Skim
A PDF reader built for notes and highlights
MacFree, open source
The verdict
Preview handles a quick highlight, but Skim is built for reading long papers: one swipe highlights, and every note and highlight collects in one list you can export as text. A reading bar, snapshots that keep a figure in view and SyncTeX for LaTeX writers round it out. It's free and open source, and it's a reader rather than an editor, so changing a PDF's text is PDF Expert's job.
Get it if
You read and mark up long PDFs, like research papers or textbooks, and want your notes in one list.
Skip it if
You open the occasional PDF to sign or skim, and Preview already does highlights and notes.
What it helps you do
- Highlight a PDF with one swipe
- Export all your notes from a paper
- Keep a figure in view while reading
- Jump from a PDF to your LaTeX source
What changed
Added to The Useful Apps
Pick something else if
PDF ExpertPick it if you fix, sign or redact PDFs for work on a Mac, iPad or iPhone.Free to start
NotabilityPick it if you annotate PDFs by hand with an Apple Pencil, often during lectures you're recording.Free to start
OwlOCRPick it if you pull text out of screenshots, scans or PDFs and want it done on your Mac without uploading anything.Free to start
Skim head to head
The details
- Runs on
- Mac
- Version
- 1.7.17
- Open source
- Code is public
Developer's websiteSpot a wrong price or fact?