Firefox pdf plugin

Tacitus · May 26, 2015, 10:58:18

Does anyone know of an alternative to the Adobe Reader plugin for FireFox 38/Mac? I'm looking for something that lets me view pdfs in the Browser window.

I'm wary of Adobe stuff since they have a nasty habit of putting stuff in all sorts of nooks and crannies of the OS. With the current version of the Reader plugin you give them permission to automatically install 'updates' and no doubt whatever else they feel like installing as part of the 'update'.

Steve · May 26, 2015, 13:08:54

Does Foxit supply anything I wonder, I don't use FireFox so I can't advise further.

nowster · May 26, 2015, 13:33:48

Newer Firefoxen have a built in PDF renderer using JavaScript, of all things.

Glenn · May 26, 2015, 15:07:49

PDF xchange any use?

Tacitus · May 26, 2015, 16:35:43

Quote from: nowster on May 26, 2015, 13:33:48
Newer Firefoxen have a built in PDF renderer using JavaScript, of all things.

I'm using 38.01 and pdfs won't view in a browser window, hence the request for alternatives. Acrobat does like Flash and creates a folder that is used to dump tracking data. You can disable it on a Mac simply by altering permissions to make it read-only so I suppose I could hunt it down and do the same.

[EDIT] If I go to this site using FFox 38.01 Mac it directs me to get the Adobe plugin. Same site using Safari, displays the page.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36897/supplement/452

Tacitus · May 26, 2015, 16:36:41

Foxit and PDF-Xchange are Windows - at least the download of the latter is a .exe file.

Looks like I might be sticking to Safari, but for some sites FireFox is a much better alternative.

nowster · May 26, 2015, 23:28:12

Quote from: Tacitus on May 26, 2015, 16:35:43
[EDIT] If I go to this site using FFox 38.01 Mac it directs me to get the Adobe plugin. Same site using Safari, displays the page.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36897/supplement/452

Works for me. Linux Iceweasel (de-branded Firefox) version 37.0.2. No Adobe plugins in sight. I'd suspect something's turned off the internal PDF renderer.

There are various instructions on re-enabling it deep into this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/view-pdf-files-firefox-without-downloading-them

Bill · May 27, 2015, 08:15:06

Quote from: nowster on May 26, 2015, 23:28:12
There are various instructions on re-enabling it deep into this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/view-pdf-files-firefox-without-downloading-them

Just a minor point for some who may be reading this- the title of that page is misleading.

If you can read a file in your browser then you've downloaded it; it may be stored in memory rather than in a file which you can access after you close the tab/browser, but it's still taken xx bytes out of your download allowance!

Tacitus · May 27, 2015, 10:10:38

Quote from: nowster on May 26, 2015, 23:28:12
Works for me. Linux Iceweasel (de-branded Firefox) version 37.0.2. No Adobe plugins in sight. I'd suspect something's turned off the internal PDF renderer.
There are various instructions on re-enabling it deep into this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/view-pdf-files-firefox-without-downloading-them

I wondered if NoScript was the cause so turned it off but still have the problem. In fact I've often wondered whether NoScript is more trouble that it's worth. Tried the same with adblock as that will sometimes cause sites to fail, since they are determined to ram ads down our throats.

A very useful link to troubleshooting, but despite trying all of the suggestions that site still tells me to get the Adobe plugin. I believe there are ways to completely remove all traces of it and I could always alter permissions to read-only - like I've done with Flash - if I could find the folder where they store the information.

Incidentally in the plugins list I can't find any reference to anything to do with .pdf so if FireFox does use its own plugin then it's not there.

stevenrw · May 28, 2015, 22:38:38

Don't know if you are using Outlook.com (ie a Microsoft account) but you can read/edit pdf's within your browser using Word online and OneDrive. (Although it only works well with text, pics may not display so well). There's a small article on it in the current issue of Computeractive (issue 450).
May still not be as slick and integrated as you are looking for.

D-Dan · May 30, 2015, 08:43:03

How about https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pdfjs/ ?

Tacitus · Jun 29, 2015, 07:45:29

I should have come back on this but in Firefox prefs -> applications -> content type .pdf you can set it to preview in Firefox. I think this may trigger a plugin similar to the pdfjs one, but I will check the issue of Computeractive.

From some of the comments in that link it may not work with FF 38. Given the latest version 38.0.5 has a massive bug which causes cpu usage to go way over 100% slowing everything to a crawl, that may be the least of its problems