Codec for Pdf?

[Luis Cordoba]

Hello, I see that this question was answered before like 3 yrs ago. Where can I get a good pdf codec that allows to preview Pdfs?
I can preview my office excel, word, power point. Is there something that works  smooth? is the Fast Picture viewer the only one? is that good for pdf, that pays buying it?
I can not find the mentioned Adobe codec.
Thanks, Luis

[Mario]

IMatch can render PDF files either via a shell extension (via the Windows Thumbnail Services) or an installed PDF WIC codec. Usually users have installed Acrobat Reader or a replacement which installs a shell extension. Windows is then able to create previews for PDF files, and so is IMatch.

Since the Acrobat PDF component has 'issues' (at least some older versions on W7), is sometimes slow or uses 2 GB RAM to read a PDF file and then crashes, IMatch first looks for an installed WIC codec for PDF files. If one is found, it uses it instead of using Windows routines to extract PDF thumbnails.

The only PDF codec I know for PDF files is the FastPictureViewer codec. There may be others. Have you tried installing Acrobat Reader?

[Luis Cordoba]

I installed FastViewer codecs, I had Acrobat reader DC the last version installed, no preview Pdfs. Tried to install older versions but it said it is not going to install because i have the newer one.
Restart system after that.

If I double click the file it opens a different file no the intended file. If I use right click menu I can open the file  in the Adobe Reader correctly, but there is not Quick View preview and the Thumb icon is de pdf Symbol, no the preview.
I run de Wic support diagnosis, i can not find any Pdf codec on the list, and the tool can not find any wic codec to find this file.
Will thanks any suggestion.

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[Luis Cordoba]

working on that I just find that if I export the file like PDF A
(wiki :PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) specialized for the digital preservation of electronic documents.[3] The "A" stands for "Archive". PDF/A differs from PDF by prohibiting features ill-suited to long-term archiving, such as font linking (as opposed to font embedding).[3] The ISO requirements for PDF/A file viewers include color management guidelines, support for embedded fonts, and a user interface for reading embedded annotations.)

I have the same file in PDF, PDF A, and PDF X,  the PDF A file shows the preview in the thumb and in the quic view. the other two files PDF or PDF X do not.

see: http://www.pdfa.org/2011/06/pdfa-faq/

[jch2103]

Thanks; very interesting. Do you need the 'full' version of Acrobat to be able to save files as PDF/A? I didn't see such an option in the free Acrobat Reader DC.

[Mario]

I run de Wic support diagnosis, i can not find any Pdf codec on the list, and the tool can not find any wic codec to find this file.

The diagnosis lists

Codec 'Adobe XMP-Based PDF Thumbnail Provider (FastPictureViewer Codec Pack)' for extensions .pdf

did you rescan the PDF files with the "force update" (<Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5>) after installing the codec? IMatch will not re-create cache files and thumbnails if a file is not changed. You need to force it.

And if that still fails, your PDF files are neither compatible with the FPV PDF codec and the Acrobat Reader shell handler. In that case I  would suggest you look into your PDF generation workflow and make sure that you produce standard PDF files and not some probably exotic variation.

[Luis Cordoba]

Mario thanks for your answer.

Just to learn after installing the Fast Picture viewer:

Yes I am using Acrobat Pro, but you won need that for creating PDFA, you would find it comes with the save PDF options in my Word.

After my question i  review my workflow>

I save the same file word document docx,  with the default standard save Pdf,
and with the save options create PDF A 2005 compliant file and both generated the same Thumbnail and preview.


Both only show  PREVIEW OF ONE IMAGE on  the Pdf (lets said COVER PITCURE)   if it  have images. If there is not image  this will show the PDF symbol thumb, and will not display nothing on quick view panel. No text like in the preview of word docx. Maybe it is obvious for advanced users, but is was not for me.

I found that the original files that generated my question AND DID NOT SHOW THUMB was security password saved (I did not selected to save that way, it seems like some way it is was set as default in my Word). After removed the security settings files behavior is as expected.

So I have learned for my workflow with PDF>1. Make my document file name as descriptive as I can, 2. give it a nice cover image with text embedded on the image, so your thumbnail has the information you want to easy find the file looking at the thumbnail. 3. be sure my file do not have security password on the save (voluntary selected or by default) 4. SAVE AS PDF, of save as PDF options PDFA complaint, both generate the same results.

[WebEngel]

I read this thread here, was pessimistic, then kept on searching and found a great solution:

PDF-XChange Viewer

It provides nice large thumbnails that work like a charm in Imatch
And it provides the shell extension for searching text in Windows Explorer (via indexing)
Interaction from Imatch is fast

I used version 2.5.322.8

No, I don't work there or earn money from that software.

Martin