14 DAY TRIAL // Most of yesterday’s and today’s knowledge is still on paper, and these documents are very hard to put on the web because a usual scanning will result in a large file that won’t allow for an acceptable download speed. The regular web formats for this type of papers, JPEG, GIF or PNG, will only produce a very large file if you want a decent resolution. So, it was only obvious that web content developers had to choose not to display most of the precious documents that humanity has to offer.
The DjVu file format comes to solve that problem due to the fact that it is based on a new image compression technology, enabling developers to distribute on the web high-resolution images of documents or photographs. This way, all the information that was trapped on paper can be brought to the public fast, easy, and having a size that doesn’t block the Internet connection. We also have to mention that this type of file is hard to find and even harder to read. You can, however, download the DjVu Browser Plug-ins and Desktop Viewers, which are free, so there's no problem in using them for as long as you need, but which come with a disadvantage, namely that they only read files in this format.
Enter STDU Viewer, a piece of software that offers you the opportunity to see not only this type of files but also other useful ones like TXT, TIFF, PDF. This well-known format for scientific documentation can be easily decoded with the help of this viewer, which is free of charge, meaning that you do not have to worry about any limitations or fees.
This viewer comes with a set of tools to help you with your work, like the hand and Image tools, or the Select Text, and of course a zoom function to make your job easier. All these helpers can be found in the Tools menu of STDU Viewer. You might find the Select tool really handy if you want to use a certain part of the document, and the software also has a very useful Search option in case you are working with a large document. You can also change the layout of the page or rotate it so you can better see your documents, especially the image files. Zoom is another adjustable feature for the document to better fit your desires, and in the View menu you will find a full-screen option so you can enjoy your reading to the fullest.
One of the best parts about this tiny viewer is the export feature, which you will find under the File menu, and which allows you to export your document to text or image – this way, STDU Viewer becomes a mini converter at your disposal.
You can browse through pages, with the navigate menu or by using the tabs that are offered in the main window of the software, or through documents, STDU Viewer offering you the opportunity to open several documents at a time.
The Settings window will enable you to adjust the brightness, contrast or gamma even for TXT files, which is a rather interesting feature.
You can change the file association with the help of the Options window. You will be able to change the language, tab options or the number of files in the recent file list.
There’s one option that some of you might find very interesting, namely the possibility to adjust the click actions. This way you can choose to jump a page at a click or double click, a feature that can be pretty useful if you have to read large documentations. What some might find rather bothersome is that the application does not allow any modification of the opened documents but, after all, it's a viewer and it acts accordingly.
STDU Viewer offers you the opportunity to create bookmarks if you want to always have your favorite documents at hand, and you can even export these bookmarks to a file on your computer and also import them back. Of course, managing bookmarks can easily be done with the tabs that this viewer offers in the designated window. Another nice feature that the software comes with is the fact that it can be set to prompt you about restoring the files from previous sessions.
You have two toolbars to help you with your work: the standard one, which contains the most common options of the application, like the selecting tool or the search one, and the page toolbar, which controls the easy access to the document pages. The page layout can be modified using the designated tab in the View menu, from where you can choose to see either one or multiple pages at a time.
On the downside, this program makes file associations that some users can find disturbing, however, when you uninstall it the previous file associations are restored to their original state.
Overall, STDU Viewer is a piece of software that does exactly what it is designed to do, namely it offers you the possibility to see certain file types without wearing down system resources. It comes as a good enough viewer and you don’t have to pay anything for it.
The Good The best part about this app is its simplicity, both regarding its ease of use and in terms of resource usage. It doesn’t need a lot to work and yet it gets the job done, and that is enabling users to view technical and scientific documentation with no effort on their part.
The Bad A larger number of extensions that can be viewed would be an improvement – an all-in-one piece of software that sees not only documentation but also images, sketches or even graphs that can come with such documents. The file association feature is the worst thing about the app, because it tampers with how your system works.
The Truth
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
