Safari pdf handling - Preview?

Question

Level 1

65 points

Safari pdf handling - Preview?

Is it possible to set Safari to use a Preview plug-in to read pdf files? I can find the list of installed plug-ins (Help: Installed Plug-ins) but I can't see any way to edit them. I don't care if Preview opens the files within Safari, or if Preview just starts up and displays the pdf files in its own window.

At the moment, when I click a pdf file link within Safari, Safari doesn't know what to do because it can't find Adobe Acrobat Reader. (I recently un-installed Adobe Acrobat Reader because I got tired of Adobe's shenanigans.)

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Core Duo 2.0 GHz, Mac OS X (10.4.10), 2 GB RAM

Posted on Aug 24, 2008 1:02 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 24, 2008 5:27 AM in response to Aaaaaack!

Right click (Control click) on the .pdf link and you'll see some options.
Download linked file as... is your best option (bypasses any browser).
You can then use the Finder (Get Info window) to assign Preview as the "Open using" application.

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Answer 2

lkrupp

Level 7

23,401 points

Aug 24, 2008 5:58 AM in response to Aaaaaack!

If Safari is still trying to open that PDF in Adobe Reader it is possible that the Adobe plugin is still active. When you uninstalled did you remove the plugin? Look in /Library/Internet Plug-Ins (this is the Library folder at the top of your system hard drive, not in your user folder). Look for AdobePDFViewer.plugin and move it to the trash if found.

Safari is quite capable of displaying a PDF file natively on its own. It's built right in. That being said I have never experienced any Adobe "shenanigans" and the Adobe viewer plugin is my preferred way of viewing PDFs within the Safari browser.

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Answer 3

Aaaaaack! Author

Level 1

65 points

Aug 24, 2008 9:53 AM in response to lkrupp

Perfect, that did it. Thanks.

Adobe's Acrobat Reader has been doing bothersome things for the past several releases (such as animating little advertisements in the menu bar). The last version insisted on being given my system password before the Application (not the installer) would run. So, I deleted it.

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Answer 4

Nov 20, 2008 6:52 PM in response to Aaaaaack!

My copy of Safari is behaving the same way following the installation of Adobe CS3...

...before the CS3 install I could click on PDFs within Safari and they would open with Preview. Now when I click on a PDF within Safari it won't open and I am asked to locate the PDF viewer application (I forget the exact language).

I am unable to choose preview by browsing through the dialog box so I'm stuck without a PDF viewer.

FWIW, there are no adobe plugins in my Library\Internet Plugins Folder
and
Preview opens PDFs automatically from within the finder, just not from within Safari.

-please help

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Answer 5

rambo777

Level 1

0 points

Nov 24, 2008 4:46 PM in response to thisisstupid00

I am having the same problem after uninsatll Adobe reader

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Answer 6

rambo777

Level 1

0 points

Nov 25, 2008 11:06 AM in response to rambo777

I was able to get preview to work again after deleting Adobe PDF plugin in
Macitosh HD/Library/Internet Plugins folder
the ~/Library/Internet Plugins folder in my home directory was empty
cheers

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