The developer of the lightweight PDF Reader SumatraPDF has released SumatraPDF  3.3 this week. Sumatra 3.3 is the first release since the release of Sumatra 3.2 in March 2020. The new version is available as a portable and setup version for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows. The source code is also provided.

My first review of Sumatra dates back to 2008. It replaced Adobe Reader on my systems back then as the default PDF viewer. It uses less system resources, loads quickly and is leaner in general. It is also beneficial from a security point of view because of its focus on reading PDF documents.

SumatraPDF 3.3 a major update. It introduces several new features, changes, as well as bug fixes and other improvements to the application.

The new toolbar uses vector icons which scale well with the DPI level that is used. Two new icons to rotate to the left or right are also available on the new toolbar.

A right-click on a document displays a context menu. You find the new option to hide all scrollbars there, which you can toggle. The hiding of the scrollbars frees up space for the PDF document and the bookmarks, if displayed.

SumatraPDF 3.3 introduces new annotations functionality. You may use the program to add, remove or edit annotations in PDF files.

Use the shortcut Shift-F10, or right-click and select Edit Annotations, to open the annotations manager. It lists all annotations.

You create a new annotation with a tap on the a key after highlighting text or other elements in a PDF document. You may also use Shift-a to create the new annotation and open the editor to add your comment.

SumatraPDF 3.3 supports highlight, underline, strike out and squiggly underline annotations. These are listed in the context menu when you right-click. Free annotations that are "under the cursor" can also be created; the program supports text, free text, stamp and caret annotations of this kind.

Check out the tutorial page on the Sumatra website for details.

The first iteration of the feature is not feature-complete according to the developer. It lacks support for some annotation types that are supported by other PDF editing apps. You may provide feedback to the developer on the official forum.

Other improvements in SumatraPDF 3.3 include an option to change the font size of the bookmarks / favorites tree view, support for jpeg-xr images in xps files, support for newer versions of Ghostscript when opening ps files, and a crash fix.

Closing Words

SumtraPDF is a fine application when it comes to the viewing of PDF documents and some other file formats. The new annotation feature makes it a tad more useful when it comes to editing functionality.