Forum Discussion
Roadmap for PDF reader in Microsoft Edge
Hello, and thanks for all the work. The PDF is becoming more and more useful. Here go my suggestions:
Links and navigation
When you dive into a link inside a PDF you are transported to a very different place, and there is no way to go back to where you were. Edge's navigation arrows don't work within a PDF document. This seriously derails your train of thought when you're reading documentation.
Some obvious back-forth navigation options should be offered (if they exist, I haven't found them). I think Edge's navigation arrows would do just fine. Like in any web page, click "back" until you exit the site, or "forward" if you want, or right-click into history.
PDFs in collections
You can star as a favorite a local file opened by PDF reader, but you cannot add it to a collection.
White space around text
When you are reading a document on a PDF reader, generally you don't care about page composition. Page breaks, columns and margins are nuisances.
- The zoom to page/width button should also cycle through "zoom to visible". When zoomed to visible, not only left/right margins, but also up/down should be shaved off, and the separation between pages reduced to give the document more continuity.
- I know there is no failproof way to reflow text in a PDF, but maybe column detection is not that complicated, and the "zoom to visible" setting could snake on pages with columns.
- I would be very grateful if EPUB reader was resurrected, but hey.
Icons
Really, how many current users have ever seen a 3.5" floppy disk? I almost feel insulted when I recognize the disk+pen icon as "save as" (only I don't, because it brings back fond memories of my Amiga 500, over 30 years ago).
Separate Application
As a system PDF file reader, it would be nice if the PDF reader opened in its dedicated window. The PDF reader should be accessible as a PWA, and maybe given a File-Open option with history.
Thanks for reading.
- Aditi_GangwarJun 21, 2020MicrosoftHello Lobotomik,
Thanks a lot for sharing the detailed feedback. The suggestions surely make the reading experience smoother, be it about navigating back to where one was, to looking only at the relevant content by getting rid of the white space.
The save icon surely does have some nostalgia to it 🙂
We will discuss the feedback to the team, which will help in prioritising the right set of features. - klstrandJul 07, 2020Copper ContributorIt would be great to have back (to previous/next view) as Adobe Reader with a shortcut like ALT+arrow left/right.
I noticed that scrolling change behaviour in Edge if you use Page Up/Page Down. Then you will have Single Page View. Change back to scroll by hitting the spacebar or SHIFT+spacebar