PDF Expert has gotten even better for Students and Educators - you asked - we delivered!

We are passionate about creating the best PDF tool for students and educators, and we do so by offering excellent UI and by actively listening to your feedback and delivering on your wants and needs. With the latest technologies at our fingertips, we ensure that PDF Expert is not only easy to use but also provides an engaging learning and teaching experience - whether you are browsing lecture notes on a subway or finishing a thousand-pages research paper.

The four recent updates - Logic page numbering, Precise search, Hotkeys to change color, and a new presentation experience, - were the most requested ones by students and educators. Precise search and logical page numbering make it much easier to navigate PDFs of any size and arrange document pages. Hotkeys to change color is a game-changer for students, who have developed their own color coding system for document annotation. We are also especially thrilled about an updated experience for external screens, as it allows you to tailor engaging presentations on your iPhone or iPad. 

However, it's crucial to note that these features are platform-specific. Precise Search, Hotkeys for the color change, and Logic Page Numbering are available for Mac users only, while the Enhanced Presentation Mode has been launched exclusively for iOS.

Let’s dive deeper into each feature and see how they can benefit learning and teaching experiences.

Updates for Mac users

Precise Search and Logic Page Numbering makes it much easier to navigate PDFs of any size and arrange document pages. Hotkeys to change color is a game-changer for students, who have developed their own color coding system for document annotation.

Please note that Logic Page Numbering is available only for the Mac version downloaded from our website. 

Case-sensitive and “whole words only” search. Precise and fast!

Nothing is more annoying than going through dozens of pages looking for specific info and stumbling across look-alike results. Before, our search function would find all instances that match the search criteria, but our users highlighted the need for more advanced search options as it couldn’t distinguish between whole words and part of words. Precise search enables case-sensitive search and searches for 'whole words only', helps users save time by cutting down irrelevant results and finding the exact word you’re looking for.

Case-sensitive search helps look for abbreviations like “EU.” Before, you had to scroll through numerous irrelevant results like “Europe”, “euro”, etc. Search for 'Whole words only' helps you find the exact word. For example, if you search for “ring”, PDF Expert will filter out irrelevant results like “engineering” or “ringtone.” For long documents and short words like “we”, this option is a huge time-saver.

How to use the precise search:

1. Open a PDF file.
2. Click on the search icon.
3. Enter your search query.
4. Tap on the arrow near the search icon and select Match Case or Whole Words.

This will allow you to breeze through PDFs, find the exact information faster, and nail those research and assignments! 

Logic page numbering: label pages like you need

Teachers and students use and rely on labeling their learning materials for teaching and learning across many different classes and projects. We know they shared feedback about the number “1” being set on the page, but it did not match the actual page number in the PDF document. This was often the case with scanned documents. 

The logic page numbering feature allows you to label page numbers in a way that suits your need, selecting the first page manually. We’ve added the following options to page management:

• "Label This Page Forward as 1,2,3,4..." - number everything from the currently selected page to the end of the document with Arabic numerals, putting the "1" link to the selected page.
• "Label This Page Forward as i, ii, iii, iv,..." - number everything from the current page to the end of the document in Roman numerals, putting the "i" link to the selected page.
• "Label as Cover" option gives the label "Cover" to the selected page.

Note: The context menus are available and active only with one selected page. If a page range is selected, you cannot activate these menus.

To use page numbering in PDF Expert, follow these steps:

1. Open a PDF file. 
2. Click the “Page thumbnails” icon in the upper left corner or use the shortcut CMD+4.
3. In the "Page thumbnails" click the page number under the preferred page, and you will see the three options in the context menu.
4. Select an option from the context menu options i.e. "Label This Page Forward as 1,2,3,4...", "Label This Page Forward as I, ii, iii, iv,...", or "Label as Cover".

Alternative ways to change page numbering:

• Open a PDF file > select Edit in the top main menu > Page Labels.
• Open a PDF file > Right-click anywhere within the page that doesn't have text or annotations > Page Labels.

You can always Undo or Redo these Logic Page Numbering actions. 

Hotkey to change color for fast and enjoyable annotations

Many of our students and researchers users have their own color coding systems for annotating PDFs. Naturally, they switch between several colors all the time through the menu, while there can be a way to save time and avoid additional clicks.

This is why we’ve added hotkeys to change colors quickly. It is a time saver feature as users can now easily switch between colors while annotating PDFs and focus more on active reading. Color change hotkeys work for all Annotation tools that have a color palette to them, including Pen and Shapes.

How to use a hotkey to change color: 

1. Go to the “Annotation” section in the main menu
2. Choose a submenu for selecting colors and easily choose a color you need.
3. If the section of the PDF which you choose has a color picker active, then you will be able to choose the color submenu and select from the color options.

You can also just use hotkeys like ⌥⇧⌘1 to change colors.

Tip: You can just select text in the doc and use the same hotkeys for changing color to highlight it, even if no Annotation tool is selected. 

Learn how our user, @thoughtsofaphd, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical science in Canada, uses color coding and stamps to process and analyze huge amounts of books and papers. 

Updates for iOS users

We are also especially thrilled about a new experience for external screens for iOS users, as it allows you to tailor engaging presentations on your iPhone or iPad.

Create captivating presentations with the new Presentation mode and Pointer tool

During our user interviews, we noticed that our customers experienced some troubles with “Enter presentation mode” and external screen toolbar banners, also, they wanted access to annotation tools and laser pointer during presentations to highlight something for the audience on screen. That's what inspired us to address these issues and create a better presentation experience in PDF Expert.

As the presentation mode is one of the most popular and important features for educators, it is crucial for us to make it as efficient and intuitive as possible. The new presentation experience enhances the screen mirroring, presentation mode, focus tool, and the new Pointer feature, which will empower you to deliver captivating presentations.

How to use all presentation mode improvements:

1. When connecting an external screen, either the Stage manager or Screen mirroring will be activated. 
2. The "Start" presentation button appears in the main toolbar if an external monitor or iPad screen is connected in screen-capturing mode. The button changes to "Stop" when the presentation mode is active.
3. If there is an external physical monitor, then it launches Document mode on it and activates the presentation toolbar on the iPad screen. The toolbar consists of tools: Pointer, Focus (faint everything on the document except the chosen area), and Freeze (allows you to take a screenshot).
4. Pointer and Focus tools can be added to the Favorites menu for quick access. 
5. We’ve also added zoom capability to the Document mode.

You can find more information on how to use the Presentation mode in our Help Center article.  

Tools for more collaborative, personal, and accessible learning

PDF Expert is a top choice for students and educators, and we are passionate about enabling a best-in-class user experience by actively delivering on your feedback. With that in mind, we are excited that these features will benefit both students and educators alike, whether it's facilitating your research and coursework or providing more engaging lectures.

Remember that Precise Search, Hotkeys for color change, and Logic Page Numbering are Mac-only features, and the Enhanced Presentation Mode is exclusively available for iOS. Regardless of the platform you're using, we believe PDF Expert has something valuable to offer to enhance your productivity and learning experience.

Learn more about how PDF Expert can help you with online teaching and learning, from creating a digital library of all studying materials to recording audio comments for providing instant feedback on assignments. 

Psst! Did you know that PDF Expert provides a 50% discount for students and teachers? Go ahead and get the best PDF editor app on the market with a special educational discount!