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Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free PDF reader from Adobe Inc., available on various platforms including iPadOS, iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. This review focuses on the PC (macOS and Windows) version of the app. While the free version offers plenty of features, it does have some limitations. Let’s explore what you can do with Adobe Acrobat Reader without upgrading to the paid version.
The app has a somewhat complex interface, and it takes time to get used to all its functions. For this review, we’ll focus on PDF annotation, as PDF editing is a paid feature that we’ll cover in another review of Acrobat Reader Pro DC. The various features in Adobe Acrobat Reader often feel like separate apps due to their wide range of capabilities.
Interestingly, Adobe Acrobat Reader seems to have two different looks that randomly switch without warning. There’s no option to toggle between the old and new designs, which can be frustrating. Thankfully, Adobe has addressed this bug, making it easier to switch between them. The new look features a floating toolbar, which has become quite popular among app developers. In Adobe Acrobat Reader, this toolbar doesn’t overlap with your PDF as long as it stays in its default position. However, if you move it, overlapping occurs, and you can’t change its orientation when moving it to the top or bottom of the screen. So, while the toolbar is technically movable, its limited flexibility means it’s not as mobile as it could be.
You can add or remove some tools from the toolbar, but others are fixed and cannot be customized. While any customization is helpful, it would be better if there were more flexibility. The new design gives Adobe Acrobat Reader a more modern feel, but unfortunately, it didn’t stick around long enough during our review.
In terms of annotation, Adobe Acrobat Reader allows you to highlight, underline, and strike out text in your PDF. You can choose between a straight or squiggly underline, though accessing this option isn’t as straightforward as it could be. Changing the color of your annotations is easy, and the app offers a decent selection of preset colors. However, we’d love to see more colors available directly on the toolbar for those who use multiple colors in their annotations.
While you can’t adjust the line thickness for underlines and strikeouts in the free version, this is clearly indicated, so you won’t waste time looking for an unavailable feature. The ability to keep tools selected for multiple uses without reselecting them each time is a welcome feature, making annotation smoother and more efficient.
As you annotate, Adobe Acrobat Reader keeps a detailed record, allowing you to add notes to explain your annotations. The app also tracks any modifications to annotations or comments, which is particularly useful if you need to monitor changes. You can even assign different statuses to your annotations, making it easier to manage and track them.
When adding text, you have two options: place it in a text box or directly onto the PDF. Both options allow you to change the font, size, and color, with a wide range of fonts to choose from, including custom fonts. However, the text added directly to the page is more like an illusion, as it’s actually placed in an invisible text box. This type of text is harder to move or resize, making visible text boxes more practical. Unfortunately, neither type can be rotated.
For text boxes, you can align your text, make it bold, italic, underline, or strike it out. The app also supports superscript and subscript, but the icons for these features aren’t very intuitive, which can be confusing. Adobe Acrobat Reader deviates from the standard icons used by most apps, making it harder to find basic formatting options.
You can customize the fill and border colors of your text boxes, though adjusting the opacity changes all elements of the box at once, rather than individually. This lack of fine-tuned control is a bit limiting. Callouts, which are text boxes with an arrow pointing to a specific part of the PDF, share similar customization options but are easier to adjust in terms of border thickness.
Adobe Acrobat Reader also allows you to draw straight lines, arrows, and both regular and irregular shapes. You can customize the color, opacity, and thickness of these elements, and even change or remove arrowheads. However, irregular shapes can’t be resized, and some can’t have a fill color. Despite these limitations, the shapes tool is adequate for basic PDF annotation needs.
Stamps are another feature available in Adobe Acrobat Reader, with a selection of dynamic stamps that update with the date and time, signature stamps, and standard business stamps. You can also create custom stamps, though the process is limited to using PDFs, and the results aren’t great. Still, the ability to save your favorite stamps for easy access is a useful feature.
You can attach files like audio, images, PDFs, and videos to your PDF, which is an exciting feature. However, large files can slow down the app significantly, and there’s no indication of the maximum file size allowed for attachments. The app also offers an audio recording feature, but we were unable to get it to work despite checking all settings. If you’ve had success with this feature, we’d love to hear about it.
Adobe Acrobat Reader tracks all your annotations and allows you to comment on most of them, though not on callouts or signatures. You can hover over a comment to see its first thread and track who made comments, which is great for collaboration. However, the status feature for annotations feels underdeveloped and unnecessary.
The app’s search function is robust, allowing you to filter and sort through your annotations and comments, making it easier to find what you need. Collaboration is also a strong point, with options to invite people to comment on your document, set deadlines, and share links.
Fill and sign work well for forms optimized for Adobe Acrobat Reader, with options to fill text fields, resize text, and add checks or x’s. Signatures can be typed, handwritten, or added as an image, with a few font options for typed signatures. However, drawing a signature with a mouse is challenging, so adding an image of your signature is often easier.
The app also includes measuring tools for distance, perimeter, and area, though these are likely more useful for specialized users.
While Adobe Acrobat Reader does support bookmarks and outlines, you can’t save bookmarks, which is a drawback. The app also allows for various page views, though the default single-page view with paged scrolling isn’t ideal, and the app doesn’t save your preferred view settings.
There are limitations to the free version, particularly in terms of page editing, as you can’t rotate, add, or delete pages. These are basic features that are often needed, making the free version less practical for more extensive document management.
Overall, Adobe Acrobat Reader offers a range of useful features, especially for collaboration, but it suffers from performance issues, including frequent freezing and poor RAM management. While it’s not our top choice for a PDF reader, it’s worth trying if you’re looking for a free option with solid collaboration tools.
