Archives For November 30, 1999

Xournal++, open-source handwriting notetaking software with PDF annotation support, released 1.0.5 a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and higher.

Xournal++ is written in C++ with GTK3. It supports pen input from devices such as Wacom Tablets, and features:

  • Support for annotating PDFs
  • PDF Export (with and without paper style)
  • PNG Export (with and without transparent background)
  • LaTeX support (requires a working LaTeX install)
  • Audio recording and playback alongside with handwritten notes
  • Plugins using LUA Scripting
  • And much more other features.

Xournal++ 1.0.4 was released a week ago, quickly followed by a minor 1.0.15 release. It includes many bugfixes as well as some quality-of-life enhancements and new experimental floating toolbox.

How to Install Xournal++ 1.0.5 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit, the official xournalpp-1.0.15-Ubuntu-xenial-x86_64.deb package is available to download at the link below:

Install “Gdebi package installer” from Ubuntu Software, and click install the Xournal++ .deb package via Gdebi.

Other ways:

Git builds of Xournal++ snap package (runs in sandbox) is also available in Ubuntu Software for Ubuntu 18.04 and higher.

Flathub repository offers version 1.0.5 of Xournal++ flatpak package (runs in sandbox) for Ubuntu 18.04 and higher.

MuPDF 1.14.0, a lightweight PDF, XPS, and E-book viewer, was released today with new features, UI improvements and other changes.

Changes in MuPDF 1.14.0 include:

  • Added “Source Han Serif” CJK fallback font.
  • Added more scripts to the Noto fallback fonts.
  • Multi-page PNM support.
  • “mutool show” now supports a path syntax for selecting objects to show.
  • New annotation editing mode in mupdf-gl.
  • Can create, edit, and delete most annotation types.
  • Can create appearance streams for most annotation types, Tx form fields, Ch form fields.
  • And UI improvements, API changes, and other more.

How to Install MuPDF 1.14.0 in Ubuntu:

The unofficial PPA contains the most recent MuPDF packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 18/19 so far.

MuPDF 1.14.0 package is delayed due to a building issue. I’ll update the PPA once a patch for the issue published.

UPDATE: The new release package now is ready to install via following steps in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for “Terminal” from start menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Type in password (no asterisks feedback due to security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. Then install mupdf and mupdf-tools packages either via Synaptic Package Manager or by running following commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install mupdf mupdf-tools

If you have a previous release installed, simply launch Software Updater to upgrade the tool after checking for updates.

To use the PDF/XPS viewer, right-click on your file and select open with MuPDF. You can also set MuPDF as default in the Properties window.

Uninstall:

To restore MuPDF to the stock version available in your Ubuntu’s main archive, run command in terminal to purge the PPA:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Want to annotate PDF file in Linux systems? Well, Mendeley Desktop is one of the best choice. Besides being able to highlight & add note to text / rectangle of PDF, it can also display definition of selected text from en.wikipedia.org, share the document via E-mail and sync library with Mendeley Web.

Features:

Mendeley is available as a basic free version, and also in premium payable versions.

  • Mendeley Desktop, based on Qt, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
  • Automatic extraction of metadata from PDF papers.
  • Back-up and synchronization across multiple computers and with a private online account.
  • PDF viewer with sticky notes, text highlighting and full-screen reading.
  • Full-text search across papers.
  • Smart filtering, tagging and automatic PDF file renaming.
  • Citations and bibliographies in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice.
  • Import of documents and research papers from external websites (e.g., PubMed, Google Scholar, Arxiv) via browser bookmarklet.
  • BibTeX export/file sync
  • Private groups to collaboratively tag and annotate research papers.
  • Public groups to share reading lists.
  • Social networking features (newsfeeds, comments, profile pages, etc.).
  • Usage-based readership statistics about papers, authors and publications.
  • iPhone app
  • iPad app
  • Install Mendeley Desktop in Ubuntu & Other Linux OSs

    For Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Linux Mint, Elementary OS and others, download the DEB from the link below:

    Mendeley Desktop for Ubuntu 32-bit | Ubuntu 64-bit

    You may check your system type (32-bit or 64-bit) via System Settings ->Details utility. Once downloaded, install it via below command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).

    sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/mendeleydesktop_*-stable_*.deb

    During installation, the Mendeley Ubuntu repository will be added to your list of software sources. You can then use the standard Ubuntu/Debian software update tools to keep Mendeley up to date.

    For other Linux, Windows, and Mac, download Mendeley Desktop installer from this page.