobe Acrobat. Foxit reads PDF files, and that's about it. But boy does it do it well.

Adobe Reader can take 30 seconds or longer to load, and tends to bog down Firefox or Internet Explorer when you want to open a PDF from a web page. Foxit loads in a snap and can handle almost anything Adobe Reader can. But the free version of Foxit won't let you create PDF files.

That's where doPDF steps in. It's one of a number of programs that installs a virtual printer on your machine. Now when you go to print a web page, word document, photo or pretty much anything else, you can save it as a PDF file. You can set the resolution to anything from 72 dpi to 2400 dpi, and the "printed" files are text searchable.

Sure, doPDF's not the only program that performs this function, but much like Foxit, it's free and it just works. Really well.

[via Digital Inspiration]

Tags: acrobate, adobe, dopdf, foxit, pdf

Filed under: Business, Text, Utilities, Windows, Linux

Foxit Reader 2.0 released!

WindowsLinuxby Ryan Carter Sep 13th 2006

Foxit ReaderYesterday I started waiting for an Adobe Acrobat PDF file to open. I am still waiting for the thing to open. Alright, you got me, I actually end-tasked it, 86'd it, killed the process, you get the idea. I don't have the time or patience to put up with that. Adobe Acrobat Reader has some issues, like loading a file quickly, not crashing the browser, things like that. Foxit Reader puts Adobe Acrobat Reader in its place, that's right the gar-bage. We told first you about Foxit back in 2005, but the new version was just released, now Foxit 2.0. Foxit Software's website also got a complete make-over as well. Foxit Reader is free for download, and did I mention I am un-installing Adobe's Reader right now? Ahhh, that feel better. Foxit rocks it!

[Thanks, Spluch!]

Tags: ACrobat, Adobe, Foxit, PDF, reader

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