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By Ashish on January 30, 2013

Did You Know?Sometimes, you may need more than a generic arrow or a stock smiley face stamp to spruce-up your documents. Fortunately, with iAnnotate PDF, you can create reusable custom stamps from your photos, images, and pencil annotations. Read on to learn more…

Photos and Images

To get started, tap on the Toolbox button on your iAnnotate toolbar, tap over to the Annotation Tools tab, and select the Stamp tool. You’ll then be able to tap the page location at which you want to place the stamp.

When the stamp library appears, select the “+” sign in the upper-right. You’ll be prompted to select a preexisting photo or image from your iPad’s photo library, or to take a new one with the iPad camera.

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Hint: Images with transparent backgrounds overlay well on text!

Pencil Annotations

You can also create a custom stamp from a pencil annotation you’ve already made on a document.

Tap any pencil annotation, and then select Stamp from the annotation ribbon that appears in the upper-right. You can then name the stamp and add it to your stamp library. Stamps (both ready-made and custom) are listed alphabetically in the stamp library.

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You can make a stamp out of any pencil/ink annotation

Saving Frequently Used Stamps

Do you have a stamp you use all the time? Did you know you can create a custom tool on your toolbar that is preconfigured to use that specific stamp? Just click the wrench icon on the top of your toolbar and select “Stamp with a Specific Image” and drag and drop it on your toolbar. You’ll be prompted to select what stamp you want to associate with it and the new stamp icon in the toolbar will even include a small image to remind you of the stamp content. If you frequently use more than one stamp, make a tool for each one to make stamping even easier!

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You can save preconfigured stamps to your toolbars

By Ashish on December 19, 2012

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Download the 2012 Branchfire Holiday Card now and
open in iAnnotate PDF for bonus content! (1.5 MB download)

The holidays are a time for gathering with friends and family, reflecting on the year gone by, and giving thanks. As we come to the end of 2012, the Branchfire Team would like to thank you all for your support and wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season and best wishes for the new year!

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This holiday season, we’re also running a huge sale on iAnnotate PDF – it’s the perfect time to give a copy of this multiple award-winning app to anyone on your gift-giving list!

Through the end of the year, iAnnotate is on sale for 80% off (only $1.99) – to get or gift the app, click on the sale banner above or the App Store button below:

Get iAnnotate PDF on the AppStore

By Ashish on November 27, 2012

               

UPDATE 12/17/2012: Photos from awards ceremony at the end of this post

We are thrilled to announce that iAnnotate PDF was named Best Productivity App and Best Collaboration App at the first annual Tabby Awards /Business ceremony earlier today. We’re honored to be in the company of the other winners, who have created some truly awesome apps!

Organized by TabTimes, The Tabby Awards /Business is the only competition worldwide for the best iPad, Android and Windows 8 tablet apps for business. Almost 100 apps were submitted from around the world, reviewed by an international jury of tablet professionals, and organized into 12 categories of finalists and winners.

We’re so grateful to all of our fans and users for your continued support in helping us make iAnnotate PDF the best productivity and collaboration tool available on the iPad!

Get iAnnotate PDF on the AppStore

Photos from the awards ceremony:

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Branchfire CEO Ravi Bhatt and QuickOffice Founder/CEO Alan Masarek


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Ravi backstage at the Tabbys!

By Ashish on November 19, 2012

We're going to be releasing a great new update to iAnnotate PDF in the upcoming weeks, and we think you'll love the new features!  Read on to learn about new support for Google Drive and SkyDrive, image annotation features, and important messages for Dropbox users and Aji PDF Service users.

SUPPORT FOR GOOGLE DRIVE AND MICROSOFT SKYDRIVE

SkyDrive & Google Drive SupportWe heard our users loud and clear – you've been asking for Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive support, and starting with v2.4 – you've got it!

You'll now be able to bring the same industry-leading viewing and annotation capabilities of iAnnotate PDF to documents you store in Google Drive and SkyDrive!  

Download, annotate, and keep your documents in sync just as before – only now with even more choice!

IMAGE ANNOTATIONS

Matthew-AnnotatedAnother great new feature in iAnnotate PDF v2.4 is the ability to annotate images!  

As with our recently introduced Word/PowerPoint support, image files (JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, and many more) will now show up in your library.  You can open them, make notes, and save the annotated images as PDFs to share with others!  You'll also be able to take a snapshot with your camera from within iAnnotate, or import from your Photo Library, and get started annotating in a snap.

It's the perfect tool for capturing an image of a professor's chalkboard, or a whiteboard after a long meeting, or even just a fun way to add mustaches to photos of your friends!

Like the Word/PowerPoint support, the image annotation feature is optional; to use it you'll need to register for a free Branchfire account.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR DROPBOX USERS

Box Noticev2.4 of iAnnotate PDF also has a very important update for users that connect to Dropbox.

Dropbox recently updated the way that other applications connect and communicate with Dropbox's servers, which has required us to make some changes in our app to support this new communication.

If you are using Dropbox within iAnnotate PDF, it is important that you upgrade to iAnnotate PDF v2.4 soon after it is available in the Apple App Store so that you don't experience any interruptions with your Dropbox connection.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our support team. More information in this blog post.

AJI PDF SERVICE BEING DISCONTINUED

Aji RIPVersion 2.4 will be the last version of iAnnotate PDF which supports Aji PDF Service (APS).  For more information about why we're discontinuing APS, and what alternatives you can make use of, please visit our APS Information page.

By Ashish on November 16, 2012

Dropbox recently changed the mechanism that allows third-party applications like iAnnotate PDF to communicate with the Dropbox servers. (If you’re interested in the technical details, there’s an explanation on the Dropbox site.)

  

That change means that our application needs to be updated to work with Dropbox’s new communication mechanism, and we’ve been busy at work implementing these changes in the upcoming version 2.4 of iAnnotate PDF.

v2.4 will have a number of other exciting new features, and we’ll be announcing more about those soon. But in the meanwhile, we wanted to let our Dropbox users know that you should try to upgrade to version 2.4 soon after it’s available in the App Store (in the next couple weeks hopefully), so that you don’t experience any disruption in accessing your Dropbox files.

Please feel free to contact our Support team if you have any questions or concerns.

By Ravi on October 31, 2012

Since we launched version 2.3 of iAnnotate PDF, and the new support for Microsoft Office documents, we have been thrilled to hear from so many of you that have found the new functionality exciting and useful. However, we’ve also heard from some users who have expressed concerns about the option to signup for a free account in order to take advantage of the new feature, and the security of their personal information and documents. I would like to take a moment to address those concerns.

For those of you who have used other apps, you’ve likely noticed that Office documents displayed on the iPad look worse than the originals – they have poor formatting, odd pagination, etc. This is because these apps use the iPad’s limited on-device capabilities (like the “Experimental Features” in previous versions of iAnnotate PDF). We knew there had to be a better way.

iAnnotate PDF v2.3 allows you to view Word and PowerPoint documents by leveraging our newly launched cloud-based processing system. The formatting of Office documents appears just like you would see them on your desktop. And, annotating these documents is simple.  The moment you make an annotation, iAnnotate PDF automatically converts the document to PDF (so your work is easily shared with others). Here’s a simple diagram that shows how our system works:

This functionality is available to everyone who registers for a free Branchfire account. Registering for an account and using this new functionality is optional – you are not required to create an account in order to continue using iAnnotate PDF. However, we think once you see how much better it can make your iAnnotate PDF and iPad experience, you’ll be glad you registered.

It is important to note that the security of your personal information and documents is paramount to us.  We go to great lengths to secure your personal information and data. In particular, when you make use of the cloud-based features, we never store your documents in the cloud, or associate your personal information (such as your name and email address) with documents that get processed.  We also do not use your personal information for any marketing purposes, unless you specifically opt-in for marketing messages from us. You can read more about our efforts to protect your privacy and security at: http://www.branchfire.com/privacy/

Read more about Branchfire’s cloud-based processing:Branchfire's Cloud Processing
(1.5 MB PDF download)

We have been humbled by the strong support all of you have shown us. Since we launched, hundreds of thousands of you have used iAnnotate PDF to go paperless and become more productive. We have many more exciting things in store and we look forward to the opportunity to continue serving you.

If you have any comments you would like to share, you can reach me directly at ravi.bhatt@branchfire.com. If you have a support request you can reach our support team anytime through our support portal at: http://www.branchfire.com/contact/support/.

Thank you for your continued support of Branchfire,

Ravi Bhatt
Co-Founder & CEO, Branchfire

By Ashish on

Branchfire November Puzzle Contest Logo

We had a great response to our first puzzle post, so we’ve decided to do another one.  And this time, we found a cryptic crossword puzzle that looked uncannily like our Branchfire logo – we couldn’t *not* feature it!

This puzzle comes from the Wall Street Journal – you can download the PDF here and annotate it with iAnnotate PDF!

This time around, if you’re one of the first 15 entrants to send us a completed (and correct) puzzle, you’ll win a Branchfire stylus!  To qualify, you’ll need to email us the completed puzzle from within iAnnotate PDF. We’ll update this blog post as soon as we’ve received the first 15 completed puzzles to announce that the November contest is complete.

Happy puzzle solving!

By Branchfire on October 25, 2012

UPDATE 11/1: Branchfire CEO, Ravi Bhatt, has written a message to users to address a few questions about the new features and security/privacy in version 2.3. Read his note…

UPDATE 10/31: Make sure to check out the new video link at the end of this post showing how the new functionality works!

We’re excited to announce the release of iAnnotate PDF v2.3 – our best version yet!

We’ve added many exciting new features, including the highest quality reading and note-taking experience for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files. Just tap on PowerPoint presentations and Word documents in your library and Branchfire’s new cloud-based processing will ensure the document is presented exactly as it was meant to be seen!

We process these documents in the cloud, because there are some things the iPad just can’t do on its own.

Here’s a comparison that shows just how much of a difference you can expect to see when you work with Word and PowerPoint files in iAnnotate PDF:

Conversion Example

Try it out for yourself by downloading this PowerPoint slide right here.

This feature is optional; if you’d like to make use of it, you’ll just need to register for a free Branchfire Account.

You can rest assured that all personal information, files and data that use this feature are secure. For more information, view our Privacy Policy.

We have many additional features planned, some of which will rely on your Branchfire Account. By registering now, you can be sure you’re getting the most out of iAnnotate PDF!

We hope you’ll find the new features useful and a great way to get even more out of iAnnotate PDF and your iPad!

UPDATE 10/31: Check out the video below where Karim, one of our engineers, highlights the new .doc/.ppt functionality:

 

By Tony Abraham on October 11, 2012

Update: This contest is closed! Thank you for your participation.

At Branchfire, we love great design in all its forms- from iPad apps to tea pots to automobiles to interior design. That’s why we were happy to come across a PDF Crossword Puzzle from Design Within Reach, a store that knows modern style. It was originally featured in the October 7 issue of T Design in the New York Times. Download it here, and fill it in with iAnnotate PDF.

What’s more, we’re excited to announce a quick contest. The first five (5) people to email me a completed (and correct) PDF of the crossword puzzle will win a free Branchfire stylus. To qualify, you’ll need to email us the puzzle from iAnnotate PDF. I’ll update this post when the first five completed puzzles are confirmed.

So what are you waiting for? Get started!  Whether you do a puzzle a day, one a year, or maybe you prefer a Sudoku like me, this is your chance to win a free stylus!

By Tony Abraham on August 20, 2012

You may dread it, but it’s time to face the facts. Your local supermarket has swapped out its section of water guns and pool toys with pencils and trapper keepers. It’s back-to-school time.

Imagine dropping that massive bookbag and rolling into class with just your iPad and iAnnotate PDF. Your spine will thank you, and your grades will skyrocket (probably). Take notes directly on your professor’s lecture slides. Mark up your readings so you’re prepared in your discussion sections. Show off your tech prowess to that cute girl or guy in the row behind you.

Don’t have iAnnotate PDF? You’re in luck. We’re currently running a 50% off back-to-school sale. Until August 31, you can buy our app for $4.99! Don’t sleep on this one. Come September, the sale is over.

Don’t have an iPad? Branchfire has your back! We’re giving away iPads, portable speakers with iTunes gift cards, and Amazon giftcards to the winners of our Twitter contest. Just follow us and tweet our sale message to enter! Learn more on our contest page.

What are you waiting for? Click here!