Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad mini How to save PDF's onto my iPad

mikewebberross

mikewebberross

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2014
15
0
Los Angeles
I don't want to save PDF's from the internet. I have many PDF books on my mac and I would like to get them onto my iPad. Is there any app for that? And how would I get the PDF's from my computer to my iPad? Will email work?

Thanks,
Mike
 
I put all my PDF's into iTunes/iBooks then they appear on my iPad (ibooks) when I sync it with my laptop.
 
There are many PDF readers, from ios's native iBooks app to goodreader to notability. I find that Goodreader is more robust for categorising pdfs, but notability is easier to annotation.

To transfer them in, simply plug your iPad to your Mac, go to your apps section, then drag the pdf files into the app you want them to be stored in. :)
 
mikewebberross said:
I don't want to save PDF's from the internet. I have many PDF books on my mac and I would like to get them onto my iPad. Is there any app for that? And how would I get the PDF's from my computer to my iPad? Will email work?

Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...

Dropbox is an excellent way to get them from the computer onto the iPad. That's what I use as well as many others. Once on the iPad I use Goodreader and iBooks to read them.
 
Documents (from the company Readdle). It's similar to Goodreader, but it's free and in my opinion it has better performance. It's rather flexible in moving files between iPad and computer. The app allows you to turn the iPad into a "wi-fi drive," in which it appears to the Mac as a hard drive. You can simply drag and drop files from the Finder, and it all transfers quickly over your local network. If you'd prefer a cloud-based solution, Documents also has support for Dropbox and Google Drive.

While I use Documents primarily for PDFs, it can handle many other file types as well, such as video. It is easily among the top five apps that I use on my iPad each day.
 
baypharm said:
I put all my PDF's into iTunes/iBooks then they appear on my iPad (ibooks) when I sync it with my laptop.
Click to expand...
This is the answer for those who do not wish to use a third party app. Just add them to you itunes library and ensure you have itunes syncing your books.

Otherwise, Dropbox would work.
 
dcorban said:
This is the answer for those who do not wish to use a third party app. Just add them to you itunes library and ensure you have itunes syncing your books.

Otherwise, Dropbox would work.
Click to expand...

Awesome! I was trying to get iBooks on my computer forever because I figured it had to exist on mac! I didn't know it was in iTunes this whole time!

Thanks
 
mikewebberross said:
Awesome! I was trying to get iBooks on my computer forever because I figured it had to exist on mac! I didn't know it was in iTunes this whole time!

Thanks
Click to expand...

That works but depends on your usage. iBooks is limited in the sense that you cannot really annotate and it handles extremely large PDFs poorly. If you need to either of those, a free app by Readdle called Documents does the job decently. If you require more functionality, you could buy Readdle's PDF Expert though I prefer GoodReader a lot more. Many options available - just be specific about your needs, if any.
 
That file transfer limits are keeping me away from apple products.
I am still in dilemma if to buy air or samsung tablet.
 
Another vote here for Dropbox or OneDrive.
Goodreader or Documents for managing the PDFs once they're on your device. Goodreader was one of the most popular, but it's since gotten a little long in the tooth. Still a great app though.
 
I use Google Drive. It works well with Gmail and can all be done through the browser on the computer end.
 
I use GoodReader (though PDF Expert handles attachments within PDF files a bit better). I also like DiskAid for copying content to and from the iPad. It's a lot less clunky than using iTunes.
 
If you use Dropbox there is a way to save the file locally on your idevice. that way you do not have to be online to use it or acess it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back