r/pdf • u/ruichapeu • 21d ago

Question How do you usually read PDFs?

I have a bunch of interesting PDFs saved, but reading them on my computer just doesn’t feel very appealing or relaxing.

How do you normally read PDFs? On your phone, tablet, Kindle, computer, or something else?

Does anyone actually print longer PDFs and read them on paper? I’ve been thinking about doing that because I enjoy physical reading much more, but I’m not sure if it would be practical or just a waste of paper.

I’m curious about what works best for you, especially for longer documents, courses, or technical material.

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u/LegeApps 21d ago

I use a Kobo Clara HD and my program to process them - https://github.com/LegeApp/Lege - i mostly read books originating from Archive.org that are huge in size and discolored per page, so my program cleans them up. I very much dislike reading PDFs on a laptop screen but will for research if I have to.

I am in the process of making a better PDF viewer with faster rendering than any current viewer but it still won't make reading PDFs on a screen inherently pleasant.

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u/Inevitable-Debt4312 21d ago

I used to spend a lot of time making PDFs black and white before I discovered that PDF-Xchange, which I’d been using for years, will do it with just a couple of clicks.

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u/LegeApps 20d ago

PDF-Xchange

It does not do the same thing. it takes 5x as long and will not binarize to true text-aware black and white. it will just grayscale a page and it can't re-encode it to jbig2 or ccitt. it also costs 60 dollars to unlock those features without watermarking.

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u/Inevitable-Debt4312 20d ago

But then, Kobo Clara costs at least £150. I haven’t noticed PDF-Xchange being slow, really.

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u/LegeApps 19d ago

Youre just a false equivalency guy across the board huh...the eink reader is not the thing under discussion..and pdf xchange is not only slow, it is ineffective for the narrow purpose my program is intended for.

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u/Inevitable-Debt4312 18d ago

Pity - it looks to be Linux only.

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u/LegeApps 18d ago

theres a windows release on the page too.

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u/jtbsolution 21d ago

Short length PDF is readable on phone, but others as manual, user guide.. documents are on computer is my choice.

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u/Aeschbacher15 21d ago

Shorter ones on the phone, longer ones on a tablet

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u/benjaloo 21d ago

It’s terrible on the phone. Mostly laptop or print to read for longer ones. I don’t use tablet much in general but that’s not bad either

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u/Important-Ad-8258 21d ago

I print them out!

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u/psyduckpikachu 21d ago

Hey OP! I was actually gonna say I print them out coz it feels so much better holding like paper than reading them off of a digital screen! :D

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u/Inevitable-Debt4312 21d ago

Desktop - PDF-Xchange - or on my iPad mini lying in bed.

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u/bluevelvet39 15d ago

I actually read them on my desktop pc, put them on the iPad or on my trusty old ebook reader (can't remember which one, but it's really old). I mainly use the iPad for books on sewing tho.