Foxit Reader is one of the best alternative for your Adobe Reader (to read PDF files). Ever since I found out about the software, I never have Adobe Reader installed in my machine anymore. Foxit Reader is so light weight and didn’t force you to install any crap that Adobe did (Adobe Updater that constantly annoys you on every update news, etc).
It’s also one of my main applications to install whenever I format my computer.
To download and give Foxit Reader a try, check out Foxit Reader’s official page at FoxIt software website.
Just make sure that you to read the installation options when you install FoxIt Reader. If you are not interested in the other third party products, simply untick the boxes and installation will continue, nice and clean.
Read carefully before you continue
So what’s new in version 3? Taken from its official changelog page:
- Enticing Multimedia Design
Now users can not only play multimedia in Foxit Reader, but also are empowered to add, edit or delete multimedia files with the incredible Movie Tool and Sound Tool. - Attachment Panel
Lists all the attached files in the PDF document, and provides a number of common options that helps users manage the attachments, such as opening, deleting and adding description to the attachments. Users can also change the security settings when opening an attachment in this panel. - Thumbnail Panel
Shows thumbnail images for each PDF page and allows users to quickly view relevant portions of a PDF file. Now users can navigate through PDFs with page thumbnails. - Layout Panel
Lists PDF layers in the document, allows users to control the display of some certain content areas. - Metric Unit Support
Within the preferences dialog box it gives users the option to set the unit of page dimension in either metric system or imperial system. - Auto-scrolling with Middle Mouse Button
In the Hand Tool reading mode, users can perform auto-scrolling by holding the middle mouse button/wheel mouse button down. - Awe-Inspiring Foxit OnDemand Content Management
This new add-on enables users to organize, share and collaborate on documents and forms online. Users can upload from Foxit Reader or send documents with ease. Advanced features include workflow driven document sharing, revisions of documents, CollabRoom for group collaboration. - Firefox Support
With Firefox Plugin, users can view and work with PDF files loaded in Foxit Reader with Firefox web browser.
- Improved Select Text Tool
Not only used for selecting text, but also enables users to add most types of annotations, including highlight, strikeout, underline, squiggly, replacement, etc. - Enhanced Print Setup
Supports printing separate pages or a range of pages by entering 1, 3, 7-10 or whatever in the Pages text box within the Print dialog box. - Better Annotation Control
Allows users to align and center multiple annotations on PDF pages, including Notes, Drawing Markups and Typewriter Comments. - Advanced Toolbar Control
Completely rearranges the toolbar layout and allows users to easily customize the tools that appear in Foxit Reader. - Better Permission Control
Disables and grays out some UI elements when users are not allowed to perform the corresponding operations on the protected PDF document. - Improved Upgrade Mode
Foxit Updater Preferences dialog box allows the user to configure the update settings. Foxit Reader supports the ability to check for updates automatically on a weekly or monthly basis. - Improved Popup Note
A popup note turns transparent when it is open but not selected. Users can also cut, copy or paste text in the new popup note. - Enhanced Shortcut Keys Input
Press F11 to enter or exit the full screen mode. Use keyboard shortcuts to fill PDF forms easily. - Transferrable preferences Settings
Foxit Reader creates an INI file to save user’s preferences settings so that it can be easily kept and transferred. Users can keep their own settings and don’t have to configure them when Foxit Reader is updated or moved. - Many Bug Fixes
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s compatible with everything Adobe is?
Do you know what the paid version has over the free one?
The paid version allows you to edit PDF documents i.e. highlight, underline, and strike out text. You can also add text boxes on the sides for commentary. It is comparable to using Adobe Reader versus Acrobat Professional, which is just called Acrobar.
The other answer from nka is not really the case.
The older free (non pro) Versions hat all the tools for commenting, Textwriting, Markup … with it. There was just a little small ad. Although the homepage of foxitsoftware says differentely I can still use everything that supposed to be pro only. The ad is gone too.
PS: The tools aren’t just for free they work with much less restrictions than those of Adobe. They work always with every document.
@userforyears: that is why I amended my original post with the one below.
Thanks for the info. I don’t normally need to edit PDF documents, but it will certainly come in handy to those who do
Apparently there is more to the free version than I originally thought. Check out: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php and scroll down to: “Getting Some Advanced Features for Free with Foxit Reader 3.0″
The “Advanced editing” is with the Pro Pack. However, they say that if you enable Choosing Check for updates, or you choose to install the Ebay toolbar with your Foxit installation, they give you some of the pro features already.
Oh? That’s weird
I’ll keep that in mind when I need the pro features. Thanks!
Thanks for the thorough explanation. I love Foxit