Librarian by Day » ipad

My “Perfect” System for Storing, Organizing, Reading and Annotating PDFs

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:12:11 +0000

I have been looking for the perfect pdf reader for a long time. You may remember that earlier this year I returned the Kindle DX after it failed to live up to my qualifications. Here is what I was looking for:

ability to highlight
ability to make notes
ability to export those notes & highlights (I like to put them in a Google docs folder so I can search them easily at any time).
small & portable, easy to read on a plane or carry around with me.
preferably e-ink, but if you can recommend a super awesome program that will work on the PC I’d consider it.

If you read the comments on the Kindle DX post you’ll see that many people recommended the iPad to me. I was hesitant to buy an iPad because no one could suggest an app that would do all the things I wanted/needed and while my technolust said that of course I needed an iPad I couldn’t really justify it given all the other devices I owned (Laptop, netbook, Kindle 3). Now remember the reason I wanted a “perfect pdf reader” was for all the reports and articles I was reading, some of which were image pdfs, I could read them on a Kindle but awkwardly and many of the pdfs that I could send to the Kindle got weirdly formatted. Fast forward a few months. I was back in school for my first semester and reading hundreds of pages of pdfs a week, many as images. Spending hours a day at the computer was killing my back, I needed a system and some tools quick! I did some reasearch and thought I’d share what I’ve found works best for me.

Over all this system was time intensive to set up, I had to learn the ins and outs of each new program and figure out how to make it ~~do what I needed~~ bow to my will. But in the end it was totally worth it. Here are my favorite tools and the why and how of use.

PDF-XChange-Viewer

I did some research and came across PDF-XChange-Viewer for the computer. I started using the free version and loved it! With it you can:

add notes or comments to any pdf file
highlight or underline
export your highlights (non image pdfs) and notes – to turn on this option go to Edit -> Preferences -> Commenting and check the box next to “copy selected text to Highlight, Cross-Out….”
using the pencil tool you can highlight image pdfs unfortunately you can’t email or export those highlights but you can add a note retyping the text if you really want to export it later.
search the content of all pdfs in a folder or sub-folder. I know Mendeley will let you search your pdfs but I use Mendeley strictly for cataloging my readings but not all my school related pdfs. For example if professors post lectures I download them as save them as pdfs for easy viewing on the iPad later.

Their website has some good screenshots and videos, so I didn’t make any. It’s very robust for a free program and I’ve been very pleased with it.

Mendeley

Let me state for the record that I know I’m not using Mendeley to its full extent. I know it does much more I just haven’t had the time or need to figure it out. I’m using it to:

organize
catalog
generate citations

My massive pdf collection caused me to spend much of my holiday break renaming the files using a consistent naming system (author last name then title). I then re-imported everything into to Mendeley and re-cataloged them. Yes I had to re-catalog many of them but it was important for the naming system. I can tag and assign keywords, track URLs and easily generate citations.

Dropbox

All of my pdfs are stored in a Dropbox folder. This way I can access them from any of my computers and the iPad (I’ll get to it in a minute). Seriously if you are not already using Dropbox stop reading right now and go sign up, it will change your life. Dropbox allows you to save a file in a folder on your computer then access them anywhere with an internet connection including other devices. This video is a great introduction to Dropbox.

The iPad and iAnnotate

I did break down and buy an iPad mostly in an effort to alleviate my back pain from sitting at a computer reading for so long. I fretted long and hard about spending so much money for a pdf reader then paying for iAnnotate on top of it, but let me tell you once I got iAnnotate set up with Dropbox it worked so easily and beautifully that I wanted to cry (and kick my own butt for not getting it sooner!) Why I love it:

import and export files using Dropbox! Warns you if there is a conflict with the file in Dropbox
highlight, underline, etc.
export just your notes!
can “highlight” image pdfs too!
add text to all pdfs

The one downside is that once a file is imported into iAnnotate it is no longer synced with Dropbox. This can be a problem if you important a file, make notes or highlights and forget to sync it back to Dropbox, then make changes on the computer copy. For this reason I only import files I need immediately to iAnnotate, sync (or export) when done with them and delete them off the iPad. This also means I never get close to maximum space on my 16 gig iPad. iAnnotate is another robust tool I’m sure I’m not using to it’s full potential and a quick look at the features page confirms it.

Hope this helps you find a solution to your PDF problems! Let me know if there is a tool you’re using and love that I didn’t mention.

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Choosing a Reader for eBooks

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:33:20 +0000

I am hesitant to write this post, its so loaded with the issues surrounding ebooks. At the same time I get asked this question at least once a week so the time has come to put fingers to keys and share my 2 cents.

The question – What ebook reader should I buy? My answer – that depends.

First skip over the issue of dropping prices and improvements, issues with DRM and any other issues you have with ebooks and assume you want an ereader right now. These are the people who are asking me. I’ve come to realize that choosing an ereader is a little like buying a vehicle, which one you get depends in part on how you want to use it. There is no one right answer for everyone.

Nook

My sister and a friend of mine both have a Nook. The Nook is a great choice for them. They both love Barnes and Noble. They live in cities with B&N stores and visit often so they get to take advantage of the reading in store options. They could lend titles to friends, though neither of them has found a title they can actually loan. They could use them for library books, but despite my frequent urges (and emailing of links) neither of them has bothered to use it to check out books from their local public library *sigh*

Kindle

My sister and I are getting my Dad an ereader for Christmas (I hope this is not the one time he decides to read this blog). He reads a lot and is an hour from the closest book store and often complains of having read most of what the local public library has. (Unfortunately this is probably true). The library doesn’t offer ebooks and most likely wont any time soon so that isn’t an issue in the decision. We want the process of adding books to be as easy as possible for him, no connecting to a computer, that ruled out a Sony. We decided against the Nook because we we think he might find the touch screen frustrating. That leaves the Kindle. Nice buttons, easy to download content to and a decent selection of limited time promotional free titles that he can browse in addition to classics and fee titles.

Sony eReader

I know a lot of library patrons who are very happy with their Sony devices. I’ve seen them with all of them at this point. The Sony devices handle pdf files far better than the Kindle or the Nook. They work with library ebooks, if your primary use will be library books get a Sony device. The catalog of purchased titles works great and the Sony allow different formats of ebooks to be loaded, it has the most flexibility.

iPad -

Not only does it have the iBook store but apps for Kindle and others. You can read PDFs. No library ebooks. Color screen, great for picture books and comics. Great if you don’t want a dedicated device.

There are plenty of charts out there comparing them. But in a nutshell this the best aspect of each:

Kindle - note-taking options, across device syncing, keypad, free promotional titles
Nook – free reading in B&N, loaning possibility, OverDrive ebooks
Sony – PDFs and OverDrive ebooks in addition to Sony’s catalog of ebooks
iPad – color, larger screen, more stores for purchasing.

Without knowing how you want to use the ereader I don’t know which to recommend. You need to figure out how YOU will use it.

Have an ereader? leave a comment and let me know why you love it (or hate it).

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