Xpdf

Xpdf

Xpdf is an open source PDF reader for Linux, Unix, Mac, and Windows systems. It supports viewing, printing, and searching PDF files. Xpdf is lightweight, fast, and has a simple interface.
Xpdf image
pdf reader opensource lightweight

Xpdf: Open Source PDF Reader

View, print, and search PDF files with Xpdf, an open source PDF reader for Linux, Unix, Mac, and Windows systems, offering a lightweight, fast, and simple interface.

What is Xpdf?

Xpdf is a free and open source PDF viewer and toolkit. It can be used to view, print, search, copy text from, and manipulate PDF files. Xpdf runs on Linux, Unix, Windows, and macOS operating systems.

Some key features of Xpdf include:

  • Fast PDF rendering and display
  • Support for searching and indexing PDF files
  • Image extraction from PDF documents
  • Command line tools for PDF manipulation
  • View PDF attachments in email
  • Typeset-quality text and image display
  • Small footprint - only 3MB download size

Xpdf was originally written completely in C++. Over time, code from the Xpdf project has made its way into other open source PDF tools including Poppler and PDF.js. While simple in appearance, Xpdf uses sophisticated techniques under the hood including anti-aliased graphics rendering and font hinting for accuracy.

In summary, Xpdf is a great option for those needing a free, fast, and lightweight multi-platform PDF viewer. Its simple interface belies the advanced rendering capabilities underneath. For Linux users, Xpdf remains one of the most popular and capable PDF tools available.

Xpdf Features

Features

  1. Viewing PDF files
  2. Printing PDF files
  3. Searching text in PDF files
  4. Copy text and images from PDFs
  5. Zoom in/out of pages
  6. View page thumbnails
  7. View document outline
  8. View annotations
  9. Save PDFs

Pricing

  • Open Source
  • Free

Pros

Lightweight and fast

Simple and easy to use interface

Good performance

Supports many platforms

Open source and free

Cons

Limited features compared to proprietary PDF readers

Minimal UI lacking customization options

Lacks advanced PDF editing capabilities

No cloud storage integration


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