[SOLVED] Is there a GOOD PDF viewer for Linux?

[TwoFistedJustice]

I am becoming PDF-traumatized from my PDFs in Linux experience. This seems to be the one area where Windows is absolutely and unquestionably superior to Linux.<br>
<br>
Foxit for Linux: unsupported, buggy AF.<br>
Evince: no tabs, blocks the left margin of the document in portrait mode, button to hide/show the side pane is purely decorative<br>
Okular: TERRIBLE interface, makes reading a chore<br>
<br>
Every PDF viewer I've ever used that wasn't garbage was for Windows.<br>
<br>
Here is what I would like to have in a PDF viewer:<br>
<br>
- TABS - so I don't have to manage 800 open windows.<br>
- The ability to have the document open from margin to margin screen-edge to screen-edge top-to-bottom in portrait mode so I can freaking read it without having to scroll this way and that and frequently adjust the magnification just to see the beginning or end of a sentence.<br>
<br>
Those are my main requirements and I have yet to find a Linux viewer that meets those simple criteria. It's almost as if Linux programmers have never read from an actual piece of paper.<br>
<br>
And I don't want to install or deal with Wine. Been there done that, burned the T-shirt.<br>
<br>
Does anyone know of such a beast?

[GreyGeek]

I use Okular for quick reads but for serious work I use Master PDF Editor 5
wget https://code-industry.net/public/mas...-qt5.amd64.deb

[claydoh]

Okular: TERRIBLE interface, makes reading a chore

What specifically do you mean here? I betcha some things can be configured better suit to your needs.

- TABS - so I don't have to manage 800 open windows.

Okular
Firefox and Chrome/Chromium/etc built-in viewers

- The ability to have the document open from margin to margin screen-edge to screen-edge top-to-bottom in portrait mode so I can freaking read it without having to scroll this way and that and frequently adjust the magnification just to see the beginning or end of a sentence

Okular
Firefox can be set to do this I think, though I don't know if autofit etc resizes the doc to full window width or not, did not test
I also imagine many/most viewers have this sort of option.



I use Okular almost daily, and usually with multiple documents open



Note above the right-click to reveal the toggle to reveal or hide the main menu if one wants this.
Also note the sidebar is hidden by default, and fit-width is set as the default opening view for me as this fits my standard window size well enough, as well as maximized, I used to use auto-fit but prefer the fit-width myself.





Otherwise, here are two mostly identical lists of pdf viewers:

https://linuxhint.com/best_pdf_viewers_linux/
https://www.slant.co/topics/5967/~pdf-viewers-for-linux

[TwoFistedJustice]

This is what Okular looks like on my system. There is virtually NO interface at all. It has a 40+ page manual. If I have to read a 40 page booklet just to access the most basic features of a GUI, then I don't want to use that GUI. IMO Okular is the VIM of pdf viewers. It may have all the features, but since it also HIDES all the features then it is basically useless to anyone not willing to dedicate significant resources to learning it. I can't even find the configuration window you show. I'm sure if I read the 40 page booklet I could find it. But that is not going to happen. It took me less time to learn Foxit for Windows than it took me to write this post.

[Bings]

Press Ctrl + M to show the menu bar. This is a shortcut that works on a lot of linux programs too.

[jglen490]

Everything is configured under Settings, just like any other application. Ocular is good ...

[claydoh]

Actually, it seems Okular has had some updates from what the OP has, as I can toggle off the sidebar with a button.

And it took me about as long to set up Okular the way it is in my screenshot as it did to write this post, via ctrl-m (or the right-click as I've shown), and dove in the the settings.
40 pages?? nah, maybe 40 seconds.

In KDE land, the right click is your friend and a path for discovery.

From the settings menu I added the annotation toolbar as I use it often enough, then edited the default zoom style and turned on the tabs feature. I did all this back in June, when I had a butt load of pdf files for a short-lived job I had. A metric butt load to be precise.
I wonder if the tabs is a fairly new one, I don't recall it before, and would have used that a long tine ago, but apparently I just never noticed as it has been around for years and years now.

tbh they still need to do more to make Okular (and kate/kwrite) look and act like Dolphin a bit more - at least have a hamburger menu, right-clicking is not always an obvious thing to use.

[jlittle]

A metric butt load to be precise.

500 litres? Half a metric tun?

[claydoh]

500 litres? Half a metric tun?

48 bushels, actually so 1453.6 Liters
2 hogsheads or 4 barrels

[Bings]

Why is the OP's menu bar not enabled? Does Okular come with it disabled by default, if so, that would be pretty crazy. There's no hamburger menu, so I don't know why you'd ever want it disabled but you can turn off the entire U.I. Presumably because full screen doesn't.

[claydoh]

KDE's slogan does happen to be "simple by default, powerful when needed"

https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/

We forget that KDE used to have application menus that made the Gimp's look compact and simple. They are shooting for a sane middle ground by 'hiding', and unlike other desktops, not simply removing stuff.





The right-click is your friend. usually.

[TwoFistedJustice]

Thanks for being patient. CTRL+M was really helpful. Metric helpful.

Right clicking, at least on my instance of Okular is inconsistent. It often does nothing at all. And other times brings up different menus even clicking in the same part of the window. One time I clicked on the document and saw the show/hide menu option. But a few minutes later the option was gone. Did I not click on the special pixels? I don't know. It's almost like using a google product where it has most of the features you would want but hides them under secret sub-menus of hidden parts, 18 layers down, encrypted, and you have to dodge arrows shooting up from the floor to use it with -2 to your saving throw.

[TwoFistedJustice]

I keep getting server errors when I post. This has resulted in failed posts and also duplicates. Is anyone else getting this?

[GreyGeek]

So am I, on occasions, but it is inconsistent so I can't identify any particular circumstance.

[Bings]

There's nothing simple about having to come to a forum to get told how to access the basic functions of a program. I don't think that the menu bar should be hidden by default if there isn't a hamburger menu alternative.