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PDF.js

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PDF.js
Original author(s)Andreas Gal
Developer(s)Mozilla
Initial release2 July 2011 (2011-07-02)[1]
Stable release
2.10.377 / 25 July 2021; 3 years ago (2021-07-25)[1]
Preview release
2.11.338 / 24 January 2021; 4 years ago (2021-01-24)[1]
Repository
Written inJavaScript, CSS, HTML
PlatformJavaScript engine, web browser
Size3.94 MB[1]
TypePDF viewer
LicenseApache License 2.0[2]
Websitemozilla.github.io/pdf.js/

PDF.js or pdf.js is a JavaScript library that renders Portable Document Format (PDF) files using the web standards-compliant HTML5 Canvas. The project is led by the Mozilla Foundation after Andreas Gal launched it (initially as an experiment) in 2011.

History and Application

PDF.js can work as a part of a website or of a browser. Originally created as a Firefox extension,[3] it is included in Firefox since 2012 (version 15)[4][5] and is enabled by default since 2013 (version 19).[6][7] It is also included in Thunderbird[8], ownCloud,[9] Nextcloud,[10][11] and as a browser extension for Google Chrome, Chromium,[12] Firefox for Android,[13] Pale Moon[14][15] and SeaMonkey.[15][16]

Developers will also embed PDF.js in their software to enable PDF rendering and viewing in a web or native application or rendering on a server. Examples of PDF.js integrations include Dropbox (service) for PDF document previews,[17] Slack (software),[18] and Linkedin for viewing accessible course materials online.[19] Some software development products are also making it easier to extend PDF.js.[20][21]

Behavior

According to one benchmark, PDF.js is performant for viewing most common PDF files, while it may have some issues with large or 'graphics-heavy' documents.[22] Another analysis found that between 1-3% of PDFs in certain document subsets would crash or freeze the PDF.js viewer, either due to a corrupted file or a complex file.[23]

PDF.js supports most of the PDF specifications (including form support or XFA[24]) , but some features have not been implemented yet, which may impact rendering behavior depending on the features the document uses.[25]

PDF features not yet added to PDF.js or incomplete:

  • Optional Content Groups (OCGs)
  • ICC Color Profiles
  • Spot colors
  • Overprint simulation
  • Transparency groups (knockout/isolation)
  • Some patterns & shadings
  • High-fidelity printing

The PDF.js contributor community also notes that the browser behavior of PDF.js varies with browser support for PDF.js's required features.[26] Performance and reliability will be the best on Chrome and Firefox, which are fully supported and subject to automated testing.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Releases · mozilla/pdf.js". GitHub. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  2. ^ "pdf.js/LICENSE at master · mozilla/pdf.js". GitHub.
  3. ^ "PDF Viewer(discontinued)". addons.mozilla.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  4. ^ Parfeni, Lucian (30 April 2012). "PDF.JS and Download Manager Panel Pushed to Firefox 15". Softpedia. SoftNews.
  5. ^ Blagoveschenskiy, Anton (29 August 2012). "Вышла новая версия браузера Firefox 15" [New version 15 of the Firefox browser released]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Bug 773397 – Disable pdf.js prior to FF15 beta 5". bugzilla.mozilla.org.
  7. ^ "Firefox 19.0 Release Notes". mozilla.org. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  8. ^ "810815 - Integrate pdf.js to Thunderbird". bugzilla.mozilla.org. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  9. ^ owncloud/files_pdfviewer, ownCloud, 8 February 2020, retrieved 28 March 2020
  10. ^ nextcloud/files_pdfviewer, Nextcloud, 18 March 2020, retrieved 28 March 2020
  11. ^ "PDF viewer - Apps - App Store - Nextcloud". apps.nextcloud.com. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  12. ^ "PDF Viewer". Chrome Web Store.
  13. ^ "Android PDF.js". addons.mozilla.org.
  14. ^ "Add-ons - Moon PDF Viewer". Pale Moon - Add-ons. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  15. ^ a b "IsaacSchemm/pdf.js-seamonkey: SeaMonkey fork of pdf.js". GitHub. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  16. ^ "PDF Viewer for SeaMonkey". Add-ons for SeaMonkey.
  17. ^ Lauraharrisneal. "Annotations on Document Previews". dropbox.tech. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  18. ^ "What matters to you, matters to us. - Slack Engineering". Slack Engineering. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Under the hood: Learning with documents". engineering.linkedin.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Show HN: Pdf.js Express – PDF annotation, e-signatures, and form filling | Hacker News". news.ycombinator.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Introducing PDF.js Express". pdfjs.express. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  22. ^ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/05/how-fast-is-pdf-js/
  23. ^ "Benchmark: How Reliable is PDF.js?". PDFTron. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  24. ^ "1706133 - (pdf-xfa) [meta] XFA support". bugzilla.mozilla.org. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Guide to Evaluating PDF.js Rendering". PDFTron. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions · mozilla/pdf.js Wiki". GitHub. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
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