How do I set pdf magnification default in Safari?

Question

How do I set pdf magnification default in Safari?

OK, I can just copy-paste the description from an old post:

Everytime I open a PDF in Safari 5 it opens them at 266% - no matter what I did on the last pdf. How in the heck can I set it to 100% as the default (or even smaller) ever time I open an pdf? Please, this drives me nuts.

10 years later, now using Ventura 13.1, and Safari 16.2, the fix suggested in How do I set pdf magnification default in… - Apple Community does not work, or am I missing something?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 13.1

Posted on Jan 5, 2023 4:53 PM

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Answer 1

brbo

Level 8

38,725 points

Jan 6, 2023 9:24 PM in response to FrappleDapple

Hi FrappleDapple

Wondering if there's something in Safari preferences you can experiment with:

Eg: You might want to check these Safari % settings:

Safari > Preferences > Websites > Page Zoom

also:

You might want to check what font-size is set on Safari:

Safari > Preferences > Advanced:

All the best :-)

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Answer 2

Jan 9, 2023 5:39 PM in response to brbo

Nah, this is a Safari issue. The individual PDFs are correctly formatted. Firefox does this better, but it isn't as smooth for other things. Haven't decided what is better overall, yet.

Yes, I currently use the keyboard shortcut "Command ---" (three times minus, every time). I use it so often that automation would be very useful.

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Answer 3

brbo

Level 8

38,725 points

Jan 9, 2023 11:52 PM in response to FrappleDapple

There's an ancient discussion thread discussing the code one would use:

Adjust PDF view settings in Safari - Apple Community

You may want to send feedback to Apple, to those who could make Safari changes:

They will likely not reply, yet if there are others experiencing this issue,

there may be changes in a future update.

Feedback - Safari - Apple

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Answer 4

brbo

Level 8

38,725 points

Jan 8, 2023 3:06 PM in response to FrappleDapple

Wondering which app you are using for saving / viewing the downloaded .PDF files.

Eg : Preview > Preferences has some .PDF settings:

or maybe check the "Preferences" in the Books app, if used.

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Answer 5

Jan 11, 2023 10:38 AM in response to brbo

> defaults write -app safari WebKitPDFScaleFactor 0.5

Thanks, this solution doesn't appear to work anymore. I tried both a factor 1.75 and 0.5.

> Feedback - Safari - Apple

Thanks, will do.

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Answer 6

Jan 7, 2023 11:02 AM in response to brbo

> Safari > Preferences > Websites > Page Zoom

Thanks, the website I was using (arXiv.org) had indeed a larger zoom setting. However, lowering that had no effect whatsoever on the PDF zoom.

> Safari > Preferences > Advanced

That accessibility option was already off, and turning it on didn't have an effect, either (font size 9).

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Answer 7

Jan 9, 2023 1:11 PM in response to brbo

If I download the PDF, then I use Skim (because of auto-reload and link preview features, though the link preview could be improved the way Evince does it).

This, however, is for viewing it in Safari before the download happens. On days that I look at a lot of PDFs on the web, the constant resizing I need to do can be a bit discombobulating. That is the problem I am trying to solve. All I need is to automate that resizing.

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Answer 8

brbo

Level 8

38,725 points

Jan 9, 2023 4:28 PM in response to FrappleDapple

Seems it would be those individual developers who make the .pdf files available who mostly control the size that the file displays in the browser.

Possibly a developer with programming skills may be able to set up something to over-ride the original sizing upon opening a file ...

The quickest way I know:

We can often use the keyboard shortcuts : Command + to make text larger

Command - to view text smaller

If you make screenshots of the text it will be that same size, (yet no longer a .pdf).

One would need to carefully follow copyright protocol with files from the web.

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Answer 9

brbo

Level 8

38,725 points

Jan 11, 2023 3:36 PM in response to FrappleDapple

Thank you for trying that code, and for letting us know it didn't work.

All the best :-)

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How do I set pdf magnification default in Safari?

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