Sumatra PDF Editor's Review

Viewing PDFs these days is an elementary procedure. You just have to install Adobe Reader and you are ready to view any files with the pdf extension. But what if, instead of installing this huge application, you can use a similar product which is much lighter and much faster? Well, you can choose from a plethora of these type of applications, but Sumatra PDF is the one that meets both important characteristics: small size and fast displaying operation.

Imagine that instead of the 110 MB which represent the size of the latest Adobe Reader, you have to install only 8.30 MB which is the size of the Sumatra PDF Viewer (not the Sumatra Island). Using this application you will get a basic tool for viewing pdf files, with features like: detailed zoom, jump to any page or send by email. Overall this is all that you will get in terms of features from Sumatra PDF, but on the other side of the coin you will get a fast PDF document viewer. Either you open a single page document or an e-book, the loading time is the same for both of them: instant. Even when you browse the pages by scrolling down, there are no glitches in displaying them.

But don't have high hopes, because with Sumatra PDF you can't edit any or create new PDF files. You can only view them. Because of its lack of numerous features, using Sumatra PDF is extremely easy. A single classic toolbar will provide all the necessary command options to manipulate any document. If you want to work even faster a set of hotkey commands are at your disposal. Being an open source project, Sumatra PDF comes with a huge language library for the interface including exotic ones like Basque, Bengali, Frisian, Malayalam or Shona.

Pluses: fast, small, easy, free;

Drawbacks/flaws: no edit files support, cannot create or convert PDF files, online help support;

In conclusion: A small, fast and reliable PDF viewer with an extremely basic interface.