Questions fréquemment posées (FAQ)

No, PDF Annotator is a standalone application that does not require any third party software.

We currently support these Windows versions:

• Windows 11
• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1

PDF Annotator fonctionne sur les PC de bureau, les portables, ainsi que sur les Tablet PC et supporte les tablettes graphiques externes.

Windows on ARM is supported with restrictions.

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What are the hardware requirements to run PDF Annotator?

The minimum hardware requirements for PDF Annotator 9 are:

• Processor: Intel®/AMD x86 compatible (1.5 GHz or faster) or ARM (see restrictions for Windows on ARM)
• RAM: 1 GB (2 GB or more recommended)
• Free disk space: 1 GB
• Screen resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels
• Digitizer/Stylus: Windows HID compatible (optional)

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Which Windows version do I need to run PDF Annotator?

With its focus on annotation, PDF Annotator cannot cover every aspect of PDF.

Some limitations are:

• Adobe® DRM protected documents cannot be opened. However, this does not refer to documents that just require a user or owner password.
• Documents protected by digital signatures cannot be opened. Digital Signatures are not supported.
• Under some conditions, AES-128 encrypted documents cannot be opened.
• Windows on ARM: The Print to PDF Annotator feature is not available on devices running on ARM processors.
• "Print to PDF Annotator" from Excel does not work anymore (June 2024).

Please also consult our Bulletins et avertissements de sécurité.

Unfortunately not. PDF Annotator requires Microsoft Windows.

We have currently no plans for supporting additional operating systems.

Windows on ARM is supported with restrictions.

If your device runs on Windows 11/10 in S Mode, you will need to switch out of S mode in Windows 11/10.

Windows in S Mode cannot run fully featured desktop applications like PDF Annotator.

You will need to switch to Windows 11/10 Home or Windows 11/10 Pro in order to run PDF Annotator.

Switching off S mode is usually free and only takes a couple of minutes.

Please follow Microsoft's instructions for Switching out of S mode in Windows.

There is no SDK or embeddable component available or planned at this time. What you can do, and we have many integrators going that way, is to run PDF Annotator from within your application on the command line.

Depending on your requirements, there are a couple of undocumented features to customize and restrict the UI, and you can wait for the process, or set a copy hook on the file you opened, to get notified once it is written. Also, we offer customization, depending on what exactly you would need. Please contact us for details if this would be an option for you.

Just download and install the previous PDF Annotator version from our download archive and unlock it using your existing PDF Annotator license key.

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I have lost my license key, what can I do?

After an upgrade, we will copy all your settings from the existing installation, including your custom tools and stamps in the toolbox.

If you customized the menus and toolbars in the old version, these changes will not be copied on major version upgrades. The new version will include new menu items and toolbar buttons, so a reset of the menu and toolbar system is required. This only applies to major upgrades (like from version 8 to Version 9), and only affects menus and toolbars (not your tools and stamps in the toolbox).

As a system administrator you need to deploy PDF Annotator under a multi-user license on a large number of devices.

Please refer to our Silent Install Guide.

We support and provide bug fixes and security updates for the current major version (currently: PDF Annotator 9), and the previous major version (currently: PDF Annotator 8).

We offer a 30-day trial version on our Download Page.

The 30-day trial is fully functional with one limitation: Documents saved with the trial version contain a trial notice on the top of each page.

The trial notice can be removed by re-opening and re-saving the documents with a licensed version of PDF Annotator.

If you wish to try PDF Annotator without this limitation, please consider buying a license, and taking advantage of our 60-day Money-Back Guarantee.

If you get asked for a username and a password (or email address and password) when trying to install PDF Annotator, this question comes from your operating system (Windows), not from PDF Annotator.

To install PDF Annotator, you need to have Administrator rights on your computer.

If you do not have Administrator rights, your operating system (Windows) will ask for a username (or email address) and a password. This process is called "Windows User Account Control" (UAC).

To continue with the installation, you will need to enter your local Administrator username and password. If you do not know this password, contact your computer administrator to enter the information.

Apprendre encore plus

Microsoft Windows: How User Account Control works

Wikipedia: User Account Control

Please go to My Licenses to retrieve your license data.

Our licenses are perpetual.

The license fee is a one time payment, no subscription.

You will receive a perpetual license for our current version 9.

Once a new major version (with new, additional features) gets released, you can either upgrade at a (discounted) upgrade rate, or stay with your version.

We also offer Upgrade Assurance ("2 Years Upgrades and Support"), which would include those upgrades as well. Upgrade Assurance can get renewed every second year, so this would be the only cost to stay up to date with our latest versions at all times.

You may install your license on two computers, as long as you are the only user.

Additional users require additional licenses.

Just install your licensed version from our download page.

If your license is not valid for our current PDF Annotator Version 9, you will first have to buy an Upgrade, or download your licensed version from our Archive.

Next, start PDF Annotator, select "Help, Enter Unlock Key", and enter your license number and unlock key.

Want to take your settings, tools and stamps with you? Just follow these steps: How to move PDF Annotator to a new computer.

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I have lost my license key, what can I do?

Our licensing always applies per user.

For example, if you have 100 network users, and 30 of them are supposed to work with PDF Annotator (even if not concurrently), a 30 users license is required.

We deliver one license key per order. This license needs to be entered identically into all Terminal Server installations, or deployed identically to all clients.

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How can I get a quote?

How to install PDF Annotator silently (unattended)

Please click here to request a formal quote: Demander un devis

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How can I place a purchase order?

If you prefer to send a formal purchase order on behalf of your business, school or university, we'll be happy to process your order.

You can easily pay your invoice by credit card payment or wire transfer. You will receive details with your invoice.

For details please click here: Commander

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How can I get a quote?

We offer all major payment methods. The methods available to you in detail depend on your order details, and on your location.

Please click for more information:

Yes, in addition to your billing address, you can enter a separate delivery address (end user, licensee) in our order process.

When placing your order online, uncheck the "Invoice Address = End User Address" option above the address form, enter the delivery address under "End User Address" and the billing address under "Invoice Address".

All notifications regarding your order and payment will be e-mailed to the billing address indicated. The product, however, will be delivered via e-mail to the delivery address.

For Online Orders and Purchase Orders

Your invoice will be sent by e-mail immediately after processing your order.

Please contact us, providing your license or order number, if you need your invoice to be resent.

Until October 2024: For Online Orders (MyCommerce)

Until October 2024, online orders got fulfilled by our reseller MyCommerce (Digital River)

Your invoice will be sent from the noreply@mycommerce.com address. Please also check your spam folder in case you miss any e-mail.

In addition, you can view and print your order documents in the MyCommerce Self-Service Portal at any time after completing your order:

1. Request your self-service login by entering the e-mail address used to order:
   Request MyCommerce Self-Service Portal Login
2. Log in to the MyCommerce Self-Service Portal and download your invoice:
   MyCommerce Self-Service Portal

If you still have questions about a MyCommerce invoice, please contact MyCommerce Customer Service.

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What is this charge on my credit/debit card?

We offer a 60-day money-back-guarantee starting with the date of your purchase.

Please contact us, providing your license or order number, if you want to cancel your order.

Please check the description on your credit card statement:

PDF ANNOTATOR or PDF ANNOTATOR LANDSHUT or GRAHLSOFTWARECOM

You have placed an order for our software PDF Annotator directly with us.

We processed your payment with the help of our partner Stripe.

You should have received an e-mail confirmation at the time the card was charged.

Please contact us, providing the charge date and amount, if you have questions about this charge.

DRI*GRAHLSOFTWARE.COM

You have placed an order for our software PDF Annotator on our website (until October 2024).

Your credit/debit card has been charged by MyCommerce (Digital River). As a reseller, in cooperation with us, MyCommerce handles orders and payments placed on our website.

You should have received an e-mail confirmation at the time the card was charged.

To identify orders that are listed on your card statement, please click here:
Find MyCommerce Order

If you still have questions about a credit/debit card charge, please contact MyCommerce Customer Service.

PDFA.co, PDFC.co, PDFD.co, PDF3.co, PDF4.co, PDF5.co or similar

This is NOT us. Please enter PDFA.co into the address bar of your browser to find the vendor who charged you. Alternatively, call your bank to find out who charged you. You can find the telephone number of your bank on the back of your credit card.

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How will I receive my invoice?

Several reasons can cause a payment to be declined:

• Incorrect data entry
• Technical problems during data transmission
• Lack of confirmation from a third party, such as your bank
• Protection against the illegal use of credit card data

In all cases, we will notify you within the order process, or via e-mail, of your order and payment status.

Please contact us, providing the order number, if you have questions about a payment.

Product delivery depends on the payment type you selected.

If you paid by credit/debit card, Paypal, transferred your payment online during the order process, or used a purchase order, you will receive the product immediately with your order confirmation.

If you have selected a different payment type, the delivery will be initiated as described above as soon as we receive your payment. You will receive an e-mail confirmation when your payment is received.

Please contact us, providing the order number (if available), if you have questions about an order.

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I have lost my license key, what can I do?

How will I receive my invoice?

Please ensure that you have the correct license data (license number and unlock key).

Typos are a frequent cause. Please use the Windows Clipboard (copy & paste) to avoid typos.

Please contact us, providing license number and unlock key, if the problem could not be solved.

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I have lost my license key, what can I do?

We want you to be perfectly happy with our software, so we offer an unconditional 60-day money-back guarantee.

To take advantage of our money-back guarantee, please contact us providing your license number.

Your payment will be refunded to the same payment method used when ordered. A confirmation will be sent within two business days. Please allow up to 10 business days for the refund to show up on your account and/or credit card statement.

As a U.S. or Canadian Business

Please contact us providing your order number and either of the following:

• your tax-exempt certificate
• your tax-exempt form, completely filled in, using the address you find under "Seller" on your invoice

As a German Business

Your invoice entitles you to deduct input tax. A refund is not possible.

As a European Union (EU) Business

Please contact us providing your order number and VAT ID.

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I am tax-exempt. How can I place an order without getting charged tax?

As a U.S. or Canadian Business

Please first request a quote here: Demander un devis

Once you received the quote, please place your order online, or send us your Purchase Order (PO), or an informal confirmation of the quote in reply to the e-mail with the quote.

As a German Business

You will receive an invoice with German sales tax (Umsatzsteuer), which entitles you to deduct input tax.

As a European Union (EU) Business

Please ensure to enter your VAT ID at checkout.

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How can I place a purchase order?

I am tax-exempt. I have already placed an order, but got charged tax. How can I get a tax refund?

You can find the PDF Annotator Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) here.

The Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) for PDF Annotator is 5D992.

You can download our W-8BEN here.

The situation:

You have created a document in some application which doesn't support PDF export, and want to convert it to a PDF document?

The solution:

PDF Annotator includes a "Print to PDF Annotator" virtual printer. Using this printer, you can create PDF documents from any third party application. The new PDF document will immediately open in PDF Annotator, so you can start annotating.

Here we have prepared more articles and step-by-step instructions for you.

The situation:

When printing from Microsoft Excel to the virtual printer "Print to PDF Annotator", the "printout" (i.e. the PDF file created) does not match the display in the print preview in Excel. The printout is cut off or incomplete.

The cause:

The cause is a faulty Windows update, which Microsoft has been rolling out via the Windows Update function since June 11, 2024.

The Windows Update KB5039212 (Windows 11) or KB5039211 (Windows 10) causes the error described.

Possible solutions:

• Try our next generation "Print to PDF Annotator" printer (Sept 2024).
  Note: This version is still experimental. To switch "Print to PDF Annotator" to the next generation (NG) version, download and install Print2PDFAnnotatorNGSetup.exe. You can always revert to the original "Print to PDF Annotator" by downloading and installing Print2PDFAnnotatorSetup.exe.
• Use the "File, Export, Create PDF Document" function in Excel
  Use the function integrated in Excel to export to PDF format. Then open the created PDF file with PDF Annotator.
• Use the "Microsoft Print to PDF" printer
  Use the printer supplied with Windows to export to PDF format. Then open the created PDF file with PDF Annotator.
• Pause Windows Update and uninstall the update mentioned.
  This procedure is at your own risk - we explicitly do not recommend it, as it may prevent security-relevant updates from being installed.
• Wait for a solution from Microsoft.
  We are currently expecting a solution through another update from Microsoft. You can speed up this process by reporting the problem directly to Microsoft using the Windows "Feedback Hub" app.

The situation:

There is no "Print to PDF Annotator" printer, or after printing, nothing happens.

The solution:

Please follow these steps for a clean reinstall of the "Print to PDF Annotator" printer:

• Reboot your computer.
• Download this separate setup for the "Print to PDF Annotator" printer: Print2PDFAnnotatorSetup.exe
• Run Print2PDFAnnotatorSetup.exe by double-clicking it in Windows Explorer.
• Follow the steps through the setup wizard.
• When asked to reboot, allow to reboot your computer once again.
• Make sure to log into Windows again, using the same account you were logged in before.
• The setup will finish the installation after you logged in again.

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"Print to PDF Annotator" from Excel does not work anymore (June 2024).

The situation:

After installing an update, PDF Annotator either...

• displays a "Failed to initialize user language" message, or
• starts up in the wrong language, or
• starts up in a mix of English and German.

The language setting under "Extras, Settings, Preferences, Language" (or "Extras, Settings, Voreinstellungen, Sprache") is unavailable (greyed out).

The solution:

A typical cause for this could be that your antivirus software has blocked access to, or quarantined parts of the PDF Annotator application.

Please follow these steps to reinstall PDF Annotator:

• Uninstall PDF Annotator.
• Re-download the latest PDF Annotator version from our Download page.
• Re-install by running the setup. Keep an eye on your antivirus software to see if it reports anything.

The situation:

When opening a specific document, you get a message about Security Restrictions, and you cannot annotate or perform certain tasks in PDF Annotator.

The solution:

These security restrictions are part of the PDF standard. Restrictions enable document authors to allow or disallow certain tasks, like viewing, printing, commenting or editing their documents.

If the author allowed to print the document, you can create a digital copy of the document, then annotate or edit the copy.

If the file is protected by an owner password, but not by a user password, and you know the owner password, then hold the SHIFT key pressed while selecting File, Open, and you'll be able to enter the owner password. With a correct owner password, there will be no constraints on editing the file.

PDF Annotator respects the copyright holder's decision on what to allow and disallow for a published document. If you created the files on your own, check the preferences of the tools you created them with, and recreate them without denying editing (or with allowing commenting). If you received the files from someone else, contact him/her and ask for an editable edition of the file.

The situation:

When printing from Adobe® Reader®, white boxes are overlaying your original document.

The solution:

In most cases, this problem is caused by outdated printing drivers and has already been fixed by the printer vendors. Check with your printer vendor's website if you have installed the latest printer driver, and update to the latest drivers.

This has also been a known problem with previous versions of Adobe® Reader. If you run an older version, update Adobe® Reader® to the latest version.

The situation:

When viewing a document, which has previously been annotated in PDF Annotator, in Adobe® Reader®, grey boxes are overlaying your original document.

The solution:

Probably, the Show Large Images option in Adobe® Reader® has been disabled. Start Adobe® Reader®, select "Edit, Preferences, Page Display" and make sure the "Show Large Images" option is checked. By default, this option is - and should remain - checked in Adobe® Reader®.

The solution:

In most cases, this problem gets reported when printing to PostScript (PS) printers. Try using an alternative printer driver for the same printer (PCL, for example). Or try printing through Adobe® Reader®, which usually always works.

The solution:

You can hard reset the menus by deleting a registry key:

1. Close PDF Annotator
2. On the Windows start menu, click "Run"
3. Type regedit.exe and click OK
4. Find this key:
   For PDF Annotator 9.x: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GRAHL\PDFAnnotator\9.0\Toolbars
   For PDF Annotator 8.x: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GRAHL\PDFAnnotator\8.0\Toolbars
   
5. Right click on the "Toolbars" node and select "Delete"

The situation:

I'm getting a "Missing Required Windows Service: Please ensure that required 'TabletInputService' is running" warning and cannot start PDF Annotator.

The solution:

"TabletInputService" is part of the Windows operating system, and required to run PDF Annotator.

To start this service, and to configure it so that it automatically starts with Windows, please follow these steps:

1. Click the Windows Start button.
2. Type services.msc and hit ENTER.
3. You will probably have to confirm this step if you have administrative rights, or get your Administrator confirming it.
4. Scroll through the list and find "Tablet PC Input Service". Double click it.
5. Click "Start" to start up the service.
6. Set "Startup type" to "Automatic" and close the Properties window with OK.

The situation:

The mouse cursor doesn't look like it should, multiple icons are layered or there is a strange shadow around the cursor.

The solution:

Open "Control Panel -> Mouse Properties -> Pointer Options" and activate "Display pointer trails" and change the trail length to "short".

The situation:

You want to open PDFs from within your web browser in PDF Annotator, but another program opens within the browser.

The solution:

This depends on your browser configuration, and on third party tools installed. For example, Adobe® Reader® installs a browser plugin, and registers itself to display PDF documents within the browser. To disable that, start Adobe® Reader®, go to "Edit, Preferences, Internet" and disable the "Display PDF in browser" option. You will have to restart your browser after that. In PDF Annotator, go to Extras, Settings, Integration, Exlorer and press the "Set as default viewer for PDF documents" button, then OK. The button will be inactive if you have already set PDF Annotator for default. Now, when you navigate to a PDF in your browser, you will get the download prompt like for any downloadable file, instead of the file being displayed in the browser. You can then select "Open" to open the document with PDF Annotator.