Highlight and annotation on the iPad (apps? iBook?)

[clarkkent18]

Ok so after sometime thinking about it which iPad to get, I broke down and got the first gen. I got the 64GB 3G for $450, so I could not pass that up (two months old to me by a close friend of mine).

I like the iBook on the iPad, but I have nothing but pdf. format files that I need to read and that is the main reason that I have the iPad. I know there is a few different ways about going around it, but I wanted to hear what you thought about highlighting and annotating pdf.

I have books that each chapter has its own pdf file. So for one book, I have 20 pdf file for that book alone and I have about 6 books in total, with more to come. I have played around with iBook and I have been able to sort the books out under the pdf settings.

From what I have been TOLD is I can convert the pdf over to where I can use them in the iBook and highlight and annotate, but there are a few apps out there that I can buy that will do the same thing.

What I would like to so it to be able to printout my highlights and/or my notes that I have added into the pdf. I DO NOT want to print out the full pdf because some of them have a ton of pages that I do not need for what I am doing

Should I convert every pdf so that I can use it in iBook, or is there any app that will allow me to so the same thing that I can buy. If there is an app, what ones have you used, good or bad, and tell me what you think about them please. Please do just say get this one because it is the best, please tell me why you think it is the best.

 

[Bluemeanie1976]

Well, I use ePub to annotate text, add notes, and bookmarks, etc. As for printing, I'm not sure if you can?

 

[Kadin]

I can't recall if Good Reader will do this but as a general PDF reader, the App is the best out there IMHO. I'd check it out. You can get the free one which will limit how many files you can load into it but it will give you the full program to check out. I'd highly recommend it.

 

[Snowy_River]

GoodReader is a great app, but I have no love for their annotation methodology.

I use iAnnotate for all the PDFs that I mark up. It's an absolutely fantastic app for PDF markup. Highly recommended.

 

[clarkkent18]

Thanks to everyone that has replyed. Please keep the info coming. I am looking at anything and everything right now, I am not going to lie, I don't know jack!!!

 

[clarkkent18]

From the app store I have been looking at pdf reader pro edition for ipad from the app store. Has anyone used this app?? Is there a better one out there??? That is the only one that I have found.

 

[clarkkent18]

GoodReader is a great app, but I have no love for their annotation methodology.

I use iAnnotate for all the PDFs that I mark up. It's an absolutely fantastic app for PDF markup. Highly recommended.

Any idea on printing????

 

[zacheryjensen]

I have to disagree with the hate on GoodReader, I've never seen a more valuable piece of software. It supports the PDF standard for annotations as well as a boatload of other essential features (like access to a variety of remote/cloud services including webdav servers, dropbox and similar, and a ton of others) as well as sync with most of those services.

It can reflow PDF if you want.

It's super cheap. In fact, if you already have the iPad, you should start noticing the software is RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP. It's insane to simply not go buy all these potential candidates and try them. You might end up spending $20! gasp!

Seriously people, it's not 1952 anymore, $5 is a tiny amount of money. 20 years ago I paid $2 for copies of software that were DEMOs at the local grocery store and they paled in comparison to the awesome quality of GoodReader and similar apps.

You do yourself the best service by just trying these out.

Also regarding printing, any app worth its salt can print now. If you find your printer is not supported by Apple's new AirPrint standard (it's mainly a set of HP printers, of which I recommend the OfficeJet Pro 8500A) then there are several solutions. There are several apps out there for your mac, maybe also for windows? that will fake an Airprint compatible bridge to any printer on the machine/network. I have also found the iOS app "PrintBureau" to be useful especially since they made it so, if you run PrintBureau then go back into whatever app will print, you can print to PDF (or other printers) into PrintBureau. Handy if you ask me, but it also supports more wirelessly shared printers than AirPrint currently and can be used to print a variety of files directly.

That said, since I got that OfficeJet, I no longer hate printers. It's the first printer I ever owned that didn't make me want to light it on fire or beat it up Office Space style. It was rather easy to use, and as a mac user, I am able to write automator scripts to handle incoming scans from the scanner. Wirelessly. That is SO nice since I'm an evernote user. All my scans are automatically loaded into evernote. Win. It's on sale in a lot of places right now. I'd go buy it.

 

[Snowy_River]

Any idea on printing????

Sure. iAnnotate supports printing the original, unmarked document, the entire marked up document, flattened, printing only the marked up pages, flattened.

Also, don't get me wrong. GoodReader is a fantastic app. It is certainly one of the most useful apps that I have. However, while it does support PDF mark up, the UI is clumsy and hard to work with. On the other hand, iAnnotate utilizes floating tool bars that give you easy access to all of your mark up tools.

And, for printing, I use Printopia, which allows my Mac to share the network printer with my iPad. It works great and I give it a seal of approval.