Evince
Evince is a free document viewer for Linux that opens formats including PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, OXPS, and Comic Book Archive.
What Evince is
Evince is a free document viewer for Linux that opens formats including PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, OXPS, and Comic Book Archive. It can display supported documents as full-screen presentations and fill out interactive forms, such as text fields and scrollable list boxes. For PDF files, it can add notes and text highlights; annotations are not available for other formats. Evince also supports SyncTeX to synchronize a TeX source file with its resulting PDF. Password-protected PDFs prompt for a password when opened. Printing is documented for DVI, DjVu, PDF, PostScript, and TIFF files. Evince does not edit files. Some Linux distributions may need an additional backend package to support certain formats. The project wiki recommends obtaining the app through the user's Linux distribution and points to packages or source for other download options. The help site provides documentation and information on filing bugs.
Good
- Free software for Linux
- Opens multiple document formats
- Fills out interactive forms
- Adds notes and highlights to PDFs
- Supports full-screen presentations
Watch out
- Cannot edit files
- Annotations are limited to PDFs
- Some formats may require an extra Linux backend package
Who it suits
Evince suits Linux users who need to view supported documents, fill forms, or annotate PDFs. It is not suited to editing document contents.
Verdict
Evince covers document viewing, form filling, and PDF annotations without a listed cost. Its key limits are that it cannot edit files and annotations apply only to PDFs.
Plans and prices
From Evince's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Evince | Free | Free software |
The facts
Each one read from Evince's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Annotation limit
- Annotations can only be added to PDF files.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Annotations
- Users can add notes and comments to PDF documents, including text annotations and highlights.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Annotation tools
- Yeschecked 24 Sep 2026
- Current GNOME listing
- The GNOME apps directory currently lists Papers as its document viewer and links to its Flathub download, issue tracker, and translation page.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Document editing
- Evince cannot be used to edit files.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Format availability
- Some Linux distributions may not support every listed format by default; the relevant backend package may need to be installed.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Formats
- Supported formats include PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, OXPS, and Comic Book Archive.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Form filling
- Yeschecked 24 Sep 2026
- Forms
- Evince can be used to fill out interactive forms.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Help and support
- The help site provides user documentation and directs users to file bugs against Evince to report problems.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Interactive forms
- Evince supports filling out interactive forms, including text fields and scrollable list boxes.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Limit
- Evince cannot be used to edit files.checked 3 Oct 2026
- OCR support
- nonechecked 24 Sep 2026
- Offline access
- Yeschecked 24 Sep 2026
- Password-protected PDFs
- When opening a password-protected PDF, Evince prompts the user to enter its password.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Presentations
- Evince can display supported documents as full-screen presentations.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Printing
- Printing is documented for DVI, DjVu, PDF, PostScript, and TIFF files.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Evince is a document viewer for multiple formats, intended to replace multiple GNOME desktop viewers with one simple application.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The Evince help site explains how to file a bug against the application.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Supported formats
- The help lists PDF, PostScript, DVI, DjVu, XPS/OXPS, and Comic Book Archive formats as supported.checked 4 Oct 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 24 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Getting the app
- The project wiki recommends obtaining Evince from the user's Linux distribution and points to packages or source for other download options.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Linux format caveat
- Some Linux distributions may not support every listed format by default because the required backend package may be missing.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Platform support
- desktopchecked 24 Sep 2026
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