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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
 

baypharm

macrumors 68000
Nov 15, 2007
1,951
973
I put all my PDF's into iTunes/iBooks then they appear on my iPad (ibooks) when I sync it with my laptop.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
17,549
18,121
Singapore
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. :)
 

SHirsch999

macrumors 6502a
Apr 19, 2011
658
196
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

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.
 

Ledgem

macrumors 68020
Jan 18, 2008
2,025
910
Hawaii, USA
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.
 

dcorban

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2007
914
30
I put all my PDF's into iTunes/iBooks then they appear on my iPad (ibooks) when I sync it with my laptop.
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.
 

mikewebberross

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2014
15
0
Los Angeles
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.

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
 

saberahul

macrumors 68040
Nov 6, 2008
3,644
111
USA
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

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.
 

Malone32

macrumors newbie
May 4, 2014
2
0
That file transfer limits are keeping me away from apple products.
I am still in dilemma if to buy air or samsung tablet.
 

thelookingglass

macrumors 68020
Apr 27, 2005
2,012
457
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.
 

Altis

macrumors 68040
Sep 10, 2013
3,082
4,761
I use Google Drive. It works well with Gmail and can all be done through the browser on the computer end.
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
17,487
6,892
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.
 

ktjensen

macrumors member
Oct 13, 2011
69
0
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.
 
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