List of PDF software


This is a list of links to articles on software used to manage Portable Document Format documents. The distinction between the various functions is not entirely clear-cut; for example, some viewers allow adding of annotations, signatures, etc. Some software allows redaction, removing content irreversibly for security. Extracting embedded text is a common feature, but other applications perform optical character recognition to convert imaged text to machine-readable form, sometimes by using an external OCR module.

Terminology

  • Creators – to allow users to convert other file formats to PDF.
  • Viewers – to allow users to open, read and print PDF files.
  • Editors – to allow users to edit or otherwise modify PDF files.
  • Converters – to allow users to convert PDF files to other formats.

    Multi-platform

Development libraries

These are used by software developers to add and create PDF features.
NameLicenseDescription
Apache PDFBoxJava developer library for creating, view, extract, print PDF files.
BIRT ProjectOpen-source Java based Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools that can create output into PDF, HTML, Web Viewer, Microsoft XLS, XLSX, Doc, Docx, PPT, PPTX, ODT, ODS, ODP, Postscript, comma-separated values and XML files and can be integrated into websites or extended for individual formats and database output.
Formatting Objects ProcessorOpen-source print formatter driven by XSL Formatting Objects and an output independent formatter; main output target is PDF.
iTextLibrary to create and manipulate PDF, RTF, HTML files in Java, C#, and other.NET languages.
JasperReportsOpen-source Java reporting tool that can write to screen, printer, or into PDF, HTML, Microsoft Excel, RTF, ODT, comma-separated values and XML files.
libHaruOpen-source, cross-platform C library to generate PDF files.
OpenPDFOpen source library to create and manipulate PDF files in Java. Fork of an older version of iText, but with the original LGPL / MPL license.
PDFsharpC# developer library to create, extract, edit PDF files.
PopplerOpen-source multi-backend C++ library derived from Xpdf; no bundled viewer; incl. pdftohtml converter.
TCPDFOpen-source PHP library to create PDF files.

Creators

These create files in their native formats, but then allow users to export them to PDF formats.
NameLicensePlatformsDescription
Adobe AcrobatWindows, macOSDesktop PDF authoring suite.
Adobe IllustratorWindows, macOSIllustrator can save as PDF, and can recognize and edit text and graphics.
Collabora OnlineWindows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS, ChromeOS and OnlineAll Collabora Online applications allow PDF export; supports also PDF/A-4b; since many import formats are supported conversion is also possible.
FineReaderWindows, macOS, LinuxOCR tool; can save as PDF, and recognize text from PDF.
GhostscriptLinux, Windows, macOS, UNIXViewer, creator, converter; supports also PDF/X-3; used by PdfCreator, WinPdf, BullzipPdf, CutePDF freeware version and others.
Microsoft OfficeWindows, macOSAll Microsoft Office products from 2007 version allow users to Save as PDF.
Apache OpenOfficeLinux, Windows, macOSAll OpenOffice.org applications allow PDF export; supports also PDFA; since many import formats are supported conversion is also possible.
LibreOfficeLinux, Windows, macOSAll LibreOffice applications allow PDF export; supports also PDF/A-4b; since many import formats are supported conversion is also possible.
Serif PagePlusWindowsDesktop publishing application; Allows compatible saving as PDF 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.7 and supports also PDF/X-1, PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3.
PageStreamWindows, Linux, macOS, AmigaCross-platform desktop publishing application to open, edit, export.
PrinceLinux, macOS, Windows, Solaris,Converts HTML, XML, SVG, and MathML to PDF by way of CSS.
ScribusLinux/UNIX, macOS, OS/2 Warp 4/eComStation and Windows desktopsCross-platform desktop publishing application; supports also PDF/X-3.
LaTeX, TeXWindows, macOS, LinuxMark-up language and tools to write technical reports, books, magazines, almost any publication type.
LuaTeXWindows, macOS, LinuxTeX typesetting system that creates PDF documents.
pdfTeXWindows, macOS, LinuxTeX typesetting system that creates PDF documents.
XeTeXWindows, macOS, LinuxTeX typesetting system that creates PDF documents.

Viewers

These allow users to view any existing PDF file.
NameLicenseDescription
Adobe ReaderAdobe's PDF reader
EvinceUniversal viewer for GNOME.
Foxit ReaderPDF Viewer / Reader for Desktop computer and Mobile Devices. Allows users to add many elements to PDFs.
GhostviewA graphical interface for Ghostscript.
Javelin PDF ReaderA full functionality PDF reader with support for DRM using encoded and encrypted PDF files in Drumlin's DRMX and DRMZ formats.
ChromiumBrowser includes PDF viewer functionality. Google Chrome uses the same PDF viewer. Microsoft Edge licenses several Adobe features and branding within its PDF viewer.
MuPDFPDF conversion and rendering with anti-aliased graphics.
OkularUniversal viewer by KDE.
PDF.jsA JavaScript library to convert PDF files into HTML5, usable as a web-based viewer that can be included in web browsers. Firefox has PDF.js built-in by default.
QiqqaView PDFs in a variety of zoom layouts, annotate, tag, search, cross-reference.
Utopia DocumentsSemantic scientific PDF reader, allows public comments on PDFs, generates on-the-fly link-outs to scientific databases and resources when used while online.
XpdfReaderMulti-platform viewer based on Xpdf library; source and binaries available for Linux, Windows and Macintosh.

AmigaOS

Converters

  • Antiword: A free Microsoft Office Word reader for various operating systems; converts binary files from Word 2, 6, 7, 97, 2000, 2002 and 2003 to plain text or PostScript; available for AmigaOS 4, MorphOS, AROS x86
  • dvipdfm: a DVI to PDF translator with zlib support

    Viewers

  • XpdfReader: a multi-platform viewer for PDF files, Amiga version uses X11 engine Cygnix.

    Linux and Unix

Converters

  • Collabora Online can be used as a web application, a command line tool, or a Java/Python library. Supported formats include OpenDocument, PDF, HTML, Microsoft Office formats and others.

    Creators, editors and viewers

macOS

Converters

  • deskUNPDF for Mac: proprietary application from Docudesk to convert PDF files to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, image, and data file formats

    Creators

  • macOS: Creates PDF documents natively via print dialog

    Editors

  • Adobe Acrobat: Proprietary PDF authoring suite
  • PDF Expert: Proprietary PDF viewer and editor.
  • PDF Studio: Proprietary software to view and edit PDF documents.
  • PDF Signer: Proprietary; fills forms and embeds image signatures in PDF documents
  • PDFgear: Proprietary viewer and editor.

    Viewers

  • Safari: This bundled web browser has built-in support for reading PDF documents.
  • Firefox: Includes a PDF viewer
  • Google Chrome: Includes a PDF viewer
  • Preview: macOS's default PDF viewer; in Mac OS X v10.5 and later, it also can rotate, reorder, annotate, insert, and delete pages. It can also merge files, create new files from existing files, and move pages between files
  • Adobe Reader: Adobe Systems's reader which is also available for Macintosh; Safari plug-in available
  • Skim, an open-source PDF reader and note-taker for macOS
  • Foxit Reader: Proprietary, freeware. Allows users to add elements to PDFs

    Microsoft Windows

Converters

  • Adobe Acrobat: Can convert files into PDF or convert PDF files into other formats
  • ABBYY FineReader: Commercial PDF converter which converts PDF into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more
  • deskUNPDF: PDF converter to convert PDFs to Word, Excel,,, more
  • GSview: File:Convert menu item converts any sequence of PDF pages to a sequence of images in many formats from bit to tiffpack with resolutions from 72 to 204 × 98
  • Google Chrome: convert HTML to PDF using Print > Save as PDF.
  • gDoc Fusion: Proprietary, shareware; PDF views, edits, converts documents into PDF, XPS or Microsoft Word document; after 30 days a watermark is placed on documents in shareware version
  • OmniPage: Converts to and from PDF and other formats with many options.
  • Nitro PDF Reader: Extracts Images in original resolution.
  • PDF-XChange: PDF Tools and PDF-XChange print driver allow conversion from many formats to PDF. A "lite" version of the print driver is free for non-commercial but places a watermark on documents
  • Qiqqa: Converts Microsoft Word document and Web Pages to PDF.
  • SWFTools: 'pdf2swf component converts PDF to SWF – command line with GUI wrapper
  • poppler-utils a collection of tools builds on poppler to convert PDF contents to everything
  • GraphicsMagick: Can convert PDF to PNG or other formats.