PDF Mystery

[...winston]

Toolbar in SeaMonkey (Mozilla based browser like Firefox and using the provided plugins) and Internet Explorer 10 is identical.

F8 continues to function by toggling the toolbar on and off when viewing the pdf file in the browser.

Looks normal to what I've seen for some time
- full toolbar across the top with all the options.

--
....winston
msft mvp consumer apps


"W. eWatson" wrote in message
I use Firefox.

This is odd. For possibly months, each time I used Google to search, and
got a pdf that I decided to select, I could press F8 and a banner would
appear with icons to print, move to another page, etc. Otherwise, it
didn't allow me to search unless I pressed Cntrl-F. Maybe three weeks
ago, I couldn't even search. This morning I decided to reboot, but not
thinking about pdfs. Now I can get a different display of the pdf, and I
can search it using Ctrl-F. The controls look different, but that's not
a problem, nor is the find. I'm curious how this might happen.
Comments? Aren't such PDF readers in this instance provided by Adobe
Acrobat?

This should
<http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/educate/scimodule/Cosmogony/CosmogonyPDF/DensityGravityST.pdf>
show the new layout. It has a gray background, a set of icons to the
right, center and left.

 

[Ken Springer]

No. If you recommend it, can you tell me why?



What were the issues? I've never had a problem with it.



I don't know. I use it just as a PDF reader, and I've never created a
PDF file with it.

It' s been too long for my memory to list the details, I just remember
getting very frustrated with it in reading some PDF files. It was under
XP or Vista, on a dual boot machine. Adobe Reader had no problems, so I
didn't spend an inordinate amount of time looking for the offending
reasons with the PDF's.

Got better things to do. LOL

I occasionally refurbish donated hardware into a complete system
(including a printer and anything else I have on had at the time) and
donate to local social agencies. I work from the assumption the
person(s) ending up with it are fairly computer illiterate. So, I try
to follow the KISS principle for the systems. And I type up a basic
"This is what I've done:" to go with it.

I found Nitro PDF reader when I was looking for a free PDF printer
driver that would create basic PDFs, nothing fancy. You get a reader
plus PDF printer driver, for free. Hopefully the reader part works for
most people. But the PDF printer driver allows the user to create a
file someone else can read, and not need to worry if they can read a
..doc but not .docx kind of crap.

I also install a suite of open source/free software so the system is
actually useable.

In a quick browse of the Foxit site, I didn't spot whether it installs a
driver, or Foxit itself does the PDF creation. *If* Foxit creates the
PDF, that means the user has to understand a bunch of native file
formats to create the PDF. If Foxit doesn't understand the file format,
the user is up the creek without a paddle.

But with a PDF printer driver, who cares what the native file format is.



--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.3
Firefox 20.0
Thunderbird 17.0.5
LibreOffice 4.0.1.2

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, Steve Hayes

Why can't I just save the one already downloaded that is displayed on the
screen?

What happens when you try, with the usual (for Windows) Ctrl-S or Alt-F
then A?
[]

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Have you ever tried the Nitro PDF reader? http://www.nitroreader.com/

The couple of times I tried Foxit a couple of years ago, I had issues
with it, went looking for something else, and found Nitro.

In the Foxit install, when it creates a PDF file, does it do it with
the program itself, or does it install a PDF printer driver?

Foxit, like Adobe, is a free reader, with a creator available as a paid
extra.

To answer what someone else asked: they also do a pdf _editor_. I
couldn't make sense of the current offering, but an older one I have
does indeed, in the free version, mark each modified page with something
like "edited with Foxit PDF editor, evaluation version". It's not a PDF
_creator_ though - it works on files that are already PDFs.

(For PDF _creation_, I use the old PDF995, which is indeed a
pseudo-printer.)

 

[John K.Eason]

with the program itself, or does it install a PDF printer driver?

I don't know. I use it just as a PDF reader, and I've never created
a PDF file with it.

It installs a PDF printer driver. There's also a menu item in Foxit to create a
PDF from a file (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, text, or various image formats), a blank
page (WTF for?), from a scanner, or from the clipboard.
Personally I use Win2PDF from Dane Prairie Systems for that because you can set
various output options including the filename by saving settings to the registry.

Regards
John ([email protected]) Remove the obvious to reply...

 

[Ken Blake]

Foxit, like Adobe, is a free reader, with a creator available as a paid
extra.

Foxit Reader, at least the newer version(s) has a pdf creator built
into it. I'm running version 6.0.2.0413

 

[Steve Hayes]

Steve Hayes wrote:

You can, Steve. Somewhere (I don't use the new version so I can't remember
off hand) there is a button to click on the PDF reader screen (top right
corner on the toolbar - but don't hold me to that, my memory isn't what it
was).

Then re-install Firefox 17ESR and update as normal to 17.0.5

17 ESR is at:-

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all.html

Thanks Bob, I think I'll try that.

 

[Steve Hayes]

The down arrow icon changes to a minute counter with a miniature progress bar
underneath it while a file is downloading, then briefly shows an expanding green
arrow when the download has finished, followed by the arrow icon turning green. You
can also click on the progress icon during the download to show a larger dialog
with progress bar on it and an icon to abort the download.

Thanks, I'll try that. .

It seems strange to me that they think that making things more difficult to
find is an improvement.

I'm guessing here, but I suspect that it renames the temporary file that's already
been downloaded to view the PDF and moves it to the Firefox download directory,
rather than downloading it again.

I hope so. Here we have to pay for bandwidth by the gigabyte, and downloading
a few big files twice could easily push one over the limit and cost extra.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-older-version-of-firefox?esab=a&s=previ
ous+versions&r=3&as=s or http://tinyurl.com/c6r3btn for a short link, however
you'll lose the security updates that have been included with the later versions.
Have a look at this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/find-and-manage-downloaded-files which might
help.

Thanks again.

 

[Steve Hayes]

In message <[email protected]>, Steve Hayes


What happens when you try, with the usual (for Windows) Ctrl-S or Alt-F
then A?

I haven't tried, but I assume that would save what is displayed as an HTML
document.

 

[Steve Hayes]

It installs a PDF printer driver. There's also a menu item in Foxit to create a
PDF from a file (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, text, or various image formats), a blank
page (WTF for?), from a scanner, or from the clipboard.
Personally I use Win2PDF from Dane Prairie Systems for that because you can set
various output options including the filename by saving settings to the registry.

For creating PDF files I use PDF Factory. It's a paid-for program (though
there is a free trial version).

What I like about it is that you can include several documents in one PDF file
whereas most such programs create a separate file for each document. For
example I could include a database report, a wordprocessing file and a
spreadsheet report in the same PDF file.

 

[Steve Hayes]

Toolbar in SeaMonkey (Mozilla based browser like Firefox and using the provided plugins) and Internet Explorer 10 is identical.

F8 continues to function by toggling the toolbar on and off when viewing the pdf file in the browser.

Looks normal to what I've seen for some time
- full toolbar across the top with all the options.

F8 does absolutely nothing with this:

This should
<http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/educate/scimodule/Cosmogony/CosmogonyPDF/DensityGravityST.pdf>
show the new layout. It has a gray background, a set of icons to the
right, center and left.

 

[Ken Springer]

It seems strange to me that they think that making things more difficult to
find is an improvement.

IMO, it's part of the move to make everything tablet/smartphone friendly.

I've read other comments similar to mine, and from what I've seen
initially of Windows 8, gut feeling is those comments/feelings are on
target. I've just started playing/experimenting with the Win 8 default
UI, and I've managed to corral a couple of things I don't like about it.
And with no third party software like Classic Shell and Start8.

<snip>

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.8.3
Firefox 20.0
Thunderbird 17.0.5
LibreOffice 4.0.1.2

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

I haven't tried, but I assume that would save what is displayed as an HTML
document.

That certainly doesn't happen when what is being looked at is a .jpg
image: it gets saves as a .jpg image. (And I think others similarly.)
(That's when viewing a raw image, not one in an HTML wrapper, of
course.)

 

[John K.Eason]

Foxit, like Adobe, is a free reader, with a creator available as a
paid extra.

To answer what someone else asked: they also do a pdf _editor_. I
couldn't make sense of the current offering, but an older one I
have does indeed, in the free version, mark each modified page with
something like "edited with Foxit PDF editor, evaluation version".
It's not a PDF _creator_ though - it works on files that are
already PDFs.

(For PDF _creation_, I use the old PDF995, which is indeed a
pseudo-printer.)

The latest free version of Foxit /Reader/ (6.0.2.0413 which now has an orange
program icon) does indeed include a PDF printer driver. As you say it's not a full
editor, although you can add annotations, images, etc. to an existing page with it.

Regards
John ([email protected]) Remove the obvious to reply...

 

[John K.Eason]

For creating PDF files I use PDF Factory. It's a paid-for program
(though there is a free trial version).

What I like about it is that you can include several documents in
one PDF file whereas most such programs create a separate file for each
document. For example I could include a database report, a
wordprocessing file and a spreadsheet report in the same PDF file.

If I want to join several PDF files, split or rearrange the pages, etc., I've use
the free PDFTK Builder from http://www.angusj.com/pdftkb/ for years. It's quite old
now (last updated in 2009), but has handled anything I've thrown at it without
problem.

Regards
John ([email protected]) Remove the obvious to reply...

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

(e-mail address removed) (J. P.

Foxit, like Adobe, is a free reader, with a creator available as a
paid extra.

[]
The latest free version of Foxit /Reader/ (6.0.2.0413 which now has an orange
program icon) does indeed include a PDF printer driver. As you say it's
not a full
editor, although you can add annotations, images, etc. to an existing
page with it.

[]
Thanks for that, and I see it's supposed to work under XP (which I'm
running) too. The annotations/images sounded useful, so I tried to
install it (wondering why it wouldn't do so from "upgrade" within my
existing 5.4.3.0920). It said "manually uninstall existing one first",
so I ran its uninstaller, which didn't seem to work other than removing
it as the default reader. But this is getting way off-topic for the W7
'group, so I'll play some more and maybe ask in the XP 'group. (I do
have another .pdf editor - Foxit's own [v2.0 from 2007] - though as
that's the evaluation version, it does add a banner to pages I edit.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Saturday night telly is one big noisy party to which not only have I not been
invited, but I don't want to be. - Alison Graham in Radio Times, 18-24 June
2011.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, John K.Eason

If I want to join several PDF files, split or rearrange the pages,
etc., I've use
the free PDFTK Builder from http://www.angusj.com/pdftkb/ for years.
It's quite old
now (last updated in 2009), but has handled anything I've thrown at it without
problem.

[]
Thanks for that - looks very good! [Can't be any good really though -
only 2.7 MB download (-:]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Saturday night telly is one big noisy party to which not only have I not been
invited, but I don't want to be. - Alison Graham in Radio Times, 18-24 June
2011.

 

[Steve Hayes]

In message <[email protected]>, Steve Hayes
[]
Why can't I just save the one already downloaded that is displayed on the
screen?

What happens when you try, with the usual (for Windows) Ctrl-S or Alt-F
then A?

I haven't tried, but I assume that would save what is displayed as an HTML
document.

That certainly doesn't happen when what is being looked at is a .jpg
image: it gets saves as a .jpg image. (And I think others similarly.)
(That's when viewing a raw image, not one in an HTML wrapper, of
course.)

I've now tried it, and it works.

Sometimes it's too easy to ignore the obvious!

 

[Steve Hayes]

If I want to join several PDF files, split or rearrange the pages, etc., I've use
the free PDFTK Builder from http://www.angusj.com/pdftkb/ for years. It's quite old
now (last updated in 2009), but has handled anything I've thrown at it without
problem.

I don't usually want to do anything like that, but, for example, when I'm
corresponding with someone about genealogy, I sometimes want to send people
pedigree chart, 3 or 4 family group sheets, and a word processing files that
explains anything that isn't self-explanatory in them.

PDF Creator would produce one file for each report, about 5 or 6 files in all,
PDFactory just bungs them all into one file, and easier to open and r4ead at
the other end.

 

[s|b]

Adobe is phone home bloatware.
I use Foxit and it works quite well.
No gray and no icons.

I've been using Foxit for some time now, but they messed things up in
their latest update (v6.x). I can't look at the new GUI without getting
a headache. I'm installing PDF-XChange Viewer instead.