Your guide to digital annotation: Part 2
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Last month, we told you about PDF-XChange Viewer, our recommended PDF annotator for Windows. This time, we’re focused on the iPad—and we’ve discovered an amazing tool we think you’re going to love.
PDF Expert
The PDF Expert app from Readdle ($9.99) is a dream come true for iPad-loving litigators who need to review and annotate paperless transcripts—or any legal document in PDF format. If you still think the iPad is just a novelty item for checking email outside the office, think again. No need to lug folders full of documents to review at the airport or go over during lunch. Just fire up your iPad and open the PDF Expert app. In minutes, you’ll find that document review is—dare we say it—almost fun. (Think finger painting for adults.) No more pens and paper for annotation. All you need is an easy finger touch and swipe to the screen.
Key feature: Versatile file sharing
PDF Expert allows you to upload files from your computer, emailed attachments, Dropbox, Google Docs, etc. The app reads almost all document types, including iWork, MS Office, PowerPoint, text files, images, even music and video files. Once you’ve reviewed and annotated a file, you can share it to other electronic devices for further review by yourself or colleagues. Files can be opened and read by most other PDF readers.
Key feature: Annotating documents
The features on PDF Expert read like a Swiss Army knife of annotation tools: highlighting text in colors, underlining, strikeouts, sticky notes, the ability to free hand or type text notes with a pop-up keyboard, add arrows, circles and boxes to highlight a section. This is literally an office supply store in an app. Everything you need is in the tool box, including a stamp tool with those nifty stickers like “sign here,” “draft” and “confidential.”
There’s more. You can add an image from your camera roll or photo albums, and record and attach an audio message to any document.
You can review one document, then switch and review another file seamlessly.
Key feature: Sear
ch document and fill in forms and add signature
PDF Expert lets you search documents for key words or phrases and generates a list of their context and location. In addition, you can fill in PDF forms, including adding text, checking boxes and selecting options from a drop-down list.
Key feature: Editing pages in thumbnail mode
In thumbnail mode, you can add new empty pages, copy and paste, move, delete and rotate existing pages. You can also select specific pages you’d like to move to a new document or email.
You’re gonna love it.
We’ve touched on just a few of the features of this outstanding app—and there are many, many more. We’ve added it to the list of apps we cover in detail in our MCLE-accredited class, “Practical iPad: The Essential Primer for Legal Professionals.” You owe it to yourself to check out PDF Expert. You’ll never look at document review the same way again.
And if you’d like to schedule an iPad class for your office, just get in touch, and we’ll make it happen. Enjoy!
