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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing Apps
One problem with Apple's Preview is that PDF files often load and operate very slowly. One way around this problem is to open them in QuickTime Player instead. They load almost instantly, and can be resized and browsed through very quickly.

To open a PDF in QuickTime Player, you have to use the File -> Open command to open the file rather than dragging it onto the QT Player application. To go between pages, use the arrow keys. One disadvantage is that you can't go to a specific page like you can in Preview. But for resizing and viewing speed, it is superior.

[robg adds: I had no idea this would work. You can skip the File -> Open step if you just hold down Command and Option and drag the PDF to the QT Player's icon in the dock.]
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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing | 9 comments | Create New Account
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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing
Authored by: mm2270 on Mar 25, '03 11:51:19AM

Hmm, I never knew this. Not a bad hint at all!

One other thing I noticed when trying this - if you have a scroll wheel mouse, you can use the wheel to navigate forward and backward thru pages. A wheel-click down goes forward one page, and a wheel-cick up goes back one page.
And also, you can always make QT Player your preferred app for any .pdf file in Get Info. It won't show up automatically in the menu of available apps, but choosing "Other..." and then selecting Show- All Applications wil allow you to select it.



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but no anti-aliasing
Authored by: dm2243 on Mar 25, '03 12:58:35PM

many pdfs won't look so good (and may be darn near unreadable). nevertheless, it is a good tip.



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i get anti-aliasing
Authored by: reverie on Mar 25, '03 01:17:25PM

I have no problems with anti-aliasing in quicktime. My main interface problem is that it won't allow you to show any less than a full page in the window, which is less than useful on landscape-oriented displays (ie, pretty much all of them). I still prefer Acrobat or Preview for viewing.



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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing
Authored by: paulehoffman on Mar 25, '03 01:16:59PM

You can also cause Adobe's Acrobat reader to be the default PDF viewer. Like QuickTime Player, Acrobat Reader is much faster than Preview (after it is launched). Unlike QuickTime Player, Acrobat Reader renders almost every PDF flawlessy. The only disadvantage is that Acrobat Reader doesn't let you use the scroll wheel.



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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing
Authored by: readparse on Mar 28, '03 10:55:18PM

I was also going to post the "Uh, how about Acrobat?" comment because I noticed that it's tons faster than Preview.app with PDFs (as you said, once it launches). But I've kept Preview as the default app for PDFs, because it's definitely a quicker launcher than Acrobat, and many PDFs are simple enough that they come right up. Whenever I run across one that's being a dog, I just drag the icon from the title bar of the window into Acrobat, which I keep in my dock all the time.

Different strokes for different folks.



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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing
Authored by: Tonex on Mar 25, '03 05:41:57PM

Wow, this is fantastic,

both Acrobat and Preview are as slow as melted tar on my G4 466, but this is lightning fast, faster than Safari.

You can use the left and right arrow keys to page backwards and forwards, and opt-left and right arrows will take you to the start and end of the PDF respectively.

Coolest, and perhaps most useless of all, the spacebar will 'play' your PDF. I suppose it could be useful for skimming through a very long document if you were looking for graphics, but it's a bit fast to see much of anything useful.

As far as display goes, all the PDF's I've tested look fine to me, AND I can view them in full screen with a nice black background. Super!

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Remember - in a million years we'll all be dust, and none of this will matter



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Fine onscreen, printed == poop
Authored by: terceiro on Mar 25, '03 11:05:53PM

I like how fast it does indeed render onscreen, but they sure print lousy. Blurry text, ungh. Just for checking, I printed the same two page document using preview and QTPlayer, and the difference was night and day. Moral of the story: for viewing quickie PDFs onscreen, QTPlayer is a boon, for printing, stick with Preview or Acrobat.



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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing
Authored by: muji_boy on Mar 26, '03 11:00:47PM

still surprises, nice that some people are curious. I am sure it will be useful for something. Would be nice if I had a bigger screen!

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\"who holds the key that winds up Big Ben\"



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Open PDFs in QuickTime Player for faster viewing
Authored by: batwood on May 14, '03 04:42:09AM
For a really large file I have (1938 pages!), Quicktime Player was also pretty slow. Surprisingly, I found the TeXShop pdf viewer to be much faster than anything else. I can't confirm the render quality but for what I need it's great. Also, it's already set up in the "right click->open with" menu. Information about TeXShop can be found here or from Apple's site.

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