viewer

Soda brings 3D to PDF readers

Soda 3D Reader is Lulu Software's answer to Adobe Reader. While it may not be the most powerful Adobe alternative out there, it does have some nice features and unique 3D functionality that make it worth a look.

The program's interface is clean and inviting, with ribbon-style navigation that should be familiar to Microsoft Office 2010 users. The tabs at the top act as your main menu, with submenus that open up beneath them as you click. And along the left, there's a page preview pane, if you choose to enable it. The program's controls are … Read more

How to view slideshows of local files in Firefox

You use Firefox (or another browser) to view photos on Facebook, Picasa, and other photo-sharing sites, and with Slide Show Viewer, a Firefox extension, Windows users can use Firefox to view slideshows of the photos stored on their hard drive.

After installing the add-on (you can download it here), you'll find it located in the tools menu. You can find the tools menu by going to Option and clicking Menu Bar to show that toolbar. Then from Tools in the menu bar you'll see Slide Show Viewer listed. (You can also add an icon for Slide Show Viewer … Read more

View PEM certificate data with Cert Viewer Plus

The Firefox certificate manager displays data about your security certificates. Cert Viewer Plus is a free Firefox add-on that enhances the certificate manager with the ability to display PEM file data. It also adds a direct link to the certificate manager from the Tools menu as well as a keyboard shortcut.

Cert Viewer Plus installs normally. We opened the add-ons manager in Firefox, accessed Cert Viewer's page, and clicked Options. The add-on's options are minimal and involve configuring the PEM window view. The page also contained some useful information about the add-on, a Wen link, and a screenshot. … Read more

Drag-and-drop Image Viewer

Moo0 ImageViewer displays a wide range of image types in a drag-and-drop interface that offers easy resizing. It incorporates filters and effects, a slideshow feature, and some interesting extras, such as a Cartoon Reader feature that sharpens text images for readability.

During the setup process, we had the option to associate ImageViewer with various image file types by default. The program's attractive, customizable interface offers many quick ways to resize its view and the images it displays, including integrated sliders that expand or contract the image. We could also drag the interface to resize or relocate it; change color, … Read more

Roundup: Remote access iPad apps

There are a number of remote access apps that let you gain control of a PC or a Mac using your iPad. (Many of these apps also work with the iPhone, but I have found that accessing a computer on such a small device is best used only in the case of emergency. Navigating a high-resolution system from the iPad can still feel a bit cramped, but not so much that that you can't use it comfortably.) Remote access apps for the iPad range from the enterprise to the free, and I recently tried out three: LogMeIn Ignition, Splashtop Remote Desktop, … Read more

Failure to laugh

As a kid, we couldn't wait to get our hands on the comic section of the Sunday paper. These days, we get our comic fix by perusing comics on the Web. Comic Reader supposedly offers a one-stop shop for keeping up with all of your favorite comic strips, and while it did offer an impressive list to choose from, it failed to launch any of the comics we selected.

The program's user interface is pretty bland. A gray box appears with buttons for each comic, which are alphabetized. Using the Next and Previous buttons at the bottom of … Read more

Bare-bones PDF converter

PDFs can be useful but they can also be a pain; at one time or another, most of us have encountered a PDF that we wished were in an editable format. ByteScout PDF Viewer is a basic program that lets you not only view PDFs but also export them in editable formats. It's nothing fancy, but it does work.

The program's interface is plain, with a few buttons across the top for its features. You can open and view PDFs, print them, and export them as HTML, text, or Word files. That's the extent of what ByteScout … Read more

Clipboard buddy

Many people are casual users of their clipboard, employing it occasionally to cut and paste Web addresses and other bits and pieces. For other people, including anyone who works with code, the clipboard is a more serious tool. Free Clipboard Viewer is a simple program that lets users view whatever is on their clipboard at a given time in a variety of formats. It's not fancy, but it might be exactly what you need if you're a heavy clipboard user.

The program's interface is plain, consisting mostly of a pane that displays whatever is currently in your … Read more

How to disable Chrome's PDF viewer

Google Chrome's built-in PDF viewer can make opening PDFs super quick. Unfortunately, you don't have access to all of the same tools you can use in apps like Adobe Reader. So how can you choose to download or open PDFs in standalone apps rather than the browser window? It's a quick fix if you follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Chrome and type "about:plugins" into the omnibox at the top.

Step 2: Scroll down and find Chrome PDF Viewer.

Step 3: Click the "Disable" link to prevent PDFs from loading within Chrome.… Read more

PDF program pops

Businesses need affordable PDF solutions that don't require budgeted training time to learn. Soda PDF Professional 2011 with OCR offers itself as the "Smart & Simple" enterprise PDF solution. It proved to be capable, flexible, easy to use, and affordable enough for individuals and organizations that need more than what free tools offer yet can't afford the big-box bundles.

During the installation process, Soda PDF gave us the option to designate it as the default application for PDF files. The program opened with a Getting Started page inside a well-executed interface with attractive, businesslike graphics and … Read more