Context: I prepare my scientific documents using LaTeX and compile to a PDF.
I often need to seek comments on drafts from collaborators who do not use LaTeX.
Most of these collaborators use Windows OS.
Assume also that the collaborator does not need to edit the document.
They only need to be able to add comments to the document.
Most would be familiar with the commenting system in MS Word, for example.
I'd like to be able to give the collaborator some clear instructions about what software and system they should use to comment on the draft.
This should involve free software and an easy to use interface.
Question: What is a good strategy for getting comments on draft documents when the collaborator does not know LaTeX?
Initial thoughts:
I know Adobe professional allows you to add comments to a PDF.
However, some collaborators don't have this software and it costs money.
I could send the raw LaTeX to the collaborator.
However, given all the markup, the collaborator may find LaTeX source a bit mysterious.
UPDATE:
After posting I noticed Andrew Stacey's answer to a similar question.
Along with a number of other good tips (such as printing and getting paper comments), he mentions jarnal, xournal, and gournal as free cross-platform PDF annotators. I'd be curious to know whether experts have found them adequate for the above mentioned purpose and whether any of them are to be preferred.
Others mention FoXIt.
And yet others discuss the option of exporting to MS Word or Open Office and using the reviewing system within these programs.
Best Answer
Get them to print the document and mark on it, then fax it to you. (If they have a fast scanner, they could scan and email, instead of faxing.)
Then, collect all of the marked-up documents and make the first-author decisions as to what to change. (Yes, there will be conflicts in the suggestions.)
Alternatively, turn on line numbering and get them to send you plain-text emails with comments tied to lines.
These methods work. Twiddling with PDF comments may be of use in text-only material, but scientific work normally is awash in symbols and diagrams, and suggesting changes to these is very hard in text-only form.