Last week in the first installment of the Great Preview vs. Reader shootout we focused on speed. We discovered that although the new Adobe Reader 7 makes great strides in speed over earlier versions, it still lags begins Apple’s Preview application in opening and moving around in PDF files, especially those with many image-laden pages.

This week we’ll focus on features and browser integration. Both applications offer numerous ways to view a document: single pages, two pages side-by-side, four pages on one screen, and breaks between pages or continuous view. Both also offer the ability to have page content resize with the window size, which I find easier to use than zoom in and out on the page (which, of course, both offer as well). However, Preview’s resizing is better integrated into Mac OS X’s Quartz Extreme graphics engine. Resizing in Preview is “real-time”, while Reader lags behind and takes a fraction of a second to “catch up”.

For those with reading disabilities, both applications can read the PDF file aloud using the Mac’s built-in speech capabilities. Adobe’s implementation of this feature is superior to Apple’s, as, with one menu click, Reader can either read the entire document or just the displayed page. Plus, Reader “turns the pages” as the voice moves to the next one.

Preview, on the other hand, can only read selected text. To read the whole document, one must use the Command-A keystroke or go to File > Edit and choose “Select All”, then go to Preview > Services > Speech > Start Reading Text. It even sounds harder, doesn’t it?

Want to send the PDF file you’re reading to another interested party? Reader makes it easy to attach the PDF file you’re viewing to an email message. Click the “Email” button on the Reader toolbar. Your email client of choice is opened, and a new email message is created with the PDF file attached.

Preview can’t automate attaching the PDF file itself, but you can select parts of the body of the file (text only) and use Preview > Services > Mail to automatically open your email program and create an email message with the selected text in the body.

Let’s talk browser integration. Say you find a link to a PDF file on a web site. If you click on that link (using Apple’s Safari browser in Mac OS 10.4 “Tiger”), Safari will display the PDF file within the browser window. At first glance it appears all you can do is scroll up and down the document. However, Ctrl-Click or Right-Click within the window, and a contextual menu appears offering the ability to automatically resize, change the view, choose to open the file in Preview, etc. As a side note, if you just want to download the PDF file to your Mac, instead of just clicking the link, Option-Click the link. The PDF file will then download to your Mac (in the location specified in your Safari preferences).

Once you install Adobe Reader, you’ll find viewing a PDF file in the browser invokes an Adobe Reader plug-in to Safari that adds the Reader Toolbar (and most of Reader’s functionality) to the Safari window. You can turn off the plug-in by going into Adobe Reader’s Preferences > Internet tab and deselecting “Display PDF in browser using:”.

So, who’s the winner? As I suggested last week, they’re both winners. Prior to the release of Adobe Reader 7, I had advised using just Preview, primarily due to its superior speed. Today, I say have them both installed, and, well, you decide.

© 2005 Peter F. Zimowski