Nuance PDF Reader

The Adobe PDF Reader is the most popular application for opening documents in PDF format, but there are many other applications out there which offer much more in terms of functionality. An excellent example is Nuance PDF Reader. It provides various annotation features and it comes with cloud-based conversion capabilities as well. The best part is that Nuance PDF Reader doesn't come with any restricted functions, unlike the Adobe reader.

The software is offered completely free of charge. It works on Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 and Win 8 and it takes about a minute to install it. Besides the standard settings, like selecting a destination folder or creating shortcuts, the setup wizard will present other configuration options, for enabling or disabling JavaScript-based features and for setting Nuance PDF Reader as your default PDF viewer.

Nuance PDF Reader looks and feels like the Adobe-developed PDF Reader. The user interface presents a series of options on a toolbar and you can bring up different panels on its left side, on which you can view the loaded document's pages, bookmarks, signatures and other elements. The navigation and zooming controls can be found on the lower edge of the interface, where you can also find annotation and attachment lists.

The aforementioned toolbar contains everything you need to insert notes, annotations and text boxes. Additionally, you can highlight, underline and strike out text, insert shapes and attach files or sounds. It is also possible to search for words or phrases, using various parameters and to send the loaded document via email.

When it comes to converting documents, Nuance PDF Reader works differently than other applications. Once you click the conversion option, the program will upload and encrypt the document on the cloud and it will open a web page, on your default browser, on which you can choose an output format. Additionally, you have to create a password and specify an email address, on which you want to receive your converted file. PDFs can be converted to Word or Rich Text Format, to Excel or to WordPerfect. The conversion process itself is quite fast. You will receive the converted file by email, before you finish reading the final instructions.