PDF document annotation

Help & Support
1

Sorry if this has been explained elsewhere. I searched but could not find the answer to my question.

Our office deals with hundreds of files daily. We use various formats but probably 90% of the files are in PDF format. We have used Paperport and more recently a FileCenter trial to handle such files but they each have their shortcomings.

We receive hundreds of faxes each day and the files are essentially dumped into a "to do" folder. Then users access the file and either file to another folder or annotate the file then move. The latter serves essentially as a messaging system.

We've been using Paperport for this. But the last stable version of Paperport was version 9 and it only runs on XP. We obviously need not be using 12 year old software. FileCenter is better but expensive and has several quirks which really slow things down.

Thus, we are looking for a file manager and I've been told DO is the best. But we need the ability to annotate within the viewer without actually opening the file. It would be even better if one could see several files in thumbnail view and annotate them without actually opening the file.

I've not studied DO extensively but our ultimate goal is to get a UHD monitor and have probably 4 windows open showing several folders so that we can quickly move files around. I'm sure DO can be configured to show a number of panes but the annotation feature is really what we need first and foremost. Can DO accomplish this? If so, how? Thanks for your assistance.

2

Just to clarify, you want to add annotations to individual lines/pages within the PDF files, and not just add a description or comment to the file as a whole, correct?

3

Correct. The goal is to view the pdf file within the viewer screen and annotate within without having to actually open the file. I envision perhaps a tool bar shown at the top which would allow for the common annotations (highlight, sticky note, "typewriter" (free text), etc). It would be a bit time saving if other documents could function within the viewer as well (Word, Excel, etc) but those are not vital as 90% of our files are PDF.

In speaking with developers from FileCenter, they tell me that even though you view the file within the viewer and annotate without the file being "opened", it's actually opened behind the scenes but the user doesn't know it. Unfortunately, their software has other nuances that really slow things down if you're working with hundreds of files daily.

Paperport and FileCenter are the only two products I've found that allow the user to stack and unstack pdf files in thumbnail view. We also do this frequently as we sort the pdf documents into stacks within individual folders. Not sure if this is an option with DO. But at last for now, I'd like to have the ability to annotate.

4

Have you tried PDF XChange Viewer? It works with Opus and says it does annotations, although it's possible it doesn't enable all of its features when used to preview files.

tracker-software.com/product ... nge-viewer

There may also be an issue where changes to PDF files aren't saved because Opus views temporary copies of them by default (because most PDF viewers are read-only, and many of them lock the files from being renamed, so a temp copy is locked instead of the real one as a workaround). That can be changed, however.

5

So will the PDF annotation tools of PDF Exchange appear above/in the DO window? If annotation is allowed, then the file should be saved automatically. I think Paperport has a setting "save file on exit" or something of the sort so that it happens automatically.

6

I don't use it myself so I don't know those details. It's free to try.

7

Going to contact them and see what they may have to offer. There are many versions.

8

Note that Tracker Software considers PDF-XChange Editor to have superseded PDF-XChange Viewer though it's not, in my opinion, (yet?) better in all respects.

9

This is not my experience. I am using PP14.5 in Windows 7 and Windows 8. While it is not perfect, it is not unstable. Among long-term users of PaperPort, several later versions have a better reputation than PP9.

If you are processing received faxes, then I assume that you want to run optical character recognition in the incoming faxes so that you have text that you can find and copy. You'll also need it to be able to annotate text on the fly. PaperPort can do this, but there are alternatives.

Looking at your requirements, it seems to be well beyond the normal set of features for a file manager. In my case, I use index and search software (X1) as a front end. I also use Opus to get to found files and, often, Nuance Power PDF Standard, to work on files. For once Nuance seems to have made some genuine improvements, rather than cosmetic changes, in the pro version of this software, fixing some bugs and annoying missing features from previous incarnations.

To be any use, notes and other marks on a PDF file have to be accessible in whatever other software you use. There's no point in creating an annotation that disappears when you open the file in your, or any other, PDF reader/editor. In other words, they have to meet the PDF standards.

Both highlights and notes show in the Opus viewer but the notes are not readable, simply an icon. The same is true of the viewer in X1. But this is not surprising as the viewers use the same technology. (That behind Quickview Plus.) So it isn't just the ability to annotate that you have to worry about.

The feature you ask for, the ability to annotate on the fly outside a PDF editor, sounds great. But I would be surprised if anyone had gone down that road given the need to maintain PDF compatibility.

I would start my search for such a tool I would start with Adobe. If it doesn't make such a toy, then I doubt if anyone does. Of course, if Adobe has that feature, it will want an arm and a leg so then you start the search for an alternative at a less absurd price.

10

Just want to clarify two things:

There is no Opus PDF viewer, and Opus doesn't have to use QuivkView Plus nor use it by default.

Opus can use whichever PDF viewers you choose to install on your system (as long as they provide a method of embedding themselves in another window), so this functionality will vary depending on which viewer you have chosen to use.

11

I have tried PP 10-12 and have read Amazon reviews on 14 and it's hit or miss. And the "support" by Nuance is a joke. Particularly problematic was the sluggish speed over a network for many.

I really have no need for searching the file contents thus OCR is really not necessary. We just have the need to stack and unstack documents quickly. I will checkout the link you provided re: Nuance Power PDF Standard. Thanks for the link.

Of course, there's always the possibility of having custom software developed, but that's even more expensive.

12

You are being too generous. Their self-support user-to-user forum is currently in meltdown. Spammers attacked it yesterday and no one from Nuance seems to have noticed.

I which case, I doubt if you will see much improvement. PaperPort has never been much cop in a network environment. I suspect that you need a grown-up corporate package rather than something aimed at the consumer market.

That might also be a way of getting the annotation features that you want.

13

I'm currently speaking with developers re: other software development. I will mention this to them to get some ball park idea on costs and report back here if you're interested. Probably best not to reinvent the wheel. In other words, use DO as the file manager but create the required PDF functionality within.

14

That makes a lot of sense.

If you can get a package that works on its own, then it will not be restricted to Opus, but would be available to other software that can connect to it, including stuff other than file managers. Of course, it will be much better if it could connect tio Opus, or vice versa.

This idea makes so much sense that you wonder why it doesn't exist, or why we haven't come across it. Maybe it is just a hard one.

15

Agreed. I've looked at file/document managers for years and have yet to find what I'm looking for. Both PP and FC come close.

I know this is a DO forum, but here's an article that offers several document management solutions: businessnewsdaily.com/6091-b ... grams.html

DO offers many more features with respect to file functionality probably than any of these.

Another option for me is to simply keep using PP9 but run in VM/XP. Not really a good long-term solution though.

16

If stacking is important, then you might want to look at Nuance Power PDF.

This has an option to "combine files as one PDF", and in various flavours.

It works through a simple "right click" in Explorer and, of course, Opus.

But as you haven't really tried PaperPort 14, merely read reviews, usually written by people with an axe to grind rather than dispassionate observers, I would at least give it a test.

17

I've used PP for a long time and loved it, but it just never keeps up. I'm one that never updates OS's due to bugs and I know PP will have a brain fart. However, I've been using PP pro 14.5 since it came out and have kept it on a Windows 7. My PP folder is in my Google Drive folder. You can then put that Google Drive folder on all your computers. When one person "prints to paperport", it will then populate on the Google Drive, then everyone can see it. I've had zero issues with that network setup. It's fast even. However, the annotation part is what is killing me now. I recently had a hard drive failure and had to reset Windows 7. I reinstalled PP 14.5 and now the annotations aren't saving. I used to make annotations easily, save, then print to paperport again to save the annotations in the document. now it's not allowing me to. So, I am also looking for some alternative file center program. It's weird that my environment is the same, but I can't duplicate my previous setup in PP that allows it to keep the annotations.