PdfShow is a PDF viewer specifically for running slide shows.
I wrote it because I sometimes teach from PDFs and was tired of general-purpose programs
like PDF Annotator and Adobe Reader, which have too many modes,
controls, etc. and aren’t really optimized for showing slide decks.
Wait! Who presents from PDFs? Lots of people. See the website.
PdfShow has fewer features than other tools, due to
its relative youth and, more importantly, its design goals.
Please see the list of issues;
read through it before condemning the app as incomplete and again before
adding to it - anyone can create a free github account and add issues there!
That is also why there’s no TODO file here - all the TODOs are in the issues list.
The program is for desktops, not mobiles. There is too much dependency on Swing to make it feasible to run on platforms other than desktop Java.
You can have multiple documents open, which show in the expected tab-vew format. You can drag the tabs around, e.g., to move the most important ones to the left (or right) or for any sort of ordering that makes sense to you at the time.
PdfShow supports dual monitors, one for control and one for viewing slides.
As of now, the control window will appear on Monitor 1 and the view on Monitor 2;
someday that’ll be switchable via an option.
-
You can’t draw on the miniature view (yet?), and it doesn’t show your drawings.
-
If you unplug the second monitor, you have to re-start PDFshow, but that shouldn’t be a problem.
More bells and whistles will likely be added as time permits, but let’s keep it relatively simple. There is still some basic functionality that is imperfect or incomplete. Pull requests will be gratefully accepted as long as they fit within the general tone of the program - minimalist, but functional.
| OS | Pkg Format | CLI Install | Install Download |
|---|---|---|---|
Java |
fat jar |
n/a/ |
|
Linux |
deb |
Not available ATM. |
- |
Linux |
rpm |
Download then dnf install |
https://github.com/IanDarwin/pdfshow/releases/download/v1.0.5/pdfshow-1.0.5-1.x86_64.rpm |
macOS |
dmg |
Download; should open |
https://github.com/IanDarwin/pdfshow/releases/download/v1.0.5/PDFShow-1.0.5.dmg |
Windows |
msi |
winget install RejminetGroupInc.PDFShow |
https://github.com/IanDarwin/pdfshow/releases/download/v1.0.5/PDFShow-1.0.5.msi |
Or check the latest release under the Assets dropdown.
The installers bundle their own Java VM, with which they are known
to work; they are about 50Mb to download and about 120-140Mb when installed.
If you already have a current Java installed, you may prefer to run the JAR file; you have to be sure
you have a JDK that will work with PdfShow.
The JAR is built with Java 21 on most platforms.
For MS-Windows, once you have winget installed, just type this in a terminal window:
winget install RejminetGroupInc.PDFShow
(That’s really me; Rejminet Group Inc. is my consulting company.)
Finally, if there’s no installer for you, but you have Java,
there’s a Jar file that you can run with java -jar.
If you want to try building it from source, see the file docs/building-from-source.adoc.
Again, see the web site.
Program written by Ian Darwin of Rejminet Group Inc. Contributions by a cast of thousands (we hope); their names are listed on the main github page. Thanks In Advance, folks!
Draggable Tab component DnDTabbedPane courtesy of https://java-swing-tips.blogspot.com/2008/04/drag-and-drop-tabs-in-jtabbedpane.html
PDF access (i.e., some of the heavy listing!) is done by Apache PDFBox software.
Some icons from feathericons.com; the rest by Ian Darwin.