The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

NOTE: If you'd like some analysis of what the program can do after the 30 day trial period, skip down to this post.

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A free PDF Viewer with what looked like a lot of functionality but I didn't make it very far into testing.

Steps:

Install requires admin
Uncheck make default PDF viewer
Installs MS Visual C++ Redist, requires reboot

Status: Not Portable. Obviously if it requires admin and a reboot, there's no way it's portable

Size: Massive. 1.1 Gigs. Fairly sure it's Electron-based.

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Sites:
https://www.bluebeam.com/solutions/vu (downloading here requires registration)
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-to ... m-Vu.shtml

webfork wrote: ↑Size: Massive. 1.1 Gigs.

Midas wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2019 8:07 am

Same here. It's like they're trying to break a record.

webfork wrote: ↑It's like they're trying to break a record.

All that for a mere PDF viewer? Compare the footprint with Sumatra's, e.g...

Midas wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:01 pm All that for a mere PDF viewer? Compare the footprint with Sumatra's, e.g...

lol ... I had to go an look: even the notoriously bulky Acrobat Reader lists a requirement for only 380MB of available hard-disk space. So they're winning that race by quite a margin.

webfork wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2019 6:02 pm

Midas wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:01 pm All that for a mere PDF viewer? Compare the footprint with Sumatra's, e.g...

lol ... I had to go an look: even the notoriously bulky Acrobat Reader lists a requirement for only 380MB of available hard-disk space. So they're winning that race by quite a margin.

that's what i was gonna say, Adobe is the first bloatware i remove from a new computer

So I went ahead and installed it because -- you know -- made it this far. Bluebeam-vu is really just a blueprints viewer underneath a PDF tool. There's not so much in terms of PDF functionality as supporting the blueprints functionality.

The program uses CefSharp, a dotNET tool that lets you embed Chromium in dotNET apps. Since Microsoft bought Github they of course had to integrate it with their own thing so you've basically got two frameworks overlapping, hence the size. I'm going to call it "MS Electron" because this is probably going to be a thing. https://cefsharp.github.io/

RAM usage was around 340 megs on Win10x64. The program appears to run in 32-bit.

Synopsis wrote:Looking for a free PDF viewer built with the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industry in mind? Test drive the full version of Bluebeam® Revu® 2018 and gain access to award-winning PDF creation, editing, markup and collaboration technology. After your trial ends, Revu will convert to View Mode, allowing you to continue to review, organize and navigate your project documents with ease. "

webfork wrote: ↑The program uses CefSharp, a dotNET tool that lets you embed Chromium in dotNET apps. [...] I'm going to call it "MS Electron" because this is probably going to be a thing. https://cefsharp.github.io/

Midas wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2019 8:07 am

webfork wrote: ↑Size: Massive. 1.1 Gigs.

If there ever was a case for outright rejection, that size abomination should suffice...
(people have been shot for perpetrating lesser offence )

__philippe wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:33 pm If there ever was a case for outright rejection, that size abomination should suffice

With a big caveat that I'm not sure what all functions remain after the trial period is over, you might want to put up with the stunning program requirements / size if you work with PDFs a lot.

• As you might expect in a program of this type, the measurements and object management is really outstanding, with very fine controls over rotation and loads of other details.
• The search view is nicely designed and easy to use, but I'm a little spoiled on PDF XChange's search tools, which are some of the best I've used anywhere.
• The batch operations alone are worth some of the trouble as the menu system is clearly designed and intelligent.
  • Detailed security controls with high security settings (most freeware options use the outdated RC4 algorithm)
  • The comparison tool is a per-pixel check so if you move a logo over just one pixel, it will write a red "cloud" box over it. The program will work in batch with numerous files and compare them intelligently by name and contents. To my knowledge, there is no freeware equivalent.
• Add and remove colors.
• Repair PDFs.
• Page numbering.
• The Links section shows a list of hyperlinks inside the PDF, which is nice.

Negatively, the program adds itself to whatever Microsoft Office installations, which I didn't like, but also didn't really surprise me.

As usual,
webfork, is presenting his customary fine dissection of a noteworthy program,
gently venturing why one might want to put up with extravagant looking requirements,
pinpointing singular features invaluable in a particular working environment,
and why specific functions are better/worse compared to competitive products.

Thanks for that !

(and pls forgive any snide remarks of mine, ever so slightly over the top )

__philippe wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:35 am (and pls forgive any snide remarks of mine, ever so slightly over the top )

Nah ... I see myself as a kid who plays with toys all day and then talks about how cool or not cool they are on a website. I'm just glad you're part of the conversation.

I couldn't find anything on what happens after the trial period so I just waited the 30 days to when it essentially switches to the program's own View Mode. It maintains some excellent features:

• Image search - the program will search based on an image, meaning if you're looking for information that was saved as a thumbnail, it will look for items on the page that look like it. If you're someone who builds documents from other documents, you'll probably need this at some point.
• Measurements - a really remarkable number of analysis tools are present. Again, this is primarily for layouts and blueprints, but I can imagine a lot of other uses.
• Loads of great view options including:
  
  • Multiple split tools - to break a file into multiple panes for easy reference. Great for huge screens.
  • Dimmer - turns text and images black and white and then softens the text. Great for seeing small details and sometimes improves readability.
  • Markups list - you can't add anything but you can view all markups and it's one of the better implmeentations of this function. I still have yet to find a really good export to spreadsheet.

There's no ability to add comments or other document addendum so you'll want PDF XChange or other free tools for that functionality.

Conclusion: Despite the huge size, there's definitely some features for people who constantly use PDF.