[Solved] OOo 3: A PDF viewer alternative?

[JD88]

Hello everyone,

I've read, that the version 3.0 will get a PDF import/edit function.
Does this mean, that it can be used as a standard PDF viewer program and will be an alternative to Adobe Reader and others?

Thanks for replies!

[acknak]

You could use it that way, but it likely won't be a very good fit.

The coming PDF import function is meant to give users a way to bring PDF pages into OOo, so they can be marked up or incorporated into other documents.

Why are you interested in using OOo to view PDFs when there are several fine PDF readers available?

[huw]

Here is the project homepage:
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wik ... _Extension
I'd expect it open PDFs like it already opens web pages - i.e. it won't be a suitable replacement for a dedicated PDF reader, but would get you out of a tight corner.

[JD88]

Thanks for the replies!

Why are you interested in using OOo to view PDFs when there are several fine PDF readers available?

Well, the idea of mine was to reduce the use of many different programs. I personally think it's not really necessary to have an extra program only to be able to open and view PDF files (just for one file format), if I can have this feature in OpenOffice already.

[foxcole]

Usually it's best to just use the right tool for the job. There is no perfect all-in-one program for every kind of electronic document file, and you should not expect that of OpenOffice.

Do you understand what PDF files are and why they're so difficult for word processors to work with?

[JD88]

Do you understand what PDF files are and why they're so difficult for word processors to work with?

Well, not really.
But I think, if the import function of OOo works fine, that it will be acceptable for me.
Generally I don't really need a pdf program, just for infrequent use to read a guide or something like that.

[Hagar Delest]

See here: Portable Document Format (wiki page).

[AndrewZ]

The PDF import extension for OpenOffice.org is now ready for testing. The main reason I would not replace Acrobat Reader with this is the speed: it is really slow. The layout is better than I expected.

[DD36]

I've tested the extension and it's great.

But there are still some issues:

Text, images and other objects are shifted sometimes.
The speed is acceptable in the most cases, but it requires a long time to open a PDF file with many/big images, which is very annoying.

But you have to keep in mind, that it is still in an early development stage.
I think many things will be fixed and optimized in the next time.
And I also believe, that they will fairly reduce the rendering time too.

[foxcole]

I've tested the extension and it's great.

Cool! I haven't tried it yet.

Text, images and other objects are shifted sometimes.

That is a typical problem when converting PDF files to any other format. I don't think there's really much that can be done about it as long as the PDF technology remains the same.

But you have to keep in mind, that it is still in an early development stage.
I think many things will be fixed and optimized in the next time.
And I also believe, that they will fairly reduce the rendering time too.

I really wouldn't count on many improvements in this area, in the near future. As mentioned, PDF files are printer code and are incredibly difficult to deconstruct into other formats. No software has done this perfectly, not even Adobe's own Acrobat. (You should see the Word files it spits out, when the files originated in Word.. Only some basic semblance. It's more for retrieving PDF-entombed content to reformat correctly than it is for straight file conversion.)

[Villeroy]

No, I it won't be an alternative to a viewer. A pdf viewer simply prints to screen. AndrewZ wrote in another thread that pdf will be loaded into the Draw component. I assume, the OOo add-on will generate editable drawing objects from the given pdf content. Create something in Draw and you can imagine that this approach can work quite well, but it has nothing to do with the "print to screen" approach of a viewer.