Created in 1993, PDF is one of the most used formats for the distribution of documents on the net. Many of you have asked us how to read a PDF file on an Android smartphone or tablet. We will explain everything to you..
The success of PDF
The great strength of PDF lies in its ability to preserve the formatting of the original document, whatever the platform or the device used (mobile, tablet, computer, personal assistant, windows, mac, linux, etc.). In just a few years, it has become the standard format for exchanging documents.
Large French administrations swear by him. You just have to take a look at the Pôle-emploi or CAF website to realize this. The majority, if not all of the forms or explanatory sheets made available to Internet users, are now in PDF format..
It is also very popular in the professional world. Problem, reading PDF files necessarily requires an application compatible with this type of format. You will therefore have to download one from the Play Store. Good news, these apps are free.
View a PDF on your smartphone
Reading a PDF document on Android is no longer a problem. Many publishers offer tools capable of managing these documents. There are dozens of them on the Play Store, from the simplest to the most complex..
Rather than making you a non-exhaustive list of PDF readers , we preferred to focus on the most famous of them, Adobe Acrobat Reade r
- Open the Play Store app
- Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader app
- When starting the PDF reader for the first time, you will fall directly on the My Documents section
- Click on the Local tab to view all the PDF files stored in your phone memory
- To open a document, press your finger on one of the names on the list
- PDF will open automatically
- Scroll down to explore the file
- You can also click on the small tab on the right of the screen and enter the number of the page you want to go to.
To zoom into the document, simply double click in the body of the document. The procedure is identical to that used in the photo gallery to enlarge an image.
How to add a comment to a PDF file
The Adobe Acrobat Reader application is not limited to just reading PDF files. You can also use it to add annotations and comments to a document. This function is very useful for transmitting remarks or possible corrections to colleagues.
- Open a PDF file in Acrobat Reader
- Slide your finger from left to right on the screen to bring up the menu bar
- Click on the comments icon
- Then select one of the tools available to you at the bottom of the screen (insert a note, highlight text, strike out sentences, insert your signature, draw directly on the screen)
- Place your finger where you want to place your comment
- Type your text and click OK to validate it.
Of course, there is an option to create and convert Word, Excel and PowerPoint files to PDF format. As you can imagine it is paid and requires a subscription from Adobe.