Can I copy and read PDF files on my Apple iPad?

I have fallen in love with my Apple iPad. It's so much more fun and interesting than a Kindle, but there's one thing I haven't figured out yet: how can I copy and read PDF files on the iPad? I know you can do it, I just can't figure out how to copy and read PDFs?

Dave's Answer:

This is another example of where Apple's strategy of EWI (Everything With iTunes) ends up being a liability, because what you'd kind of hope you could do is plug in your iPad to your computer, then see it show up as an external disk and just drag and drop whatever you want to have show up on the device. Ah, were life so easy...

PDFs can actually be read through PDF apps on the iPad (go to the iTunes store and search for "PDF" to see what I mean), but my preferred solution is to use the iBooks application from Apple, since it has the pretty bookshelf visualization, etc.

The question is: how do you get those PDFs onto the iPad, and how do you then access them within iBooks?

Turns out that you treat the PDF files exactly as you would music or video files. Let me show you...

Open up iTunes and plug in your iPad. Now simply drag and drop the PDF file into the top left portion of the iTunes main window:

Now go to the "Books" section of iTunes and guess what shows up? Yup, your PDF:

Here I am copying the instructions for the game Castle Ravenloft onto my iPad to read later. I don't really like the "Unknown Author", however, so I'm going to fix it by choosing the PDF file, then File --> Get Info:

A quick tweak, a click of the "OK" button, and now I want to move to the iPad management area in iTunes:

Now go to the "Books" area and you'll see the PDF file shows up:

As with other content, you'll want to check "Sync Books", then most likely also choose "Selected books", then make sure that the check box is marked adjacent to each and every PDF you want to have on your computer. Click "Sync".

Now the fun part: once the sync is done, launch "iBooks". You'll see your PDF file on the bookshelf:

Tip: If you don't see it, note that on the top left you can choose between "Books" and "PDFs". Make sure you have PDF selected...

Tap on the PDF file, and...

Slick, eh? You can delete the PDF file from within iBooks, by the way, which is interesting, because I don't know of any other Apple apps for the iPad that let you actually delete things on the device without a computer being involved.

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Categorized: Apple iPad Help , Mac OS X Help (Article 9593, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple ipad, ipad pdf, pdf, reading pdf files
Previous: How can I apply a new theme to a Keynote presentation?
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Reader Comments To Date: 9

Zoltan Blum said, on September 22, 2010 7:40 AM:

Dave,

If you prefer to store your PDFs in the cloud, rather than on your iPad, you can use Dropbox; as an additional treat, you'll circumvent iTunes altogether.

Regards/Zoltan

Scott said, on November 9, 2010 12:49 AM:

Hey Dave,

Just found this little pdf trick -- super cool.

My question is: is there a way to somehow allow people to subscribe to your pdf's like a podcast? I publish a magazine and it would be really cool to just let people subscribe via the iTunes store.

Thanks, Scott.

Mahesh said, on January 12, 2011 2:30 AM:

Thanks for your help - fantastic - worked like a charm!!

Daphne said, on March 31, 2011 6:39 AM:

Thanks so much Dave! Appreciate it!

Julie said, on April 15, 2011 1:26 PM:

Dave,

Thanks for this. I created a pdf from a word doc. There are corrections like line thru some sentences and some sentences in different colors. With this trick I can import them in tact into books. Why do the corrections not appear on my ipad when I transfer them thru Dropbox or email?
I use a mac with 10.6 and an ipad2.

Julie

Nikki said, on October 11, 2011 8:10 PM:

Dave, you're a lifesaver...or a backsaver. I was going to have to lug a suitcase full of documents on a cross-country flight and now I've uploaded the PDFs to my iPad and woo-hoo, I'm back to free-wheeling! Thank you!

Supercure said, on October 30, 2012 2:55 PM:

Worked for me with good old iTune, thanks for this. But will check out Dropbox as process with iTune is decidedly cumbersome.

pete said, on January 1, 2013 5:52 AM:

The problem with iTunes strategy of Apple is the following: you are no longer the master of your own documents - you either have to use iTunes or iCloud. Thus, instead of a simple USB cable to use for your PC and iPad, you have to go with everything via Apple.

Apple fans are really nuts as they cannot see the kind of slavery Apple have trapped them into. With my Android tablet I don't need Google to copy and read my own files (not available in AppStore) to my own device. I don't need Internet and any specific app to do it.

As much I like the design quality of Apple I hate their arrogance - they pretend to know everything better than you who pay for it. And that's definitely not true, even if it's the worshipped Apple.

Brian said, on March 5, 2013 7:43 PM:

I'm using your tip to easily delete photo's from my Ipad albums,
Some of the photos will not allow me to select them, the little blue check does not attach and the delete button does not appear until a picture is accepted for deletion.
Can you help please?

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Can I copy and read PDF files on my Apple iPad?

Reader Comments To Date: 9

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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