So here we are in episode 4 of 7 planned posts about basic apps a lawyer needs to outfit an iPad into a functional working rig. Nothing fancy in the app categories – just the basics. And when I think about my basic workflows, not a day goes by where I don’t spend at least some time with PDF files. I suspect I’m not alone as some of the most popular posts here at TabletLegal are those discussing PDF Annotation apps. So I decided to do this one a little differently.
There are really four contenders in this area (if there are others that I’ve missed, please let me know). In alphabetical order:
- Aji’s iAnnotate
- Goodiware’s Goodreader
- omz software’s PDF Highlighter
- Readdle’s PDF Expert
I’ve probably been a little partial to Goodreader in my coverage at TabletLegal simply because it fits my workflow really well. But, my workflow isn’t the same as your workflow. I needed to expand my horizons so I spent a few days putting all four of these apps through their paces.
Unsatisfied with a simple textual summary of my work I decided to really break it down. How better than a 4 page spreadsheet (in PDF of course) comparing and contrasting features of these four apps in over 25 categories that I thought would be of primary interest to a lawyer. The spreadsheet is linked at the end of this post for perusal at your leisure.
But I’m not sending you off to figure it all out on your own. I did come to some conclusions, but probably not the ones you are expecting. I’m not saying which app is the “best” or the “worst.” Rather, each app has its own strengths and weaknesses. The good news is that all four all handle the basics great – if you need to highlight while reading and make a couple notes, then any of these will work fine. Beyond that, the app that is best for you depends on your workflow. I break it down like this:
Aji’s iAnnotate. You want iAnnotate if you live in PDFs. The power feature of this app is its ability to have multiple PDF files open in separate tabs that you can quickly flip between. If you are a heavy PDF user, you won’t mind the nonstandard interface of this app because you can customize it to fit your workflow exactly. You’ll also be spending enough time in this app to learn and appreciate every feature described in the 36 page on-board user guide. Powerful file management tools will help you keep boxes worth of documents organized.
iAnnotate - Multiple PDFs in Tabs
Goodiware’s Goodreader. Consider Goodreader if you have basic to moderate annotation needs and PDF is one part of a multi-piece workflow. A fairly standard interface for accessing annotation tools will allow you to get your work done quickly. Lowest price makes it a good place to get started while also handling the necessary file management needs for almost every other file type you might come in contact with.
Goodreader - File Management and PDF Annotation
omz software’s PDF Highlighter. This is the 1.0 app in the group (actually, 1.1 just released), but still a very competent offering. Use PDF Highlighter if your needs are pretty straightforward. I think PDF Highlighter may be ideal for someone referencing PDFs with unfamiliar content because of the integrated Wikipedia lookup. I can imagine sifting through a stack of depositions with medical terms or technical client documents where the ability to tap on a word and get wikipedia feedback could be tremendously useful.
Highlighter - Graphic Annotation Summary
Readdle’s PDF Expert. This app is almost as feature loaded as iAnnotate with a very strong organizational side and a very usable interface. If you need to fill out PDF forms, then you must use PDF Expert as it is the only app supporting forms at this point. PDF Expert’s file management tools will suit the heavy PDF user and its ease of use will appeal to even one-off uses.
PDF Expert - Fillable PDF Forms
You’ll see that the spreadsheet is labeled “Version 1.0.” I suspect I’ve made some mistakes which I’ll correct as I find them or folks bring them to my attention. These apps will also be updated and I’ll try to reflect those updates in the grid. I’ll refine and expand on some categories and possibly drop others as a refine my thoughts about these apps as tools for a lawyer’s workflow. I’ll also be sticking a link to this spreadsheet in the sidebar of TabletLegal so it is easy to access.
So there you have it. Let me know what I’ve missed and what is working best for you.
Here is the PDF Annotation App Shootout Summary Spreadsheet Version 1.0.
Links to App Store:
Noterize is a very good and versatile PDF annotating app.
Question — do any of these apps allow you to export or e-mail an annotated version of your pdf to a third party in a format that allows them to view your annotations and highlights? Do they need to purchase third party software to be able to view the highlights and annotations? I’d like to be able to highlight and annotate depositions and then e-mail them to my paralegal to create a depo summary, but that can’t happen if the highlights and annotations don’t appear in the version I email to her. Thanks.
The annotations in these apps are part of the PDF standard so will be viewable in your desktop version of Acrobat or other PDF viewer of choice.
Thanks for the reviews. I have a specific use for an annotating app.
I’m a geologist with the Coronado National Forest. My problem is than most of my files are scanned and saved as image pdf’s, not an actual pdf document. I’m looking for an app that has a toolbar on one side that is always visible and has at least 4 colors of highlighters. I need to pick a highlighter, color the text,and then touch the color again to turn it off. Once it’s marked, I need to save it with the markings. I might make a note once in a while, and it looks like all of the apps you tested will do that.
I haven’t tried any of the various apps yet because I’m not sure they will work. I don’t need a neat box around the text, just some color over it so I can find it.
I suspect that I need a drawing tool rather than a marker. If using a drawing tool, it needs to be the width of a highlighter and be able to mark on pdf’s.
I don’t want to take the time to mark out a rectangle, just slap some color on the text like you do with a normal highlighter and I need to bookmark.
I’ve looked over the spreadsheet and some of the apps may do what I want, but I’m concerned about the image pdf’s as opposed to “normal” pdf’s like the ones you use.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Hey Karl
I think the app that would work best for you is PDF Expert. There is a coloring tool in the top menu with about 8 color choices, different pen thicknesses and a transparency selector. You would set the transparency at 25%, a fairly thick pen thickness and go. One tap and you could change colors. Each mark would become a bookmark that you can jump between (but e bookmarks don’t refer to the text you highlighted, just the page).
Give it a try.
HOw does Readdles’ PDF Expert differ from it Readdledocs?
ReaddleDocs is more of a file viewer and file manager and PDF Expert is dedicated primarily tom annotation of PDF. Fr example, if you need to view .doc, .xls, .pages, etc, then you need a file viewer like ReaddleDocs or GoodReader. ReaddleDocs does have some basic PDF annotation features in it (e.g., highlighting). If your annotation needs are low, then ReaddleDocs might cover both needs (annotation and file manager) for you. That is why I like GoodReader a lot, it is like two apps in one.
I want to thank you for your very thoughtful review. I already owned Goodreader but after reading your piece I bought iAnnotate and I fell in love. You’re right that there is a learning curve but the feature set is what I was looking for. It allows for beautiful highlighting of non-consecutive words which is very accurate and easy. I ordered the Brvush stylus they recommend. This app looks like one I will return to often. I appreciate your blog very much.
You should take a close look at Note Taker HD. Very powerful app that let’s you annotate PDFs stored on your iPad. Also allows you to output via a VGA adapter if you want to use it in a presentation.
I’ll give it a look. I was under the impression the annotations created in that app weren’t viewable in a desktop version of Acrobat…but perhaps I’m mistaken or out of date. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks a lot for the reviews. Very useful.
I’m a .pdf hard user with 1000+ files on iPad (all docs that I have I convert to .pdf). I have to say that iAnnotate is the most important reason that I bought an iPad. It is simply perfect. All that I want (and try to do) with my old Palm, Symbian and, finally, Windows Mobile, I do with it. Multiple tabs and pitch to zoom is just wonderful. We can create folders (yes, we can!), we have a cover display (same as thumbnail iBook covers), dropbox, customizable tool bar (size, location and transparence) etc.
The important thing with iAnnotate is download Aji Reader Service to convert .pdf files on your PC/Mac. You can do it on iPad, but it is slower.
I cannot be more happy with an app than with that one.
Cheers.
Thanks for the reviews and feature comparisons. I own iAnnotate. The feature I like most about it is the way it works with Dropbox–replicating it’s folder structure and syncing, rather than simply uploading and downloading.
Some of these other applications look interesting, but I’m curious if any other them have the same capability?
Thank you.
As suggested by David, have you updated Note Taker HD 5.0?
Looking forward to your feedback.
I have updated, but it isn’t an app I enjoy. I think you are right that the next time I update the PDF chart I should consider Note Taker HD.
Thanks for the reviews. I have been fence sitting I which PDF annotation software to use for a long time. This review helps me to narrow it down. Can you explain to me what you mean by line annotations which is noted as a feature in the spreadsheet?
Thanks,
Thibault
A line annotation is the ability to draw geometric shapes like squares, arrows, lines, circles, etc. Much like you would do with any paint or drawing program. Distinguish from freehand annotations which are often used to write notes or make custom, nonstandard marks.
While PDF Expert has a nicer looking UI, iAnnotate’s library search (full text search of all docs in your library) sealed the deal for me.
That is a powerful feature.
Hi, I have alot of scanned documents in pdf format. However, the text is not recognised since the document is treated as an image. Is it possible to highlight and note in these kind of pdf’s?
Hi Petter
No “text based” annotations like highlight, strike-through, underline. You can use the sticky note feature.
If you want to used these text based annotations, you need to OCR the PDF. I talked about this last week on the blog.
Good luck.
Josh