MuPDF
MuPDF is a free, open source PDF viewer and toolkit. It is lightweight, fast, and cross-platform, supporting Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. MuPDF allows you to view PDFs quickly and smoothly while using minimal system resources.
pdf
viewer
opensource
crossplatform
lightweight
MuPDF: Free, Open-Source PDF Viewer & Toolkit
Lightweight, fast, cross-platform PDF viewer and toolkit for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, allowing quick and smooth PDF viewing with minimal system resources.
What is MuPDF?
MuPDF is an open source software library and set of tools for rendering PDF documents. Developed by Artifex Software, MuPDF is designed to be lightweight, fast, and efficient.
As a PDF viewer, MuPDF allows users to quickly open and scroll through PDF files while using minimal system resources. It renders PDF documents smoothly and sharply. MuPDF supports many standard PDF features like annotations, forms, and security.
In addition to a PDF viewer, MuPDF provides a toolkit and APIs for working with PDF programmatically. Developers can integrate MuPDF into their own applications to unlock PDF viewing, parsing, editing, and creation capabilities. MuPDF APIs are available for several programming languages.
Because MuPDF is optimized for high performance and small footprint, it's well suited for use on mobile, embedded systems, and basic desktop setups where resources may be limited. The viewer in particular excels at responsive smooth panning and zooming of PDFs.
Some key capabilities and features of MuPDF include:
- Fast PDF viewing and navigation
- Small executable size
- Minimal dependencies and system resource usage
- APIs for PDF editing and creation
- Partial PDF parsing and content extraction
- Support for many platforms - Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android
With its combination of speed, small footprint, and open source flexibility, MuPDF is popular in basic PDF viewers, scanning/OCR workflows, and mobile/embedded devices.
MuPDF Features
Features
- Fast and lightweight PDF viewer
- Smooth page rendering and scrolling
- Support for annotating, form-filling, and signing PDFs
- Support for reflowing text to fit screen sizes
- Support for PDF links, bookmarks, outlines, and metadata
- Support for searching and indexing PDF text
- Support for PDF digital signatures
- PDF file encryption and decryption
- PDF rendering to images, HTML, and SVG
- PDF creation and manipulation via toolkit API
Pricing
- Open Source
- Free
Pros
Very fast and responsive
Low memory usage
Good support for PDF standards
Actively developed and maintained
Cross-platform - works on many operating systems
Open source with liberal licensing
Can be embedded into other applications
Cons
Basic user interface
Limited built-in annotation tools
Lacks some advanced PDF features like form JavaScript
Not many configuration options
PDF creation/editing features require programming
Official Links
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