Yep, Ultimate PDF Management

very good
key review info
application features
  • Yep is like iPhoto for PDFs.
  • (2 more, see all...)

The iTunes approach to working with information is very practical, proof being not only the widespread success of the application, but also the number of other applications that imitate it. Audio, video and even images, all have had applications that mimic iTunes written for them, and these applications have in turn proved to be very popular. It is a safe bet to assume that the same approach can be applied to just about any type of information whatsoever, and it will work just as well, simply because the underlying concepts are solid. The proof is in the pudding, or in the case of Yep, in the PDFs.

What it does Yep is a complete electronic paper management solution. It is to PDFs what iTunes is to music and iPhoto is to images, letting you create, manage and read all your documents from one convenient, central location. With many specialized options and a combination of familiarity and ease of use, Yep is the ultimate PDF management application.

Working with it Although the functionality of Yep can be loosely described as 'iTunes for PDFs', and that will give anyone a good idea of both what the application does and how to use it, there are many differences in the way the application handles some tasks, primarily because of the differences in how you would normally interact with the media itself.

Unlike iTunes, which prefers a central location for the music library and files, Yep is non intrusive. You will likely have lots of documents stored with applications as their documentation, copies of received and sent documents in your mail attachments, as well as various others stored in the project folders you use for your work. All of these are located where they logically should be, and Yep leaves all documents where they are, never moving them about or tying them to itself in any way. Instead, the application makes use of a tag cloud and a special file-browsing mode to let you easily locate documents wherever they may be.

While the tag cloud works pretty much the way you would expect, the file browsing has suffered a small modification that makes a world of difference. When selecting any folder, Yep will display not only the documents that are kept directly in that folder, but also those that are stored in subfolders. Thus, selecting the root of your volume will display all documents on that drive, no matter where they are located, and any subsequent selections will narrow the results down. Last but not least, you can use an old-fashioned search to locate documents and tags; locations as well as text strings can be combined into 'Saved Searches' that act like the smart folders in other applications.

Documents will automatically be added to Yep, if they are placed within locations that the program will parse; however, you can add more locations, or new documents on the fly. Besides taking snapshots from applications, such as browsers and mail, Yep will also let you scan paper documents, automatically turning them into PDFs. Existing documents can also be managed right from within the application. Any file can be renamed, moved, and have its tags as well as its description changed. Tagging is greatly simplified due to the suggestions the application gives, and these suggestions in turn can be simplified even more through the preferences. The entire process is simple and accessible via the side pane that appears only when you invoke it.

Viewing documents is similar in experience to using Preview or any other standard PDF reader. Yep, however, offers two options that are not present in many other applications, namely full screen reading and the loupe. Of the two, the loupe is a great timesaver, letting you get an instant magnification of the document you are currently hovering over, simply by holding down the Option key. In the thumbnail view, this lets you quickly take in the first page of documents, without having to actually open them, while in list mode it will display thumbnails for easy identification. Both the magnification and the size of the loupe window can be easily tweaked in the preferences, and for long periods of use it can be turned on at the bottom of the screen to avoid having to keep the modifier key pressed.

The Good Centralized solution for managing PDF files, letting you locate, edit and read documents on your computer. Leverages the iTunes interface for familiarity and ease of use, but also adds its own twists that make it better adapted at dealing with electronic paper.

The Bad While more than adequate for skimming long documents, or reading a few pages, anything longer is tiring to read. The 'infinite page' approach of web pages makes for either improper use of screen space or huge fonts, with the constraint scrolling also adding strain on the eyes.

The Truth Although not the best choice for heavy duty reading, Yep excels at just about everything else. For anyone who actually works with lots of PDF documents, this is a must have, and well worth a look.

Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:

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user interface 4
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 2


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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