PDF Expert 4 vs iAnnotate 2.1 vs Goodreader 3 – 2012 indepth review

I know it has been a long time coming, but here it is, a review on the most popular 3 PDF Editing programs for the iPad. I have been contemplating on how to compare the 3 apps for a few days now – how to set it out etc on wordpress, so this may be a bit messy if you are trying to read it; I will do my best to make it as legible and succinct as possible. The 3 apps being compared are all in their latest versions (PDF Expert just released version 4, iAnnotate released 2.1 a couple of weeks ago).

You can find them here:

PDF Expert 4 ($9.99 USD)

iAnnotate 2.1 ($9.99 USD)

GoodReader 3 ($4.99 USD)

NB: Price varies in different countries for the apps – I paid more in AUD for them.

The review is actually long and tedious – If you are after something quick, I suggest looking at the pictures and reading the conclusion down the bottom

Update: As requested, I have added examples of the export options of each app and what they look like on desktop. Currently using Adobe Acrobat Reader X

1. iAnnotate – Interface to move/rename/email files. You can drag & drop files to delete etc (as shown). Note: You can’t rename/move files that are synced to servers.

2. GoodReader – You can’t view/browse files whilst syncing is in progress. Backgound middle right in grey gives options to move/rename/email/zip files.

3. PDF Expert – Syncing (bottom left) & organising files in concert is possible. Its clean look with options to move/email/zip files are a lot easier on the eyes.

4. PDF Expert Thumb view & Drag n Drop are new in v4 (already available in iAnnotate, however) – but it makes organising/moving files easier.

5. iAnnotate – Syncing & executing other tasks is possible. Search is off to the side, but bulky highlighted term is a turn off. It also searches annotations.

6. PDF Expert – Search is similar to iAnnotate but is a popup menu, & annotated terms are also searched. The whole text edit option here is simple and neat.

7. Goodreader – a variety of text editing options to choose from. The preset font size is handy. Callout, fill, border & cloudy options are unique Goodreader.

8. Goodreader – Adding text is a major turn off! Text window takes up half the screen (usually the important half), and there is only 1 font!

9. iAnnotate – Font option overwhelms top right corner. Rotate & stamp features are unique. Note annotation (“eg counter offer is offeree…”) in blue is missing.

10. Goodreader Zoom in tool – Magnifies where you want to write & allows you to write as per usual. Palm rest included also (grey bar on bottom). Best of 3.

11. GoodReader handwriting toolbar – clean and simple. Has various useful adjustments you can make your handwritten or drawn notes/diagrams.

12. PDF Expert – Preset pens at the top very practical. You can also change & save the colour, brush size and opacity. Clean and simple.

13. iAnnotate – Handwriting Tool – can choose from a spectrum of colours, adjust opacity & brush sizes. Takes up 1/3 of the screen… Also has custom stamp tool!

14. iAnnotate customisable toolbar – have the option to preset your own tools – I’ve set some of mine (note the 5 different typewriters for 5 different size fonts).

15. iAnnotate Eg 1 iPad

16. iAnnotate Eg 1 Desktop

17. iAnnotate Eg 2 iPad

18. iAnnotate Eg 2 Deskotp

19. Goodreader Eg 1 iPad

20. Goodreader Eg 1 Desktop

21. Goodreader Eg 2 iPad

22. Goodreader Eg 2 Desktop

23. PDF Expert Eg 1 iPad

24. PDF Expert Eg 1 Desktop

25. PDF Expert Eg 2 iPad

26. PDF Expert Eg 2 Desktop

27. iAnnotate extracts & compiles full pages with annotations into pdf file

28. PDF Expert Email options

29. PDF Expert export options

30. PDF Expert extracts the annotations & creates a txt doc

31. Goodreader Export Options

32. Goodreader extracts the annotations & creates a pdf file

PDF Expert 3 or iAnnotate 2? A Review

Update 06/04/2012: For those looking, I have just recently compared PDF Expert, iAnnotate & Goodreader here. It’s more indepth than this review.

As promised, here is a comparison between the two infamous PDF Editing apps for the iPad – PDF Expert and iAnnotate. I also wrote about them briefly in my earlier post here.

iAnnotate Screenshot - Preview on the left side (Can be hidden), right side is toolbar (Customisable), multiple documents can be open at once (tabs up the top). Interface isn't as clean and nice as PDF Expert's.

PDF Expert Screenshot - Toolbar up the top. Interface is clean and nice. Small toolbar open appears above an annotation you select is very practical. Note: Thumbnail preview is not available while looking at main document, can't open multiple documents at once

I know it has been a while since I have last written – I feel as though I can unbiased-ly (couldn’t think of the correct term for this) compare PDF Expert with iAnnotate now, after having used iAnnotate and PDF Expert for an equal period of time. Let me quickly list the pros and cons of each so it’s not so tediously long for either of us!

How to use iAnnotate to your maximum potential as a student!

I have been going to uni for the last couple of weeks now, and have been taking my iPad with me everywhere I go for lectures, workshops and tutorials. I have been searching around the Internet forums to hunt for the perfect productivity tools to enable me to exceed in my classes, but eventually these are the apps that I have found which works best for me:
- iAnnotate app
- blackboard mobile
- Dropbox

The blackboard mobile is a free app for university students – if your school supports this program, or uses blackboard as their main method for students to access lecture notes, recordings, quizzes, tutorials etc, then you are in luck. The whole set up process takes less than 5 minutes – download, search for your uni, sign in with your student ID and password, then all the classes that your enrolled in will appear.

It is very easy to navigate through – its like a blackboard basically – with your enrolled subjects on the left, posted on a pin board, and announcements on your right (which you can swipe to hide). Clicking on each subject will open up the contents of that subject up on the main “blackboard” – from announcements, to topics, to grades, tools, contacts etc – basically anything you find in when logging into the computer normally, you will find it on the Blackboard Mobile app. The interface is very smooth and fluid. It has capabilities to read .pptx, .docx, .pdf files in the program – you can then export this via “open in” to your favourite editable document program.

Something I find I don’t like about blackboard is that in a normal web browser, be it safari, firefox, internet explorer or chrome etc, I am able to view everything on that whole webpage – ie all the content under all the subheadings and read everything at once. I am a practical person and prefer to do just that. Blackboard mobile allows for browsing one subheading at a time – so I have to click on each subheading to read each one, when instead I can view everything in a normal internet browser. However, Blackboard has found a way around this – they’ve included a “view in browser” option that opens up another window of what the whole page will actually look like if you were to view it in your favourite browser. There, you can see everything you are missing out on – I’m not saying it a bad thing – you can actually view all these things when you click on each individual subheading – but why do that when you should be able to view everything all at once. Like my economics lecturer said, Time is a major constraint for some people – I am one of them!

The other unappealing thing in Blackboard is that it suffers from recognising all those formatting you see in a normal browser – so no bold, italics, no underlining, no colour, no fancy formatting. Teaching should be fun – bright colours, bold writing, italics etc make an impact on student learning! Studies have shown people learn faster and are actively engaged when the brain sees bright, colourful images and words – It’s a pity Blackboard doesn’t though.

My last app, iAnnotate, is a PDF editor. I have written extensively about this and other comparable apps in the following posts. Please feel free to check them out!

Dodocase review for iPad 2 2012

My Dodocase!

I have noticed there are heaps of reviews on the Dodocases, Portenzo, and Pad & Quill cases for the iPad 2. I have also noticed that they’re not up to date either so I would like to clarify a few things with some up to date info on the Dodocase specifically (since I purchased it from them last week).

I was in the market for a new case for my iPad and I came across the Dodocase – I fell in love with it immediately – so much so I did not realise that there were others out there on the market like it and bought 2 straight away (One for myself, one for my sister as a gift). It is at the time $59.95 each plus FedEx shipping to Aust for $30 (which I thought was a bit steep).

Excellent Customer Service

After having purchased the case, I had completely forgotten to check with them about the sleep/wake functionality – to my horror, their site does not say anything about it & I read reviews that others had not got the sleep/wake functionality on their cases either – oh no. I shot them an email that night after I purchased the cases. I received an email from them the next day stating the cases has been dispatched earlier that morning via FedEx… What about the sleep/wake functionality I screamed in my head?! Too late now! I did feel a bit bummed, since a lot of the folio cases these days all have that functionality.. but lo and behold, I got an email later that morning from Dodocase and relief… yes the case does now have the sleep wake functionality incorporated into it… Whoo!

iPad mini 7.85″ instead of iPad 3?

Ipad 2 and Ipad 7.85"

So I was surfing the net and found this little article on on cnet regarding the possible (highly possible) release of an iPad mini – it is exactly the same as the iPad 2 but will only be 7.85″ though… Can anyone smell competition for Kindle Fire? I think Apple knows how successful it’s launch is wit the iPad line, that it now feels that it should also dominate the ebook reader world as well – and it will probably do that quite successfully. I mean compared to the kindles and Sony ereader and kobo ebook readers out there, from what I can gather, they are even more limited compared to the iPad – I mean by now nearly everyone is familiar with the iPad/iPhone/iPod interface, so releasing and advertising/marketing the iPad mini should be cake right? Also, the price for the ipad mini is apparently going to cost $250-300, and at the moment, the kindle fire is $200 – so for an extra $50 or so, I can sync all ur apps up with ur iPhone and ur Mac (if you have those)… And ppl love it when everything works seamlessly. I have seen ppl with ipad, ipod, iphone and a mac at uni… Jeez talk about overload! So far everything is screaming at me to buy apple shares – its only ever going to be going up.

Kindle Fire

Kindle Fire

The one thing I do wonder about the new iPad mini is that its keyboard layout when in landscape mode is going to be a problem for some ppl – I mean I dislike typing in portrait mode as it is, but to type like that (touch typing) on an 7.85″ screen is going to be a tight squeeze – especially for those with fat fingers! However, if you already have a Mac, and an iPhone, then u may be inclined to add an iPad mini to your collection, instead of buying an iPad – especially when they can be expensive.

Mac Air

iPod mini

iPhone 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now you would have a Mac Air + perhaps an ipod mini/touch + iPhone + new iPad mini? Wow they really do know how to diversify their sales.

Anyway, this is the second time I’ve typed this up – I did have more to add but I will save it for next time! Until then, adios!