Pdfshow

pdfshow is a standalone viewer specificially for PDF versions of slide decks, that is, a presentation tool for slideshow PDFs. I wrote it because I sometimes teach from PDFs and was tired of general-purpose programs like PDF Annotator and Adobe Reader, which have too many modes, controls, etc. and aren’t really optimized for showing slide decks.

You can view the source code at https://github.com/IanDarwin/pdfshow/. Some releases can be downloaded from https://github.com/IanDarwin/pdfshow/releases.`

Wait! Who presents from PDFs? Maybe you have to present a talk and you only have the PDF, not the ODP, KeyNote or PPT file(s). Some training companies just distribute their courses to instructors as PDFs, not presentation-software files. Or maybe you want to re-give somebody else’s preso from the PDF-only version they published online (if you do this, make sure to ask permission/give credit/respect copyrights+licenses). Or yet again, maybe you use the open-source gpresent, which doesn’t actually present shows but generates the PDF and leaves it to others to present. Or the Markdown-based MARP, which can generate PDFs directly from markdown files. Or the MagicPoint-based MagicPoint to PDF Converter. Whatever the reason you need to present with just the PDF of the slides, PdfShow is for you!

PdfShow has fewer features than other tools, due to its relative youth and, more importantly, its design goals. Please see the list of issues; read through it before condemning the app as incomplete and again before adding to it - anyone can create a free github account and add issues there! That is also why there’s no TODO file here - all the TODOs are in the issues list.

The program is for desktops, not mobiles. There is too much dependency on Swing to make it feasible to run on platforms other than desktop Java.

You can have multiple documents open, which show in the expected tab-vew format. You can drag the tabs around, e.g., to move the most important ones to the left (or right) or for any sort of ordering that makes sense to you at the time.

PdfShow supports dual monitors, one for control and one for viewing slides. As of now, the control window will appear on Monitor 1 and the view on Monitor 2; someday that’ll be switchable via an option.

More bells and whistles will likely be added as time permits, but let’s keep it relatively simple. There is still some basic functionality that is imperfect or incomplete. Pull requests will be gratefully accepted as long as they fit within the general tone of the program - minimalist, but functional.