Open multiple copies of same pdf

Givedark · 01-28-2013, 05:10 PM

How can I open multiple copies of the same pdf file in separate, side by side windows. Currently I have to either duplicate the file, which is a terrible solution, or open it in two different applications, which is an inelegant and ineffient solution. I tried using Skim, splits the document horizontally and keeps them stuck in the same window, so I can only read a few lines at a time.

Is there a better way to do this? It seems like this should be a very common concern.

macosnoob · 01-28-2013, 06:10 PM

I was thinking that you could start multiple instances of Preview and then open the same document in different Preview threads. Doesn't work for this particular task.

You can start Preview multiple times-- in Terminal: /Applications/Preview.app/Contents/MacOS/Preview & --and then open different documents in each thread. That works. But if you try to assign the same document to different threads, you still get just a single Preview window. I suspect a plist "remembers" that you already have the document loaded in a copy of Preview and won't allow the second copy of Preview to load the same document. So, scratch that idea.

macosnoob · 01-28-2013, 06:16 PM

Correction. You can open the same doc in different Preview threads, but you have to use each Preview's File > Open dialog to do it. That method works.

When I first tested the process, I was dragging/dropping the file to multiple Preview icons in the Dock. That doesn't work.

jeffshenk · 01-28-2013, 07:03 PM

At least in Snow Leopard, if you open a pdf in Preview and select Print…, then, from the PDF menu, Open PDF in Preview, a second window with your pdf will open in the same instance of Preview.

ambrose · 01-28-2013, 11:45 PM

In Lion and Snow Leopard, you can open the same file in two windows this way:

In the Finder, copy the contents of the .pdf file to the clipboard, either by highlighting the file's icon and typing command-C, or by right-clicking on the icon and selecting 'Copy "Name-of-file.pdf"'

Then launch Preview.app and type command-N (New From Clipboard) twice.

Too easy, right? There is a snag, and it may be annoying enough to make you not care to use this method as a workaround. Because each file was created by cut-and-paste, closing it will cause a dialog box to open asking you if you want to save your changes to the document "Untitled."

The same drawback exists--although only for one of the open files, not both--when using this Lion or Mountain Lion only method: once the file has been opened, select "Duplicate" from the file menu. This will open the same content in a window titled "Name-of-file copy." (I'm assuming here that when you said, "I have to either duplicate the file, which is a terrible solution…", you meant you'd been duplicating the file in the Finder previous to opening it alongside the original.

Or, you can go a completely different--and completely inelegant--route, which is to duplicate the Preview.app itself. Yes, both will work (and share one preferences file), but I'll have to leave it up to you to implement a method to keep track of which iteration of the application you're looking at during any given time.

benwiggy · 01-29-2013, 05:38 AM

I have Adobe Acrobat, and in the Window menu, there's the old "New Window" item. You can make as many windows of the current document as you like.

Does Adobe Reader have the same function?

macosnoob · 01-29-2013, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benwiggy


	I have Adobe Acrobat, and in the Window menu, there's the old "New Window" item. You can make as many windows of the current document as you like. Does Adobe Reader have the same function?

Indeed it does.

Open document in Adobe Reader.
Adobe Reader > Window > New Window (duplicates open document in second window).
Adobe Reader > Window > Tile > Vertically.

01-28-2013, 05:10 PM	#1
Givedark Triple-A Player Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 86	Open multiple copies of same pdf How can I open multiple copies of the same pdf file in separate, side by side windows. Currently I have to either duplicate the file, which is a terrible solution, or open it in two different applications, which is an inelegant and ineffient solution. I tried using Skim, splits the document horizontally and keeps them stuck in the same window, so I can only read a few lines at a time. Is there a better way to do this? It seems like this should be a very common concern.

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01-28-2013, 06:10 PM	#2
macosnoob MVP Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,751	I was thinking that you could start multiple instances of Preview and then open the same document in different Preview threads. Doesn't work for this particular task. You can start Preview multiple times-- in Terminal: /Applications/Preview.app/Contents/MacOS/Preview & --and then open different documents in each thread. That works. But if you try to assign the same document to different threads, you still get just a single Preview window. I suspect a plist "remembers" that you already have the document loaded in a copy of Preview and won't allow the second copy of Preview to load the same document. So, scratch that idea.

01-28-2013, 06:16 PM	#3
macosnoob MVP Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,751	Correction. You can open the same doc in different Preview threads, but you have to use each Preview's File > Open dialog to do it. That method works. When I first tested the process, I was dragging/dropping the file to multiple Preview icons in the Dock. That doesn't work.

01-28-2013, 07:03 PM	#4
jeffshenk Prospect Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 15	At least in Snow Leopard, if you open a pdf in Preview and select Print…, then, from the PDF menu, Open PDF in Preview, a second window with your pdf will open in the same instance of Preview.

01-28-2013, 11:45 PM	#5
ambrose Triple-A Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Western New England Posts: 53	In Lion and Snow Leopard, you can open the same file in two windows this way: In the Finder, copy the contents of the .pdf file to the clipboard, either by highlighting the file's icon and typing command-C, or by right-clicking on the icon and selecting 'Copy "Name-of-file.pdf"' Then launch Preview.app and type command-N (New From Clipboard) twice. Too easy, right? There is a snag, and it may be annoying enough to make you not care to use this method as a workaround. Because each file was created by cut-and-paste, closing it will cause a dialog box to open asking you if you want to save your changes to the document "Untitled." The same drawback exists--although only for one of the open files, not both--when using this Lion or Mountain Lion only method: once the file has been opened, select "Duplicate" from the file menu. This will open the same content in a window titled "Name-of-file copy." (I'm assuming here that when you said, "I have to either duplicate the file, which is a terrible solution…", you meant you'd been duplicating the file in the Finder previous to opening it alongside the original. Or, you can go a completely different--and completely inelegant--route, which is to duplicate the Preview.app itself. Yes, both will work (and share one preferences file), but I'll have to leave it up to you to implement a method to keep track of which iteration of the application you're looking at during any given time.

01-29-2013, 05:38 AM	#6
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,040	I have Adobe Acrobat, and in the Window menu, there's the old "New Window" item. You can make as many windows of the current document as you like. Does Adobe Reader have the same function?