Reading and saving pdf files on Linux are made a bit tricky. There are considerable number of pdf related tools which are not ideal or unreliable in terms of functionality, handling of pdfs and many more. But, finding best pdf program for linux and best pdf software for linux is one of the things that should be highly considered by everyone.
In this article we will Learn about Best Pdf Program for Linux. Pdf stands for Portable Document Format and Linux is a operating system (OS) based on UNIX. We can use Linux as an operating system in desktop, server, mobile devices and cloud computing. Linux is one of the popular choice of server OS and embedded OS.
Linux is becoming more and more popular among users from different corners of the world, including those who were unfamiliar with this great operating system. This means that Linux community is constantly growing, which also leads to a huge number of new (and advanced) applications for it.
Do you need pdf editing program for linux? Are you a teacher who wants to create professional pdf documents in linux system? PDF Editor for Linux is a cool text editor for creating professional and customized pdf documents. It will allow you to edit and create high quality pdf files on your computer.
Which is the best Linux PDF editor for Linux?
All the Linux PDF editors that you see in this review editorial are best. However, a few names that stand out are Inkscape, LibreOffice Draw, Qoppa PDF studio, Okular, and Master PDF editor. These are a few names that have a seamless performance rating.
Okular
It is universal document viewer which is also a free software developed by KDE. It can run on Linux, Windows, Mac OSX and many other Unix-like systems. It supports many document formats such as PDF, XPS, ePub, CHM, Postscript and many others.
It has following features:
- Embedded 3D model
- Subpixel rendering
- Table selection tool
- Geometric shapes
- Adding textboxes, and stamps
- Copy images to clipboard
- Magnifier and many more
To install Okular PDF reader in Linux, use apt or yum to get it as shown:
$ sudo apt-get install okular OR # yum install okular
![Okular Linux PDF Reader](https://obiztools.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Okular-Linux-PDF-Reader-500x430.png)
Visit Homepage: https://okular.kde.org/
Evince
It is a lightweight document viewer which comes as the default on Gnome desktop environment. It supports document formats such as PDF, PDF, Postscript, tiff, XPS, djvu, dvi, plus many more.
It has features such as:
- Search tool
- Page thumbnails for easy reference
- Document Indexes
- Document Printing
- Encrypted Document Viewing
To install Evince PDF reader in Linux, use:
$ sudo apt-get install evince OR # yum install evince
![Evince Linux PDF Reader](https://obiztools.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Evince-Linux-PDF-Reader-500x443.png)
Visit Homepage: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince
Foxit Reader
It is a cross platform, small and fast secure PDF reader. The latest version as of this writing is Foxit reader 7 which offers some security features that protect against vulnerabilities.
It is features-rich with features including:
- An intuitive user interface
- Support for scanning documents into PDF
- Allows shared viewing of documents
- Commenting tools
- Add/verify digital signatures and many more.
To install Foxit Reader on Linux systems, follow below instructions:
$ cd /tmp $ gzip -d FoxitReader_version_Setup.run.tar.gz $ tar -xvf FoxitReader_version_Setup.run.tar $ ./FoxitReader_version_Setup.run
![Foxit Linux PDF Reader](https://obiztools.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Foxit-Linux-PDF-Reader-500x390.png)
Visit Homepage: https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/pdf-reader/
Firefox (PDF.JS)
It is a general-purpose web based PDF viewer built with HTML5. It is also an open source, community driven project that is supported by Mozilla labs.
To install PDF.js in Linux systems, follow the below instructions:
$ git clone git://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js.git $ cd pdf.js $ npm install -g gulp-cli $ npm install $ gulp server
and then you can open
http://localhost:8888/web/viewer.html
Visit Homepage: https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js
Adobe Reader
Adobe Reader is a very popular PDF reader on almost all popular platforms. If you have recently switched from Windows, you must be familiar with Adobe Reader. Earlier it was not available for Linux, but now it is available with all the features you experience on Windows and Mac.
Adobe Reader seems to be #1 PDF reader in terms of features and overall user experience. It offers features like adding annotations documents, document printing, etc. You need to install it manually on Linux by running the following commands one by one because it is not available in Ubuntu Software Centre.$ sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-murrine:i386 libcanberra-gtk-module:i386 libatk-adaptor:i386 libgail-common:i386
$ sudo add-apt-repository “deb http://archive.canonical.com/ precise partner”
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install adobereader-enu
Evince
Evince is a document viewer basically designed for the GNOME desktop environment. It comes bundled with all Linux repositories, and you can install it manually using the command given below. Evince is a lightweight and simple PDF reader which offers a very good overall user experience.
Evince offers Thumbnails, Search Tool, Printing, and Encrypted Document Viewing features. It supports document formats like PDF, XPS, Postscript, dvi, etc.$ sudo apt-get install evince
Zathura
Zathura is a free and easy-to-use lightweight document viewer popular among Linux users. Zathura offers features like search, mouse-free navigation, synctex support, bookmarks, automatic document reloading and easy customization.
![](https://obiztools.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Best-PDF-Readers-for-Linux-4-500x396.jpg)
Zathura has a very simple user interface that works on minimal hardware resources. It supports document file formats such as PDF, PostScript, DjVu, etc. You can install this document viewer from Ubuntu Software Centre or manually from Terminal using the following command.$ sudo apt-get install zathura
Scribus
Scribus is an open-source desktop publishing software built for Linux and other UNIX-based systems such as Solaris, FreeBSD, and NetBSD. It is free and multi-platform and its main focus is in creative desktop publishing with stunning text layouts for high-quality, high-level printing and image-setting equipment. As such, It serves as a perfect substitute for other elaborate and expensive desktop publishing applications.
Scribus supports a long list of file formats including PDF, image formats such as JPEG, PNG, and TiFF, SVG, and vector formats such as EPS and Ai for Adobe Illustrator.
Unfortunately, Scribus doesn’t give you much leeway in terms of editing PDF documents. Like Okular, you are limited to making minor changes such as annotations using text, lines, and boxes.
Foxit PDF Editor & PDF Editor Pro
Foxit is a fully-featured, widely used, and multi-platform software that provides a comprehensive suite of PDF solutions that are tailored for your environment – whether it is a small or big company or even for individual use. It provides users with a PDF reader, PDF editor, PDF eSign, and other online document conversion solutions.
The Foxit PDF reader is free, however other PDF solutions including the PDF Editor are proprietary. The PDF editor gives you a 14-day trial after which you will be required to upgrade by purchasing a one-time lifetime purchase.
Foxit PDF editor allows you to perform the following tasks.
- Easily update PDF documents. You can fill forms, change document layout, modify font size, color, line spacing, add multimedia content and so much more.
- Permanently redact and remove text and images.
- Protect documents with password encryption.
- Digitally Sign PDF documents.
- Scan and COR documents.
- Export PDF files to multiple formats e.g doc, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
- Splitting and merging documents.
- Sharing and collaborating on PDF documents.
- View and print PDF files.
On top of everything that the PDF Editor offers, the PDF Editor Pro version offers advanced editing, security, and collaboration features. It’s mostly used by large organizations and businesses that require advanced PDF editing solutions.
![Foxit - PDF Editor for Linux](https://obiztools.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Foxit-PDF-Editor-for-Linux-500x313.png)
Master PDF Editor
Developed and maintained by Code Industry Master PDF editor is yet another cross-platform and proprietary PDF editor that comes equipped with robust PDF editing functionalities.
Unlike the Foxit Reader, Master PDF editor provides a free version that gives you basic PDF editing features. To harness the full potential of the PDF editor, users are required to upgrade to the full version.
With Master PDF Editor, you can:
- Create new PDF documents and modify existing ones.
- Create and fill in PDf forms.
- Create, edit, and remote bookmarks.
- Encrypt and/or protect PDF files using 128-bit encryption.
- Append PDF controls such as checkboxes, lists, buttons, etc into your PDF documents.
- Merge and split PDF files.
- OCR recognition.
- Export/import PDF images into widely-used formats such as PNG. JPEG and TIFF.
- Digitally sign PDF documents.
- Change font attributes such as font size, color, etc. In addition, you can italicize, underline and make the font appear bold.
![Master PDF Editor for Linux](https://obiztools.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Master-PDF-Editor-500x284.png)
Install Master PDF Editor in Linux
The installation of Master PDF Editor is quite straightforward. Head over to the official download page and download your distribution package.
----- On Debian-based Linux ----- $ wget https://code-industry.net/public/master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.deb $ sudo apt install ./master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.deb
----- On RHEL-based Linux ----- $ wget https://code-industry.net/public/master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.rpm $ sudo rpm -ivh master-pdf-editor-5.8.20-qt5.x86_64.rpm
PDF Studio
Foxit PDF Editor or Master PDF Editor are quite pricey. If you are on a budget, you might want to consider PDF Studio – is a powerful and affordable commercial PDF editor developed by Qoppa Studio. It supports Windows, Linux, and also mac.
PDF studio provides two editions: Standard and Pro. The standard edition allows you to:
- Create new PDF documents and modify existing ones.
- Fill In & Save PDF Forms.
- Digitally Sign PDF documents.
- Create and modify watermarks, headers, and footers.
- Annotate documents with text, shapes, lines.
- Split and merge PDF documents.
- Protect / Secure PDF documents.
- Scan documents to PDF format.
Install PDF Studio in Linux
To install PDF Studio on Linux, head over to the official download page and download the 64-bit installation script.
Once downloaded, head over to the ‘Downloads’ directory.
$ cd Downloads
Then run the shell script file.
$ sh ./PDFStudio_linux64.sh
GNU GV
GNU GV is a document viewer which helps you view and read PDF documents on an X display by providing a graphical user interface for the Ghostscript interpreter. It is a very simple and easy to use document viewer which supports document file formats like PDF, PostScript, etc.
GNU GV offers very basic features which you will find in any normal document viewer. You can install GV document viewer from Ubuntu Software Centre or manually from Terminal using the following command.$ sudo apt-get install gv
PDFelement
This is another web-based PDF editor that you can access on any platform you want. This is a contract management system that industries can create, convert, edit, split, merge and sign PDFs. There is also another specific feature in this editor, which allows you to give comments and reviews to a certain PDF section. This is one of the most advanced PDF editors with a drag-and-drop editing feature.
Smallpdf
It is the most widely known and open-source PDF editing tool available on the internet. As it is a web-based editing tool, you can use it on all the OS platforms that you want. Users can access the integration of texts, images, shapes, annotations, and several other features in this tool. This platform also allows you to add the signature to PDF. Small PDF also comes with two versions: a basic version and a premium version. You will get several features in the premium version without any credit demand from the platform.
How can I edit a PDF on PDF editor?
If you want to edit a PDF using the PDF editor, you need to go to the File menu. In the file, click on the open the document to open the PDF that you want to edit. The editor will then open the document with some editing options for you. In the editor, you can edit different elements of the PDF document, such as images, texts, and many more. You can also add new images if you want. Once you complete your editing save the file in the desired location in your system.
Conclusion
Linux excels in just about everything, except for one thing: printing. When it comes to printing and working with different kinds of documents, you have to rely on a third party application. However, getting an intuitive, third partyapplication to work as perfectly as Microsoft Word can be challenge. Best Pdf Program For Linux is what you need to learn more about this topic
There are some options you have to open pdf files using your Linux operating system. Free PDF Editor, a self-descriptive name, opens pdf files on Linux. This program enables you to edit pdf file contents, add, remove and modify contents, and much more. It is actually an amazing tool used to manipulate the original pdf document in order to gain results that are most needed by operators.