PDF documents are popular in society, it is a convenient and versatile format that is supported by almost all modern gadgets - from smartphones to computers, as well as a number of operating systems and platforms. One of the programs that open documents this format is Sumatra PDF.

What is this program and is it needed?

Sumatra PDF is a program that can view PDF files. PDF, DjVu, ePub, FB2, XPS only for operating system Microsoft Windows. This product is free and free. One of distinctive features- lightness, the program does not require a large amount of memory (unlike Acrobat Reader). The amount of memory occupied is about 5 megabytes. This property is key, because often, when downloading a particular file and installing it on our device, we are worried about the issue of the remaining memory.

Useful video

The video shows how to install and use the program. This is for those who perceive video information easier.

The program was designed to be portable, consisting of a single file and free from external dependencies, so Sumatra PDF is a portable application, but the developers have created a second version - with installers.

advantage Sumatra PDF is a minimalistic and understandable interface even for a beginner.

The program supports the Russian language and provides the ability to copy the necessary part of the text being viewed, launch the program from command line and using drag and drop, scrolling with the mouse and customizable keyboard shortcuts. Sumatra PDF, due to its lightness and low weight, has good speed. The app remembers where you left off.

The program is based on the MuPDF engine, which allows you to most fully and correctly deal with image scaling in black and white mode. This is especially useful when working with unrecognized scanned documents and books.

We note the disadvantages: in print mode, the page of the viewed file is automatically converted to bitmap (salient feature program) slow printing may occur on older printers. Also, when opening a file with images, the application may run slowly.

How to use?

Downloading a regular file

Use this program very easy. After setting as the default program, we need to open the required document of the appropriate format. In order to make working with the program more convenient, it will not be superfluous to change some settings.

To do this, we need to run the program itself, click on the "Settings" button located on top panel, then select "Options", in the "Sumatra PDF Options" window that appears, change the "Default Scale" to "Fit to Width", save the changes with the "OK" button.

You can choose your preferred way of displaying pages by clicking the "View" button - two options are presented here: "By two pages" and "Page by page".

Possible inclusion smooth scrolling pages, for this you need to click on the "Allow scrolling" button.

The "Rotate left" and "Rotate right" buttons rotate the page in the selected direction by 90 degrees.

Another feature is to display pages as a presentation, while the height of the page will take up the entire height of your monitor. To do this, select the "Presentation" mode.

To display a document or book in full screen width, select the "Full Screen" option.

"Toolbar" contains necessary tools, pagination, and a field for searching the entire document.

What is the difference between the portable version and the regular version?

The peculiarity of the portable version is that it does not require installation on a computer and does not make any changes in the process of working on documents in the system. You can download a portable version of Sumatra PDF to your flash drive, after that you work with the program using it on other devices and without transferring it from removable media.

It is important to remember that programs designed for a particular operating system will not work on other systems.

Download and install for free

To download the program, select a site with the Sumatra PDF download section, then download the program archive. After the necessary content has been downloaded, unzip the file contents to a folder on your computer (for convenience and quick finding, it is better to create a new one).

Further, it seems necessary to make sure that all documents and books that have formats pdf and djvu, were launched by a double click through Sumatra PDF. Those. make the application the default program.

Further, in order for all books in pdf and djvu formats (also the djv format, which differs from the djvu format only in name) to be opened from your computer when you double-click on them, you need to install Sumatra PDF reader program default for these formats. This procedure is slightly different for Windows 7 and Windows XP, so I provide instructions for both systems.

How to make it the default program?

Portable version

To download the portable version, you need to find it on the site and download it directly to removable media such as a USB flash drive. After that, also unzip the contents and start using the program with all existing functions on any computer.

Having understood the characteristics and features of the program, everyone will decide for himself whether it is worth using this program or not. But in any case, it deserves attention, as it is not overloaded with unnecessary functions and is able to do the job perfectly well.

Sumatra PDF is a completely free application for opening PDF documents in it, as well as files with extensions such as: .CBZ, .DjVu, .CHM, .CBZ, .CBR and .XPS. This application has an interface in a minimalist style, since all the emphasis is on the functionality of the program, which consists in high speed processing supported documents when they are opened. If we compare this application with such a well-known program as Acrobat Reader, their speed differs significantly, and in favor of Sumatra PDF. This happens solely due to the presence in this program of a set of the most necessary functions for the user.

In addition, the Sumatra PDF application has a very convenient plug-in that can work with several browsers that are popular with users. With it, it will be possible to open files without first saving, but directly in the browser window.

This program has another interesting feature, which is the presence of two of its options. The first is the standard Sumatra PDF distribution, which will need to be installed on a computer with all the standard actions for such a situation: installing files in the default Program Files directory, as well as adding the necessary entries to system registry. The second version of this application is a portable version that does not require installation and consists of a single file that can be launched from any external drive.

Additionally, it is worth noting that Sumatra PDF can be downloaded for free by any user who works with documents of those formats that this application supports, since the speed of working with these files will save a lot of time and effort for the people who will actively use it.

Features of Sumatra PDF:

• compact application size;
• high speed of work with opened files;
• very simple and very clear interface;
• integration into most popular browsers;
• the presence of a compact portable-version of the program.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that Sumatra PDF is suitable for all users without exception, even those who only speak their native language, since this application has a multilingual interface, which, among others, also has a Russian version.

If you are looking for free app to open files in DjVu, CBR, PDF and other formats, try using SumatraPDF for these purposes. The program has a pleasant modern interface in Russian, it starts up very quickly and, most importantly, it accurately recognizes "book" formats.

Main characteristics:

• playback of objects with extensions *.epub, *.mobi, *.xps, *.cbr, *.pdf, *.chm, *.djvu, *.cbz;
• low requirements for machine resources;
• modern minimalist interface;
• Windows 64-bit support;
• open source(GPLv3 license).

Principle of operation:

simplicity, compactness and consistency - these are the principles that guided the developer of the utility Krzysztof Kowalczyk. It must be admitted that he succeeded. The first thing that catches your eye after installation is a modern appearance, a menu designed in the style of portable mobile applications, and lightning-fast response to commands. Even if on powerful computer the vaunted Adobe Reader takes a few seconds to process large files, then the hero of our review opens them instantly.

All the necessary tools for comfortable viewing, which the "big brother" has, are also available in Sumatra PDF - there are options for scaling and text alignment, a quick transition to desired page and others. All other functionality that is not available on the panel at the top of the program can be called through the drop-down list (the icon in the form of three horizontal lines next to the name of the open file).

Pros:

• data processing speed;
• support for more than 60 languages ​​(including translation into Russian);
• the presence of a portable version;
• constant updates and bug fixes.

Minuses:

• some users complain about poor-quality image processing (although we did not notice such a difficulty during testing);
• there are no conversion and editing options.

Sumatra PDF is great free viewer, which will be useful both for home use and for working with office documents. It's also nice that the utility developer makes contact with users, is always open to comments, constantly improves the functionality of the application and fixes the errors found.

Analogues:

• doPDF - free PDF converter;
• STDU Viewer - software for viewing "book" format files.

To view PDF files created a large number of programs. Starting from complex, multifunctional applications and ending with simple programs for reading.
If you need a minimalistic program for PDF reader documents, then use Sumatra PDF. This program has a version that does not require installation, and a simple and intuitive interface will allow even an inexperienced PC user to understand the program.

The main difference between Sumatra PDF and other similar programs, such as PDF XChange Viewer, is the extreme simplicity of the interface. Here you will not find dozens of buttons and menus. All controls are a few buttons and one drop-down menu. At the same time, the program contains all the necessary functions for comfortable PDF reading.

Despite the simplicity of the program, it is not inferior to other similar applications such as Adobe Reader in terms of PDF viewing. There are all the standard features for such programs: reducing / increasing the scale of the document, spreading the document, viewing the document by 2 pages or spread.

The program is also capable of displaying PDF in presentation mode, in which switching between pages is carried out with a mouse click, and the document itself is displayed on Full Screen. This is handy when you need to show the PDF to the public.

Sumatra PDF is equipped with a search bar that allows you to find the desired fragment PDF document by word or phrase. In addition to PDF, the application supports a number of other electronic documents: Djvu, XPS, Mobi, etc.

Copying PDF content

You can copy the contents of a PDF document: text, images, tables, etc. for further use for their own purposes.

Print PDF

Printing a PDF document is also not a problem for Sumatra PDF.

Convert PDF to text file

With Sumatra PDF you can get text file from PDF. It is enough to open the PDF in the program and save it as a text file.

Benefits of Sumatra PDF

1. Extremely simple appearance of the program, perfect for an inexperienced PC user;
2. There is a portable version of the program;
3. Program in Russian.

Cons of Sumatra PDF

1. A small number of additional features.

The simplicity of the Sumatra PDF program will even be a plus for some, as it allows you to minimize the number of steps required to view a PDF. Sumatra PDF will be ideal for older people - it is unlikely that they will be able to get lost in the five buttons and one menu of the application. Those who need something more functional should take a look at

In general, I read the comments and decided to compare "by eye"
Compared portable and on the same PDF file.
It is not so much the speed of opening that is important as the loading of pages, moreover, with the transition from the end of the file to the beginning, then to the middle, etc.
For comparison, I took the rules of the board game - because there are a lot of pictures and there is a variety of font / text.
https://yadi.sk/i/AETn1WWedLUAY

My hard drives are relatively old and clogged + OS and file.PDF on different logical, but one physical; Readers, on the other hand, are on a different physical one, so everything is as slow as possible (no, not enough to fall asleep), but still))
Torrents and FireFox are included with many tabs (they don’t eat much, but in addition to RAM, they also occupy hard drives)
Ozu 8, chip - AMD Fenom 925
Files are opened with scaling in width.
Stopwatch = count "and one and two"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Adobe Reader 9 (its folder has been lying around for a long time, that's why I added it to the comparison):
best speed; initially not portable, but you don’t need to install it again (although, I think, the settings are not stored in their folder - so that’s not quite right); the folder with the program is fat 148mb (although, perhaps, there is something superfluous))); as an editor - average.

Adobe Reader XI 11.0.11 - I don't even consider Pro because of the hugeness:
second place in terms of speed (in fact, sometimes faster, sometimes slower 9, but it feels slower in the end), but the size is 194mb; many settings and the ability to edit; as an editor, I think it's better than Foxit - and as a viewer it's also faster.

Foxit Reader 7.2.5.930 :
large size (122 when unpacked and used), but not a lot additional features, the speed is somewhat less than that of the AP.

SumatraPDF :
good for its size, but loses in the speed of displaying and downloading PDF, it is also an exclusively reader, without additional. functions. If you read "page by page" and not click, it loads pages faster than Foxit and even, sometimes, faster than AR.

Infix PDF editor v. 6.38 portable:
the size is average (65), but here is the speed .... well ... however, unlike Sumatra, this is not just a reader ... but when there is Foxit and Adobe ...

STDU Viewer:
I really like how the program (both the size is 10mb and the functionality) ... but the display speed ...... awful ...

Cool PDF Reader 3.1.6.308 ..... EXTREMELY sluggish... immediately turned it off - I don't advise anyone.

I did not find the rest of the portable, but based on the comments, they are all either in the spirit of those considered, or worse.

in general, Adobe and Foxit are noticeably faster than Sumatra.
If you scroll through the document page by page - Sumatra, at times, turns out to be faster (although AP9 almost does not overtake), but if you click on its different places - and it starts to think slowly and "thinks", already noticeably longer than Foxit and Adobe. Also, it takes longer to open the file itself.
Sumatra weighs less, but in fact - only viewing.

AP 9 is the fastest (now I'm looking for a portable one)))). 11 - a little slower, Foxit even slower...
and Sumatra is good only when reading "by the page"; "-" no functional "+" weight.