The Portable Freeware Collection Forums

Old topic update:

@ http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=66385#p66385, Midas wrote:[Xhmikosr has a page with bleeding edge 64 bit builds of Sumatra PDF at http://xhmikosr.1f0.de/sumatrapdf/.

[...]

Dirk Paehl (author of GUIPDFTK, among other programs) also makes 64 bit Sumatra PDF compiles available for download from http://www.paehl.com/open_source/?SumatraPDF.

Nikkhokkho (of FileOptimizer fame) also offers his somewhat outdated SumatraPDFOpt (previously mentioned at http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 951#p57951) at http://nikkhokkho.sourceforge.net/stati ... atraPDFOpt.

@ https://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=66396#p66396, webfork wrote:Is there much of a performance issue with 32-bit Sumatra that the 64-bit ones fix?

The following is stated at Xhmikosr's Sumatra builds page:

http://xhmikosr.1f0.de/sumatrapdf/Info.md wrote:The x64 builds are faster, mostly around 10-20%.

Topic update: Sumatra PDF v3.2 released 2020-03-15 (changelog at www.sumatrapdfreader.org/docs/Version-history.html).

It should also be noted that SumatraPDF is a very capable eBook (.ebook) reader as well. It's good to have this software even if you have another bloated PDF Viewer installed/in use such as: Foxit, Acrobat, or PDF-XChange.

[Moderator note: responses to this post were given were given their own thread (ebook / epub viewers).]

rfithen wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2020 5:54 am SumatraPDF is a very capable eBook (.ebook) reader as well

I've been very interested in being able to comfortably read ebooks on my machine lately and I've not been super happy with Sumatra's ebook reader. The text looks (to me) over-dense and it's not customizable (unless there's been some improvement in the new version).



Foxit has a fairly good reader mode with an available "night mode", though it doesn't support EPUB:



The search continues I guess.

webfork wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:37 pm The text looks (to me) over-dense

Change the font or just it's size?

webfork wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:37 pm and it's not customizable

https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/settings/settings.html

billon wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:57 pm

webfork wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:37 pm The text looks (to me) over-dense

Change the font or just it's size?

It's more the spacing between sentences - would be nice to be able to modify that.

I didn't see options for font and sizing, but I just found the INI editor in Advanced Settings. Normally I don't mind INI edits, but when you're trying to visualize something, changing the INI and restarting the program repeatedly to see if it looks right is a little tedious. But you're right -- it is more customizable than I let on.

webfork wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:54 pm I didn't see options for font and sizing, but I just found the INI editor in Advanced Settings.

Update on customizing SumatraPDF for readability: I setup SumatraPDF with a a different font (Verdana in tihs case) and a black background with white text (essentially "dark mode"). You can modify all this with "Advanced Settings," which opens a text file. The bolded bits are where I made changes:


---

EDIT: It's worth noting that you could also of course just enable a program like NegativeScreen while using SumatraPDF.

- black background with white text
- readability

Pick one.

Special wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:45 am - black background with white text
- readability

Pick one.

Not sure I understand -- you don't prefer light text on a dark background?

Such contrast like pure black + white is not easy on the eyes, it's like the worst color scheme one can do for a "dark mode", I was simply taking a jab at that. Just my opinion of course, use whatever pleases you.

Special wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 1:56 am Just my opinion of course, use whatever pleases you.

Given the way the whole of the industry hasn't switched over wholesale to my way of doing things despite the power savings associated with OLED tech, I'd have to say you're not alone in that thinking. What would your color settings be? What is easiest on the eyes for you?

Black background with pure white text does hurt my eyes! I tend to use dark gray (#a4a4a4) instead of white for text color, which doesn't hurt the eyes as much.

freakazoid wrote: ↑I tend to use dark gray (#a4a4a4) instead of white for text color, which doesn't hurt the eyes as much.

Dedoimedo, for instance, wouldn't agree with you in the least...

The change in font color -- from all black to various shades of gray, accompanied by the use of non-white background, plus a parallel complexity of font display settings -- I hear terms anti-aliasing and sub-pixel hinting are often used -- creates significant visual strain on the eye over any prolonged period of time.

I don't use SumatraPDF anymore due to its stagnation and utter lack of features and customization options it has, so "What would your color settings be?", I do not have any to share.

But I like warming and more neutral colors, I generally stay away from "dark mode" anything, but of them I've always liked Nord theme, or Ruby Blue, Obsidian is a nice darker one aswell, some examples I guess of better color schemes.

Midas wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:00 pm

freakazoid wrote: ↑I tend to use dark gray (#a4a4a4) instead of white for text color, which doesn't hurt the eyes as much.

I should also note that I use SunsetScreen to dim the colors, so colors are much warmer than the monitor's cold defaults. This can make a difference as well.