Decent alternative to Adobe Reader

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Andrade
  • Start date Start date
Depends when pdf reader 'forgets' - there might be a way around
it, i.e., make it to 'remember'.
Click to expand...

Yep. I don't mind anyway, as long as it reads a pdf it is better than
Acrobat :-)
 
Really?

It says:

'd) This version of Foxit PDF Reader allows viewing PDF documents
within Internet Explorer or other web browsers,'
Click to expand...

It seems to integrate ok with IE, but not others. After making it my
default pdf viewer, I clicked to a pdf with IE. I got the 'do you want
to open or save?' dialog, with the option never to ask again; clicking
open made the document display with FoxIt, within the IE window.

But pdfs in Firefox and K-Meleon still display using the Adobe plugin,
and I don't see a way to integrate FoxIt with them. I'm not going to
bother disabling the Adobe plugin to see what happens.

I don't have a pdf plugin configured in Opera, so it prompts to open or
save. Choosing open results in FoxIt opening in a separate window.
 
But pdfs in Firefox and K-Meleon still display using the Adobe
plugin, and I don't see a way to integrate FoxIt with them. I'm
not going to bother disabling the Adobe plugin to see what
happens.
Click to expand...
I don't have the adobe plugin in my K-meleon, but when I click on a
pdf file in K-Meleon there is no dialogue window. Foxit immediately
opens the pdf document. I don't know what further "integration" is
required, but that's all I need.
 
It seems to integrate ok with IE, but not others. After
making it my default pdf viewer, I clicked to a pdf with
IE. I got the 'do you want to open or save?' dialog, with
the option never to ask again; clicking open made the
document display with FoxIt, within the IE window.

But pdfs in Firefox and K-Meleon still display using the
Adobe plugin, and I don't see a way to integrate FoxIt with
them. I'm not going to bother disabling the Adobe plugin
to see what happens.

I don't have a pdf plugin configured in Opera, so it
prompts to open or save. Choosing open results in FoxIt
opening in a separate window.
Click to expand...

Did you try to "Change action" in Options (FF)?

J
 
Yep. I don't mind anyway, as long as it reads a pdf it is
better than Acrobat :-)
Click to expand...

Heh, I'm looking forward seeing what's in the 800+ KB .ZIP.
Acrobat 5 takes about 11 MB (after throwing out the obvious
trash).

J
 
Yes, I tried Foxit too.. definitely faster, but doesn't do page thumbnails
as I recall. I found the best compromise was Adobe Reader with the speed-up.
Reasonably fast with no significant feature loss.
 
_Slarty_, giovedì 16/dic/2004:
Or simply move all of those bloated plugins which you don't feel you need
to a separate folder created just for the purpose. I call mine
plug_ins_disabled for ease of recognition. The only ones here left in the
plugins folder are EWH32.api, reflow.api, and Search.api.

If later you find that you need one or more, move them back whence they
came.

Seems to work here, much faster loading, and no other software required.
Click to expand...

Good tip :-)

By chance, do you know why AR sometimes remembers the last opened page and
sometimes it doesn't? This behaviour drives me mad.
 
Mike Andrade said:
http://foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Click to expand...

Seems fast and stable. Shows most PDF-files correctly, but not all.

For instance:
Since I play a lot of Halo 2 these days I have a PDF-version of the manual
loaded sometimes. The images does not show correctly in Foxit and
positioning of text over images are wrong. I have seen similar symptoms when
viewing other PDF-files as well.

Acrobat 6 have no problems with same PDF-files.

But its really, really fast :)
 
Rolf Barbakken said:
Seems fast and stable. Shows most PDF-files correctly, but not all.

For instance:
Since I play a lot of Halo 2 these days I have a PDF-version of the manual
loaded sometimes. The images does not show correctly in Foxit and
positioning of text over images are wrong. I have seen similar symptoms when
viewing other PDF-files as well.

Acrobat 6 have no problems with same PDF-files.
Click to expand...

Neither does GSview, btw, but GSview shows images with less quality than
Acrobat 6 and is really slow when paging through pages with lots of images.
 
Mike Andrade said:
Yeah, tried it. Cut's Foxit's advantage to about 50%. Plus, there's
no need for an /additional/ program, thus using more resources
(however few) with Foxit.
Click to expand...

Foxit could become a good reader but you can't mark en copy text with
it and it lacks a search feature. I have no use for it (yet).

Frank
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in
Did you try to "Change action" in Options (FF)?
Click to expand...

No, and I've already gotten rid of the app. But it didn't add a plugin
for Firefox, so I think the best that could be hoped for would be
opening in a separate window without prompting.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in
<.net>:



No, and I've already gotten rid of the app. But it didn't
add a plugin for Firefox, so I think the best that could be
hoped for would be opening in a separate window without
prompting.
Click to expand...
I see (mebbe). My pref. for PDFs is to open them outside
browser.

J
 
Foxit could become a good reader but you can't mark en copy text
with it and it lacks a search feature. I have no use for it (yet).
Click to expand...
I agree. Although I have it on disk and use it frequently, there
are times when I want to copy a graphic or some text from a .pdf
file. I have the ability to take them apart to some degree, using
freeware and cmdline programs, but sometimes it is just as quick to
mark, copy and paste.

I prefer to paste into IrfanView since it is smaller and quicker
than most graphic editors.

Irfanview will also identify the type of file should you give it
the
wrong extension. That is.. If you paste the graphic and call it a
..jpg and it is really a .gif, then Irfanview will let you know and
ask to correct it.
 
Will this one integrate in my browser ?

BTW, the main reason Acrobat Reader is slow is that it loads all plug-ins
when it starts up.
If you hold down shift while opening Acrobat Reader it bypasses all the
plug-ins and loads much faster.
You can also remove unnecessary plug-ins (.api-files) from the plug-in
folder, this will also increase loading speed.
Here's info an what these api-files do:

http://www.daube.ch/share/win14.html

BTW, I'm still using version 4.0, available here:

http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=acrobat

Smaller and faster than later versions, rumor is there's a compatibility-
problem with some PDF-files, but it never failed to open a PDF here.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rod.
 
Rod said:
Faster than AR, I like the no install, hate the ad, doesn't integrate in K-
Meleon, I'm sticking with AR 4 and it's 2 second delay.
Click to expand...
I use AR 3, converted it to executable, opens files with no noticible delay.
Too bad it's the only setting it 'forgets' when you close it. Evil.
Click to expand...
I know the feeling. I wish web authors would use text instead of that dratted PDF.
Yep, can't remember I saw one other than on the web the last years.
Click to expand...

Mike Sa
 
Foxit could become a good reader but you can't mark en copy text with
it and it lacks a search feature. I have no use for it (yet).
Click to expand...

For me, its killer fault is that it doesn't remember the screen size
and position the user has set. This is lazy programming worthy of
Microsoft.
 
Wald said:
You ever tried Acrobat Speedup with Adobe's reader? I don't know how
it compares to Foxit, but it makes it a hell of a lot faster.

http://www.tnk-bootblock.co.uk/prods/misc/index.php
Click to expand...

No need to download an app; just use this tiny batch file:


ren plug_ins "plug_ins (unused)"
mkdir plug_ins
copy "plug_ins (unused)\Search.api" plug_ins


(1) After installation of Adobe Reader 6, put this batch file into the
"Reader" subfolder where you installed Adobe Reader, and run it.

(2) Run the app and press CTRL+K to open the Preferences, click
the "Startup" item at left, and untick "Display splash screen".

(3) Done! All PDF files will now open MUCH more quickly. :)
 
No need to download an app; just use this tiny batch file:


ren plug_ins "plug_ins (unused)"
mkdir plug_ins
copy "plug_ins (unused)\Search.api" plug_ins


(1) After installation of Adobe Reader 6, put this batch
file into the
"Reader" subfolder where you installed Adobe Reader,
and run it.

(2) Run the app and press CTRL+K to open the Preferences,
click
the "Startup" item at left, and untick "Display splash
screen".

(3) Done! All PDF files will now open MUCH more quickly.
:)
Click to expand...
Some (forgot who/where) also recommend to keep
EWH32.api

Any idea why / what it's for?

J
 
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