Viewing PDFs in Google Chrome

Sad Professor

Has anyone found a good solution for viewing and saving PDF files in Google Chrome? The built-in PDF viewer makes saving files very awkward. You have to open the frame in a new tab and then use Save As.

I tried installing Adobe Reader to see if Chrome with use the plugin, but that didn't work. And now I have Adobe crap on my system that I have to track down and destroy before it starts annoying me.

Disabling Chrome's PDF viewer seems the best solution but that means every PDF I click will be saved and my Downloads folder will be a cluttered mess of duplicates before long.

Any suggestions? I miss Safari's built-in PDF viewer.

conor.hogan.2

Quickview in google results - https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nnbmlagghjjcbdhgmkedmbmedengocbn

Docs - https://docs.google.com/viewer?pli=1

So sometimes the plugin doesnt work then go to the above url and paste the link in and that usually works.

Sad Professor

I've tried that before, but it doesn't work for secure websites. Most of the PDFs I'm accessing are college files.

yoyo

Firefox has a "PDF download" plugin which works quite well, you can even set firefox to open pdf files externally in the browser which makes saving easier, even if you want to use chrome you could use FF to get the notes... https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pdf-download/ link

Nick

conor.hogan.2

If im not mistaken your in ucd ye? Any pdfs ive had to open work with either/or of those above.

I have https everywhere enabled and have had no problems, on the whole except chrome having to force quit on a certain website for college.
So i just downloaded those pdfs, I made notes on the pdfs so it worked out better.

Sad Professor

No, the Google Docs extension doesn't work with Blackboard. I just get an error that it was unable to generate the document, presumedly because it's a secure site. The other half of the time it doesn't open at all and just downloads or opens using Google's built-in viewer if it's enabled.

I don't think there's any solution really. I'll just have to wait until Google fix their built-in PDF viewer. Safari handles PDFs so much better. If you click on a PDF it opens inside Safari. If you want to download it you just click on the download symbol in the PDF controls and it instantly downloads. Minimal clicks - this is why I like Apple products.

Chrome's built-in PDF viewer is grand for viewing files, but downloading is a pain in the arse. The PDF controls have no option for downloading. If it opens within in a frame (as it does on Blackboard), Save As won't do anything. So after opening the PDF, I then have to open the frame in a new tab, then Save As, then click okay, then approve. Argh!

It's not a big deal, but I've loads of files to download and it's annoying. I guess I'll just disable the built-in viewer for now and download everything. Or just switch back to Safari. Google are starting to piss me off anyway.

conor.hogan.2

Ah Blackboard, forgot about that havent used it since last year.

Since its blackboard and you know you need those particular pdfs your probably best to just download them.

Just right click the link and save as, before opening?

Sad Professor

conor.hogan.2 wrote: »

Just right click the link and save as, before opening?

Doesn't always work either. Chrome can't see the see the file and just downloads crap. It depends what way the lecturers have uploaded the files. The easiest way is to just disable the built-in viewer altogether and then all PDFs download when I click on them.

conor.hogan.2

Odd, and safari works all the time?