Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Forum for the PDF-XChange Editor - Free and Licensed Versions

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R-Marked
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Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2024 11:16 am

Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Post by R-Marked »

Hi!

I just found PDF Xchange and I love it!

One question is that I'm making comments to PDFs, but I don't want any other PDF viewer to see them.
Is thera a way to make the comments hidden from other viewer?
I tried using layers but it didn't seem to work.
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Stefan - PDF-XChange
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Re: Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Post by Stefan - PDF-XChange »

Hello R-Marked,

Welcome to our forums and happy to hear you like our Edtor!

Comments when saved become part of the PDF file, so if you do send a copy of that file to someone else they would be able to see these same comments - as this is actually part of the PDF specification that the comments are included in the file and any capable PDF tool should be able to display them.

So if you want someone to not see your comments - you can remove them all, save a copy of your file without the comments and then send the copy to your recipients.

Kind regards,
Stefan
R-Marked
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Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2024 11:16 am

Re: Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Post by R-Marked »

Ok,

actually I used the typewriter tool.

But is there a way to make the typewriter remarks and have them shown only in PDF Xchange?

I tried to put the typewriters to a layer and hide that layer, but they were still visible when I opened the file in Sumatra PDF.
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Stefan - PDF-XChange
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Re: Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Post by Stefan - PDF-XChange »

Hello R-Marked,

Yes - comments (including the typewriter) when created are added to the file itself, and are stored in that file. So when you open the same in another PDF reader and even on another machine will also be shown. That is the idea of the portable part of the Portable Document Format - to ensure that what you create on one machine would be displayed the same on another machine.

If you want those to not appear - you can remove your comments and save a copy of the file without them.

Kind regards,
Stefan
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rakunavi
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Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:04 am

Re: Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Post by rakunavi »

Hello R-Marked,

As Stefan commented, there is no way to hide comments from viewers for security reasons. However, you can use document-level JavaScript to not show certain layers by default when opened in PDF applications other than PDF-XChange Editor. Acrobat and SumatraPDF will give you the intended result, although some applications, such as Microsoft Edge, will ignore the setting.

Code: Select all

if (typeof app.pxceInfo !== 'undefined')
	this.getOCGs()[0].state = false;
  • Animation.gif
  • sample.zip
This may not be what you are looking for, but since you mentioned layers, I commented just in case.

Best regards,
rakunavi
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Stefan - PDF-XChange
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Comments and layers + other PDF viewers

Post by Stefan - PDF-XChange »

:)