Mozilla wants Firefox to render PDFs with HTML5, JavaScript

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    Mozilla wants Firefox to render PDFs with HTML5, JavaScript


    Posted: 17 Jun 2011
    Currently, browsers rely on plug-ins to display PDF files, like Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader. This may soon change, as there is a Firefox project in the works to build a PDF reader in HTML5 and JavaScript.

    A PDF reader needs to be fast at operations like rendering text, drawing lines, blitting images – all the things that browsers need to be fast at too. In other words, browser are already optimized for the task at hand, they just need to be told how to do it.

    The project is called pdf.js and is available for everyone to see on GitHub. It has been in development for about a month now, but there's already an early demo available at people.mozilla.org/~gal/test.html that you can check out for yourself. There are still glitches and rendering artifacts, but it's definitely a good start, especially for four weeks of work.

    The first order of business is to get pdf.js to render PDFs "natively" in Firefox itself, and the team believes it can get the most commonly used PDF features working in less than three months. The group will start by making a Firefox extension available to interested users that enables inline PDF rendering using pdf.js.
    more..
    Airbot's Avatar Posted By: Airbot
    17 Jun 2011



  1. Posts : 1,487
    Windows 7 x64 / Same
       #1

    Demo isn't working for me...guess they need to work on that one.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 9,582
    Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
       #2

    Interesting. I'll be keeping an eye open on this. Whether we will also need to install either Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader (or some other equivalent program) to view files already saved on the HDD remains to be seen, as it will depend on the scope of this proposed new add-on. In other words, will it decode locally stored files as well as those that are on-line?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 18,404
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #3

    When Win 8 comes around, it'll have it's own built in pdf software so you could use that instead of third party if you made the move to 8 when it comes around. That's still a year away though.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5,642
    Windows 10 Pro (x64)
       #4

    Airbot said:
    When Win 8 comes around, it'll have it's own built in pdf software....
    Will it? I can just see Adobe having a fit unless its just a bundle of Adobe Reader...?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 2,686
    Windows 8.1 Pro w/Media Center 64bit, Windows 7 HP 64bit
       #5

    logicearth said:
    Airbot said:
    When Win 8 comes around, it'll have it's own built in pdf software....
    Will it? I can just see Adobe having a fit unless its just a bundle of Adobe Reader...?
    If it uses Adobe I will pass unless it can be disabled.

    Jim
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 18,404
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
    Thread Starter
       #6

    logicearth said:
    Airbot said:
    When Win 8 comes around, it'll have it's own built in pdf software....
    Will it? I can just see Adobe having a fit unless its just a bundle of Adobe Reader...?

    Yeah, called Modern Reader.

    First Windows 8 screenshots of "Metro UI" featured in IE and Modern PDF Reader
    Windows 8 - 7850 Leaked - Page 10
    Within Windows | Windows 8 Secrets: Modern Reader

    Phone Man said:
    logicearth said:
    Airbot said:
    When Win 8 comes around, it'll have it's own built in pdf software....
    Will it? I can just see Adobe having a fit unless its just a bundle of Adobe Reader...?
    If it uses Adobe I will pass unless it can be disabled.

    Jim
    It's not Adobe. Integrated/native in Win 8.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,487
    Windows 7 x64 / Same
       #7

    Dwarf said:
    Interesting. I'll be keeping an eye open on this. Whether we will also need to install either Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader (or some other equivalent program) to view files already saved on the HDD remains to be seen, as it will depend on the scope of this proposed new add-on. In other words, will it decode locally stored files as well as those that are on-line?
    It has a "browse" button to open files. Like on a hard drive.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       #8

    Chrome already has its own PDF reader built in. Works well and is much faster.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 345
    7 ultimate x64
       #9

    kado897 said:
    Chrome already has its own PDF reader built in. Works well and is much faster.
    Didn't know that one! Google really made it to work out of the box with minimum fuss then! I still love my addons for FF Hope to see this feature implemented soon in an Aurora build.
      My Computer


 
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