PDF Reader Software PDFXchange Viewer

Most office workers more or less deal with PDF files. PDFXchange Viewer has been my favorite PDF reader for several years. It is so good that I switched my calendar from paper copy to electronic PDF file. This is the type of software that I wish I could write as a developer.

The software was produced by a Canadian company Tracker Software, and it has a free portable version which includes lots of useful features. Here is a quote from the website,

PDF-XChange Viewer ‘Free Version’ is free for private and commercial use, provided it is not bundled with other software for financial gain. The Viewer as well contains extra features and functions that are unlocked when you purchase a license for PDF-XChange Viewer PRO.

It has a portable ZIP version which a user can extract files into any local directory. The size of extracted files is about 15MB. I only copy four files PDFXCview.exe, resource.dat, Portable.dat, and Settings.dat to new directories and it seems to work without problem.

The free version contains many feathers. I mostly use two functions: line drawing and typewriter. I map the key l to line drawing and key w for typewriter. I also map key - to zoom out and = to zoom in, which is the same as in Inkscape.

So, the advantages of PDFXchange View are,

1. It is free but of really high quality;
2. Easy to customize; and
3. Small and portable.