Sumatra PDF 1.3 improves performance, navigation and usability

Install Sumatra PDF 1.3, the latest version of the popular open-source PDF reader, and at first glance it'll look much as it always did. (Yellow, mainly.) But don't be fooled. The new build has plenty of worthwhile improvements and tweaks just beneath the surface.

The package now uses the libjpeg-turbo library instead of libjpeg, for instance, which means that non-greyscale embedded JPEGs will typically be decompressed two to four times faster than in the previous version.

You can now rotate a document, or zoom in and out by pressing *, + or - on the numeric keypad, intuitive choices that make your files easy to manipulate. But if you're already used to Adobe Reader's Ctrl++ or Ctrl+- zoom shortcuts, then that's not a problem: they'll work here, too.

Navigation improvements include new support for the back and forward buttons available on some mice. Text selection and copying is now simpler: just drag the mouse cursor around the text of interest, then press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard. (You can't right-click the selection to choose a Copy option, which might be more intuitive, but maybe that'll arrive in version 1.4.)

And other improvements include an updated toolbar, with new Fit Page and Fit Width buttons; various printing tweaks, RAM optimizations and bug fixes.

There are no killer features here to win over new converts, then, but if you're using Sumatra PDF already then version 1.3 looks like a worthy upgrade -- and it's available for download now.