PDF Annotations - what are you using?

bengalih · 10-22-2023, 04:24 PM

So I'm just starting to use Calibre, and while it would not be my preferable "Reader" application, I believe it is going to become so due to how it handles annotations.

The fact that I can annotate from within the content-server reader and make it accessible on any platform is very useful. It still has many disadvantages with annotations (which I can get into if anyone want to discuss), but with all the pros/cons, I'm still leaning towards it.

However there is no ability to annotate PDF documents. I'm here asking what other people do for PDF annotation?

I looked into several options and the one that looked best to me from a device compatibility/sync/sharing perspective was Hypothes.is.

However there is a big limitation which is that it works with a browser extension. This means it can't be used on browsers which don't support extensions. They offer a "proxy service" that is supposed to deal with this, but it doesn't work for two reasons:
1) If your content-server is password protected, it doesn't seem to function with it
2) Even without password protection they seem to have moved away from an open proxy a year or so ago and so they only requests to certain well-known sites. This won't really work for access to documents on personal server.

So any discussion on this is welcome.

thanks

Quoth · 10-22-2023, 05:04 PM

Don't use PDFs in a browser, ever.

PDFs are not ebooks.

Choice of a PDF viewer that's good for annotations depends on your hardware and OS. Also can depend on the kind of PDF.

BetterRed · 10-22-2023, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

Don't use PDFs in a browser, ever.

What rot, barely a day passes when I don't look at a PDF via Firefox or Edge. Right now while typing in Firefox here, I have the following half read in Edge: https://carnegieendowment.org/files/...sment_2020.pdf, and last week's NSW respiratory disease epidemiology report bookmarked to read next.

BR

pingdan · 01-20-2024, 02:19 AM

I use Xodo for reading and annotating PDFs on the iPad and Android.
I am curious if it’ll meet your needs
If not, here are some good recommendations: https://pctechtest.com/best-pdf-annotation-apps

retval · 01-26-2024, 03:32 PM

Greetings, for pdf I use Foxyt Reader (free). It allows to export as text file the highlights or annotations as text file. That allows to take it to other note tools like obsidian.

10-22-2023, 04:24 PM	#1
bengalih Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2023 Device: smartphone	PDF Annotations - what are you using? So I'm just starting to use Calibre, and while it would not be my preferable "Reader" application, I believe it is going to become so due to how it handles annotations. The fact that I can annotate from within the content-server reader and make it accessible on any platform is very useful. It still has many disadvantages with annotations (which I can get into if anyone want to discuss), but with all the pros/cons, I'm still leaning towards it. However there is no ability to annotate PDF documents. I'm here asking what other people do for PDF annotation? I looked into several options and the one that looked best to me from a device compatibility/sync/sharing perspective was Hypothes.is. However there is a big limitation which is that it works with a browser extension. This means it can't be used on browsers which don't support extensions. They offer a "proxy service" that is supposed to deal with this, but it doesn't work for two reasons: 1) If your content-server is password protected, it doesn't seem to function with it 2) Even without password protection they seem to have moved away from an open proxy a year or so ago and so they only requests to certain well-known sites. This won't really work for access to documents on personal server. So any discussion on this is welcome. thanks

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10-22-2023, 05:04 PM	#2
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,161 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	Don't use PDFs in a browser, ever. PDFs are not ebooks. Choice of a PDF viewer that's good for annotations depends on your hardware and OS. Also can depend on the kind of PDF.

01-20-2024, 02:19 AM	#4
pingdan Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2023 Device: Kobo Sage	I use Xodo for reading and annotating PDFs on the iPad and Android. I am curious if it’ll meet your needs If not, here are some good recommendations: https://pctechtest.com/best-pdf-annotation-apps

01-26-2024, 03:32 PM	#5
retval Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: none	Greetings, for pdf I use Foxyt Reader (free). It allows to export as text file the highlights or annotations as text file. That allows to take it to other note tools like obsidian.