Pdf+ Adobe PDF Reader
If you have ever tried to open a large PDF file (more than a few MB) on your Eseries device with Adobe Reader LE then chances are that you have seen the following error message:
It’s a common problem you run into when trying to view large .pdf files with the free Adobe Reader LE. It’s not a big problem unless you rely on viewing large .pdf files. If you do, then I can recommend that you try out mBrain’s Pdf+. A great alternative to Adobe Reader LE.
The first thing I wanted to try out was a choke test. Would it be able to open a large .pdf with no problem or would it give up and die like Adobe Reader LE? I tried opening a 6 MB file with Adobe and to no surprise I got a “Not enough memory” error. I tried opening the same .pdf file with Pdf+ and lo and behold - it opened the file with no problems (albeit a bit slowly).
Another great feature with Pdf+ is the intuitive navigation. It’s easy to search for files either on the phone memory or on an external MiniSD card. You use the joystick to switch between external and phone memory.
Other strengths with Pdf+ are a column mode which makes it easier to read multi-column text and the support for dialing phone numbers listed in the .pdf file! I also noticed that Pdf+ has a smaller memory foot print so there is more memory available for other applications.
Pdf+ seems to crash less than Adobe Reader LE, it is smaller, handles larger files and in many ways seems smarter than Adobe Reader LE. My only minor complaint is that I noticed some loss of colour in the way it displayed certain files.
Notice the difference between Pdf+ to the left and Adobe Reader LE to the right (above and below).
In perspective, loosing some colours in the rendering of a pdf file is a small prize that I am willing to pay for the extra features Pdf+ brings.
Pdf+ is an impressive piece of software. In my opinion, if you are serious about pdf. files then it is well worth the cost of $24.95 (a free demo is also available).
January 16th, 2007 at 12:27 am
render less colour, less memory used….smart.
January 16th, 2007 at 1:20 am
anyway, I don’t read pdf on E61, too tedious to navigate such fix-paged files. I’ll convert to txt if possible.
January 16th, 2007 at 2:14 am
it`s old news…
January 16th, 2007 at 3:11 am
While this might be old news to you, I was having issues with my new E61 and PDF files, this has solved them this morning
Thanks
January 16th, 2007 at 6:13 am
WOW!
This is perfect! Now I can read my pdfs without squinting! Thanks!
January 16th, 2007 at 6:41 am
what’s the theme you’re using on the screenshots?
January 16th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Does PDF+ allow you to print documents?
January 16th, 2007 at 9:39 am
I tried pdf+, but met with no success. Loaded a PDF file which did not show up.
January 16th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Why aren’t you built in: Better PDF handling…
When you’re stuck sitting in an uncomfortable chair you try to avoid certain positions which cause extreme amounts of pain. With that in mind, after failing to open quite a few pdf files on my Nokia E61 I simply just…
January 16th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
What might be the largest possible pdf-file in Megs that PDF+ opens?
January 16th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I too, would like to know what theme that is?
January 16th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Ed is using one of my theme “Dark Nokia by PTWS”
January 16th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
I saw PDF+ on symtopia yesterday and gave it a whirl.
The very basic documents I was viewing then (one produced by full version Adobe SW and the other by Solid PDF Creator) showed up with the fonts looking weird and out of place, particularly upon zooming in and out. I promptly chucked the idea of buying and removed it from my phone to get back to Adobe’s albeit fuzzy/uncrisp rendering of the characters, but reliable presentation.
Wouldn’t you know it, I was out and about when I got mail from a client with a 2.6 MB pdf and Adobe failed to open it. Stressed me out not knowing at least what the document was about, so I had to run back to my computer a mile away.
Giving PDF+ a second try with the demo, the very same file opened no problem. Unfortunately it still seems like the viewer has an astigmatism where certain vertical lines in characters fade or whole characters (like f) are not shown at all. Another thing: if you happen to open a mail attachment from MfE and close PDF+ with Options-Exit, the command propagates and closes first the pdf, then PDF+, then your email, then MfE. Hhhrrrmm.
Still, today I would’ve at least had an inkling of what that pdf was about without running back to the desk. I figure I’ll do a proper demo of PDF+ and consider buying later. I might install it, then reinstall Adobe LE so I can have PDF+ as a fall back for large files, while using Adobe for everything else.
January 16th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Thanks Phil, do you know where I can find it? Is it publically available? Great work BTW.
January 16th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Jon,
Although not an answer to your question per se, I transferred a pdf over to my phone that is 20.87 MB and opened it with the PDF+ demo. The file is a 16-page brochure with a lot of images and text that you can expect from a brochure.
PDF+ takes a while to render each page, but the file opens no problem. Apparently that’s where they are both up and down on Adobe. Adobe lets you scroll smoothly over the pages, but this may mean it tries to handle the entire file all at once. PDF+ does it page-by-page, but gets the job done in a big way (i.e. can open large files).
The images and general layout still look good. The text layout isn’t as smooth as with Adobe, but still readable.
Now I’m so impressed I may buy, but first I’ll wait a while to see if they come out with a new version (the S60 v3 version was only just released on 11 Jan. 07) if they make improvements after the first release. If they promised free upgrades I’d jump on the bandwagon today, but $25 adds up as you start buying SW, and it’s annoying to find out a week or so later that a new version is available.
Another note: While rendering, PDF+ takes so much CPU power or time that you can’t even flip between active apps properly until its done. Still, it doesn’t hang the system and eventually finishes rendering and you can keep doing what you’re doing.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Good post Ed! For those who want to learn about PSF+, I have interviewed the developer, Sander Van Der Wal and written a long historical overview of PDF+ evolution over the years. Check that out!
http://forum.i-symbian.com/f-editorial-articles-reviews-and-interviews-28/t-interview-with-sander-van-der-wal-pdf-developer-966.html
http://forum.i-symbian.com/f-editorial-articles-reviews-and-interviews-28/t-the-evolution-of-pdf-967.html
Cheers!!!
January 17th, 2007 at 4:18 am
Do you find it so difficult to constantly scroll horizontally as I do?
pdf+ looked like a full solution for reading ebooks in pdf on my e61 since its able to open big files and also has word-wrap functionality. However that word-wrap option is a total disappointment, text looks garbled but most of all, all pictures and tables are removed.
What I would like is a program that does the word wrap on the normal text paragraphs but still inserts pictures and tables unaltered after the text after which they reside in the original pdf. In that way I will be needing to scroll horizontally or zoom in/out only when I get to some picture/table.
January 17th, 2007 at 5:14 am
If people are having problems with certain PDF documents, I would be happy to receive the problem files and a short description of the problem. Please mail them to support@mBrainSoftware.com.
Upgrades for other versions of Pdf+ (for UIQ, Series 80 and S60 1st/2nd edition) have been free of charge. It my intention that there will be at least one free bugfix release of Pdf+ (for S60 3rd edition Smartphones) in the near future.
At some point there will be a new version of Pdf+ with lots more functionality, at this time I haven’t yet decided how this is going to work out in terms of upgrade pricing.
January 19th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Does anyone use a Symbian/Mobile program on their E62 that works well with MYOB Account Edge? This is an accounting/bookkeeping program like Quickbooks. For me, it’s not always easy to get to a computer to enter data, so it gets back burnered. If I had a mobile app. that I could even tweek to work with MYOB AE, I think I’d be in better shape. Any suggestions? I just saw a program called XFinance that can generate a qif., but it won’t install to the E62 for some reason. Anybody use this or anything else? Thanks in advance!
January 20th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I was never able to open pdf file bigger than 1-1,5MB with the Adobe Reader. On the other hand pdf+ has crap font rendering.
January 27th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Hello Everyone!
Not related to PDF but also related to large files: has anyone found good ZIP utility for E61 capable of unpacking say 30 Mb ZIP file? ZipManager stalls and sometimes reports “Memory Full” with no option to close this message. Is it really hard to write such application for Symbian? The same for Adobe Reader LE: it is really bad app. No way to open large files (is 8 Mb large today?), no reflow (that is basic for PocketPC), no shortcuts for zooming in/out (am I missing something?). The PDF+ costs money and cannot render some fonts that Adobe crap shows as Kula bácsi said in prev. post.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:28 pm
“PDF+ does it page-by-page, but gets the job done in a big way (i.e. can open large files).”
And it doesn’t even have to be a big file. Just yesterday I had a 2MB PDF on my N93. Adobe won’t open it. Not enough memory. Probably because the first page has a big image on it. And typical for Adobe, they don’t even have an option “don’t show images” or at least “don’t show big images.”
Actually that’s not surprising, considering Adobe just a couple of months ago found out that people use other file names than those written in the plain old codepage their Windows system is set to. Previously Adobe Reader couldn’t open files with names written in Slovenian or Russian if the machine running it was using English/Finnish/something else as basic settings…
So maybe we’ll get a half-decent PDF reader from Adobe around…let’s say 2029?
February 7th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
How about a pdf viewer that can optionally speak the text out to you; like when you’re in the car…
February 15th, 2007 at 6:20 am
i’m looking for a pdf viewer that can print the pdf file !
Do you have one to suggest ?
March 3rd, 2007 at 5:49 am
i tried installing pdf+ demo on my phone but during installation on the phone, it ssays “Certificate error. Contact the application supplier ”
Help…fast plz
March 5th, 2007 at 1:01 am
@Chaita
Try this:
To be able to install the free demo version, you need to set “Software installation” in App. mgr > Options > Settings to “all”.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:57 am
Great program, it opens 180 mb pdf with 1100 files ! Very good !
May 24th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Hi,
I dumped motoming, beacasue i find it too difficult to go left and right to read a pdf or word doc.
How does E61i fare here ? I hope with its wide screen, it would be comfortable read to whole sentences of the pdf doc. What are ur thoughts ?