This article applies only to novaPDF. If you don't have it yet, you must download it first.
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Lorant (Softland)
Feb 02, 2021
novaPDF 10.x, 9.x, 8.x
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novaPDF only creates PDF files, it does not include a PDF reader/viewer. Every now and then we receive an email about why we don't develop a PDF viewer, given that our PDF creator is excellent.
We have considered creating a PDF reader too, but our analysis showed up that developing a PDF viewer is simply not in the benefit of our users or us either, for multiple reasons:
- Creating a new free PDF viewer from scratch is a resource-consuming task and we'd prefer focusing our resources onto improving novaPDF
- There are currently over 23 free PDF viewers out there for all main OS platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux), the main 3 of them with over 90% market share
- There's been little demand from our users for such a program
If you are looking for a free PDF viewer, below is a short comparison between the most popular free pdf readers available:
| Free PDF Readers | Windows | MacOSX | Linux | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader DC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Your Web Browser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sumatra PDF | Yes | - | - | - |
| Google Docs Viewer | - | - | - | Yes |
| Javelin PDF Reader | Yes | Yes | - | - |
| Qiqqa | Yes | - | - | - |
| Evince | Yes | - | Yes | - |
| GSview | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Skim | - | Yes | - | - |
| PDFescape | - | - | - | Yes |
| Xpdf | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Apple Text Preview | - | Yes | - | - |
| Okular | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Slim PDF | - | - | Yes | - |
| MuPDF | Yes | - | Yes | - |
| Soda PDF | Yes | Yes | - | - |
| Haihaisoft Reader | Yes | - | - | - |
| Foxit PDF Reader | Yes | Yes | - | - |
| PDF-XChange Viewer | Yes | - | - | - |
| Nitro PDF Reader | Yes | - | - | - |
| gDoc Fusion | Yes | - | - | - |
| STDU Viewer | Yes | - | - | - |
| Scribd iPaper | - | - | - | Yes |
If you are viewing/opening PDFs occassionally, our recommendation is to use your web browser or Google Docs Viewer. However, if you open PDFs often, you should use a desktop PDF viewer and Adobe Acrobat Reader or Sumatra PDF are our recommendations.
