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PDF rendering issue

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One of our PDF brochures renders poorly in Firefox versions >51 but loads properly in all other browsers and Acrobat Reader. I tried to upload images of the issue and the proper render but the form is failing to upload. I'm more than happy to provide the images via other means.

One of our PDF brochures renders poorly in Firefox versions >51 but loads properly in all other browsers and Acrobat Reader. I tried to upload images of the issue and the proper render but the form is failing to upload. I'm more than happy to provide the images via other means.

Chosen solution

After testing, it seems its a bug in firefox. They are cracking down on malware. So instead of being able to use a standard pdf viewer add-in, they have created their own js.viewer instead.

What i suggest is to modify the original document/manuscript that was converted into your pdf brochure by overlaying a white box over the white free space.

Then move that white box to the background in order to allow the text and images to be in the foreground.

Another method that can be used in lieu of adding a large white box to encompass all of the free white area, is to create a thinner rectangle that is color filled with white, and then butt it up against the bottom of the red headers. the rectangle can be like .5 x 8.5 inches.

The idea for both the large white box and the thinner white box is to see if they will keep the red header from bleeding onto the entire page.

While the above is necessary only to compensate for the short comings of fire fox, they will be totally invisible to the other browsers.

The only set back is that you may have to reshape the red header by replacing the fancy corners at the bottom with standard 90degree angles. But in doing so, you wont be taking away anything of value from the overall design and the conveyance of the information by the brochure.

To this end, another possible method which may be too complex is to create a 8.5 x 11 image for the background for all the pages. And this image could have the fancy red design at the the top while the rest of the image will be colored white. Then move the canvas/image into the background, then allow text and images to run through it in the foreground.

imo, you did a very nice job with the presentation.

the error is firefox at this time. and unless people know how to over ride the add-on disabling feature, the standard pdf add-ins wont be allowed to present your brochure perfectly.

the above tricks should pan out for you and your company. let me know what happens!

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All Replies (11)

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Can you post a link to a publicly accessible page (i.e. no authentication or signing on required)?

You can try the latest development version of the PDF viewer (pdfjs) to see if that version works better than the version shipped with the current Firefox release.

Latest development version (XPI) of the PDF Viewer (pdfjs) extension:

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The main thing I notice in the attached comparison is the missing white background element. I don't know why it is not rendered as expected. The fonts are a little fuzzy, too.

In Firefox's Browser Console I see this message related to the PDF but have no idea what it means: "Warning: Knockout groups not supported."

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Searched around based on that error message and it looks like this is a known issue with Mozilla's PDF renderer: https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js/issues/3136?_pjax=%23js-repo-pjax-container

It's likely when that support is added then this issue will resolve itself, I'll keep it open in the mean time.

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i guess that the red page would have white fonts. but in my opinion, the red page is unprofessional looking unless your selling perfume or lingerie.

also the rendering may be too high, ie maximum, 14meg brochure is too big.

have you tried a lower resolution and "file reduction" pdf option for "internet" use?

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Please see the image jscher2000 posted above (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1168544#answer-988682) it shows what it is supposed to look like on the left alongside Mozilla's render on the right.

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That's an older PDF so perhaps the source file isn't available, but if it is, you could experiment with alternate ways to insert the background that might not be subject to that bug. (I don't have any experience with Adobe's higher end drawing/compositing programs.)

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Chosen Solution

After testing, it seems its a bug in firefox. They are cracking down on malware. So instead of being able to use a standard pdf viewer add-in, they have created their own js.viewer instead.

What i suggest is to modify the original document/manuscript that was converted into your pdf brochure by overlaying a white box over the white free space.

Then move that white box to the background in order to allow the text and images to be in the foreground.

Another method that can be used in lieu of adding a large white box to encompass all of the free white area, is to create a thinner rectangle that is color filled with white, and then butt it up against the bottom of the red headers. the rectangle can be like .5 x 8.5 inches.

The idea for both the large white box and the thinner white box is to see if they will keep the red header from bleeding onto the entire page.

While the above is necessary only to compensate for the short comings of fire fox, they will be totally invisible to the other browsers.

The only set back is that you may have to reshape the red header by replacing the fancy corners at the bottom with standard 90degree angles. But in doing so, you wont be taking away anything of value from the overall design and the conveyance of the information by the brochure.

To this end, another possible method which may be too complex is to create a 8.5 x 11 image for the background for all the pages. And this image could have the fancy red design at the the top while the rest of the image will be colored white. Then move the canvas/image into the background, then allow text and images to run through it in the foreground.

imo, you did a very nice job with the presentation.

the error is firefox at this time. and unless people know how to over ride the add-on disabling feature, the standard pdf add-ins wont be allowed to present your brochure perfectly.

the above tricks should pan out for you and your company. let me know what happens!

Modified by ·´¯`·...¸>-)))º> ~dbben

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databaseben said

After testing, it seems its a bug in firefox. They are cracking down on malware. So instead of being able to use a standard pdf viewer add-in, they have created their own js.viewer instead.

I'm not sure I would say it's a malware issue... usually those don't take 4 years to address.

The built-in PDF viewer was first introduced around the time of Firefox 19 in Spring 2013. Fortunately it has evolved a lot from those early days when LOTS of things didn't work.

The ongoing work and development history can be found here: https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js

The Adobe Acrobat Plugin, and all other old-style binary plugins other than Flash, were finally blocked starting in Firefox 52.

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Thanks for the workaround databaseben, seems to work perfectly.

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you're welcome.

btw: post a link to the adjusted version so we can see for ourselves too!  :-)