Sonny Software

This is a minor issue:

I have recently started using Skim to read and annotate my PDFs. I usually open them from within BE. I had to make Skim my default PDF-reader on my Mac in order to accomplish that they are opened with Skim. However, i would prefer if Skim is not the default PDF reader in all cases.

Is it somehow possible to add a preference to BE that makes it possible to assign a preferred PDF reader without this preference becoming the system default? (Perhaps there is already a way to do something like this that i missed)

Best,
Gerben

Hi,

No, Bookends honors the system preferences here, and I don't see any reason to change that. In any case, you may (or may not) find the issue moot with Bookends 10.

Jon
Sonny Software

Jon wrote:Hi,

No, Bookends honors the system preferences here, and I don't see any reason to change that. In any case, you may (or may not) find the issue moot with Bookends 10.

Why? Are you introducing a pdf reader in v.10?

In order to make Skim the main PDF-reader for PDF-documents attached to Bookends references you can open the default folder where the attached documents are stored. So, this works only when you allow Bookends to move the attached documents to this folder!
Then search for all PDFs in that folder and select all. Now right-click (control-click) on the selected documents keeping the option key pressed. This will change the "open with" command to something like "always open with this application" (translation form a German OS, so it might be slightly different in English). Chose Skim and henceforth all documents will be opened with Skim.

Thanks. But the problem is how to avoid making Skim the default PDF reader for all PDFs on my Mac, not sure if that is what you mean here?

Gerben

Hi,

In that case, do what Matthias suggests and choose Preview (or whatever you want) as the default.

If you want Preview (for example) to be the default for ALL pdfs (attachments or not), in the Finder do a Get Info on a pdf, set it to use Preview, and then click on the Change All button.

Jon
Sonny Software

Ok, I will try this out. BE 10 indeed makes it somewhat redundant for quick reading but I will continue to use Skim for its annotation capabilities.

Gerben

While it's not a big deal (and the new preview pane is awesome), I though I'd mention that I have an issue similar to Gerben's when it comes to opening PDFs.

Systemwide, I prefer to use Preview, and have the system set to it. However, for my article database I read using Adobe Acrobat, so that I can highlight and underline and make comments as I go.

Setting things systemwide to Adobe, though... nah. Too clunky, and too pushy. I like Preview.

Bookends does accommodate somewhat - instead of opening attachment when I want to view, I just take the extra steps of 'reveal attachment in finder', then cmd-click, and 'open with' Adobe. It's workable that way, but if the ability to assign a PDF program to Bookends did ever make the features list, I'd be a very happy camper.

New thought... or, for that matter, if Bookends simply opened PDFs based on their own saved settings rather than the system default. I.E., when you double-click on a PDF saved through Adobe in the Finder it opens to Adobe, and so forth.

That way PDFs I'd saved through Adobe, or any other software for that matter, would open where they belonged and Bookends would still keep the elegance of pulling on system information rather than storing its own.

That would work in OS 9, where all files have a creator and type. But they often don't in OS X.

I'll implement a solution that I think is more flexible -- you will be able to drag the pdf (or any image) in the Bookends List View or Attachment Inspector and drop it on the icon of a compatible app in the Dock or Finder. That way you can open it in either Reader or Preview at will.

Jon
Sonny Software

Sounds perfect - looking forward to it!

That sounds very good! Even better if it could be done via the usual keyboard shortcut

Just out of curiosity: is that actually possible or really a lot of work for something only few people seem to want?

Gerben

Providing an option for the keyboard shortcut would require an item in Preferences where you select your preferred pdf reader. I don't want to fill up preferences with minor options few people care about and for which there are other options. Hence I'm willing to add the drag and drop but not a new preference setting.

Jon
Sonny Software