Adobe Acrobat Reader: Open .pdf file to page width?

Factual Questions
1

Is there a way to set Adobe Acrobat Reader to always open .pdf files to Fit Width?

I tried going to Preferences and choosing Page display => Zoom => Fit Width. I closed the document I was reading and opened a new one. The new one shows the whole page, which is too small to read, instead of fitting it to the width of the page. When I look at Preferences, it’s still set to Fit Width.

I’d like to double-click on a document and have it a readable size without having to click Control-2.

2

I have the same settings as you and it works for me (Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017). Have you tried opening Acrobat by itself and checking the settings without a PDF open? Also, what is your Page Layout setting set to?

I may be wrong, but I have a vague memory of this being one of those things that you had to set a property in two different places in order for it to work right.

3

Personally I prefer PDF-XChange Editor to Adobe Acrobat Reader.

I’ve been happily using it for years. It’s faster, better, well designed, and has more features. It’s also easy to set the default zoom to Fit Width, amongst numerous other settings.

The free version is more than ample for most needs, unless you want to do fancy PDF editing.

4

If memory serves, this one is solved via:

EDIT > Preferences > Documents > Restore last view settings when reopening documents (check the box, then click OK at the bottom)

Let me know if that doesn’t do it. I’ll scratch my head and come up with another guess :wink:

5

Yes.

Automatic. I tried setting it to Single Page Continuous and Single Page to no avail.

Only Administrators can install new software.

6

I tried it. It says ‘when reopening documents’. So I clicked the box and opened a document. I clicked Control-2 to make it fit the width. Then I closed the tab and re-opened the document. It still opened showing the full page instead of fitting it to the width. I also tried opening a new document, with the same results.

7

Ah. I get what you’re saying. I found a page that seems to indicate what could be hanging this up:

If this setting does not appear to be working for you, it might be because it is overwritten by the “Accessibility” settings. Check them with these steps.

  1. Open Adobe Reader.
  2. Select “ Edit ” > “ Preferences “.
  3. Select “ Accessibility ” on the left pane.
  4. If “ Always use Zoom Setting ” is selected, Reader will use the setting specified in the drop-down menu on this screen.

Anything ?

8

That did it! Thanks. :slight_smile: