Change in-Evernote PDF viewer

[AndysDisplayName 2]

Hi,

I'm running EN 6.9.7.6770 on Windows 10 1709.

This is a new build workstation (yay, got a new laptop) and when I installed EN it seemingly started using the Chrome built in PDF viewer.

I've since installed a couple of other PDF readers (Adobe & Sumatra) and I wanted to be able to use them instead.

Is there any way of selecting the default viewer? I've changed it in the OS, but that change doesn't seem to be reflected in EN.

Thanks!

[CalS 5,280]

1 hour ago, AndysDisplayName said:

Hi,

I'm running EN 6.9.7.6770 on Windows 10 1709.

This is a new build workstation (yay, got a new laptop) and when I installed EN it seemingly started using the Chrome built in PDF viewer.

I've since installed a couple of other PDF readers (Adobe & Sumatra) and I wanted to be able to use them instead.

Is there any way of selecting the default viewer? I've changed it in the OS, but that change doesn't seem to be reflected in EN.

Thanks!

Nope.  EN changed the PDF viewer to the Chrome like version in a recent release.  To open the PDF in your preferred/default viewer right click the PDF and select Open.

[AndysDisplayName 2]

Dang.

Oh well - thanks for letting me know!

[CalS 5,280]

3 minutes ago, AndysDisplayName said:

Dang.

Oh well - thanks for letting me know!

You are welcome.

[deliaknight 12]

What happened to the drag and drop feature from evernote, if you had a pdf in evernote you could drag and drop to desktop or wherever. Now you can't do that and have to right click it, save it, rename, on and on.  That was one of the greatest features of Evernote for someone who scans all the time straight into Evernote and then you just drag and dropped files on your computer and other programs. Or if you have to send an email you just drag and dropped the pdf.  Not having this feature anymore is like stepping back in time.  Will this feature be available again or a way to install previous version of Evernote?  

[AndysDisplayName 2]

You have to view the PDF as an attachment before you can drag it.

Right click on the PDF, select "view as attachment", then you should be able to drag and drop.

[CalS 5,280]

16 hours ago, AndysDisplayName said:

You have to view the PDF as an attachment before you can drag it.

Right click on the PDF, select "view as attachment", then you should be able to drag and drop.

Yup, but still more work than it used to be....

[chronistin 187]

The worst thing is it doesn't show the whole document any more. You have a scroll window in a scroll window. Bad UI.

[TK0047 422]

9 hours ago, chronistin said:

The worst thing is it doesn't show the whole document any more. You have a scroll window in a scroll window. Bad UI.

I am not a fan of the new PDF viewer at all. I hope the option to choose the old style will be available in the near future. This is one of the reason why I have 6.7 on my work computer.

The new viewer does not feel part of the note either with the new window within a note.

[Erol 4]

No icons/symbols to click for annotating a pdf. I don't like that!  Feels like an improvement for the worse.

[thascalos 4]

On 3/6/2018 at 9:25 PM, chronistin said:

The worst thing is it doesn't show the whole document any more. You have a scroll window in a scroll window. Bad UI.

It's annoying when you scroll down through the note and unwittingly hit a PDF. The scroll 'stops' at the bottom of the PDF, so you have to move the mouse pointer off the PDF to the small part of the screen that is actually the note itself and start scrolling again. It used to be superfast to scroll through an entire note even if it had multiple PDFs in it.

[thascalos 4]

The new PDF holder has a large grey background/border taking up a lot of screen space that could be used to see the PDF itself.

[retog 1]

On 3/1/2018 at 8:22 PM, CalS said:

Yup, but still more work than it used to be....

Especially since the PDF can then be dragged to desktop, but not to Outlook where one just gets a link linke en-resource://database/20724:0

[Gotsguts 2]

Just updated EN today and this built in PDF reader is a real prob.  Tried setting Adobe Acrobat DC (not Reader) as my default (which it had been for years).  No luck.  I'm running Win10.  Anybody find a solution?

[deliaknight 12]

I uninstalled the new version of Evernote and then installed one of the previous version's of Evernote and everything is back to normal thank goodness!!

 

[diego017 0]

Between the new PDF scrolling and the inability to simply drag in and out of the note to other applications, I may not be using EN much longer. 

[JoG 3]

Has there been any response from Evernote regarding the changes in pdf-viewing and editing? Besides being a very bad user experience with a scroll window within a window, I can't annotate the pdf within Evernote and I can't open with an external program (Adobe or other), make annotations or other editing and then save the changes directly to Evernote (which never was a problem before). This is realy a dealbreaker, and I need to understand why this change was made and how the previous funcationality will be restored, if I am to continue using Evernote.

[jbenson2 2,147]

3 hours ago, JoG said:

Has there been any response from Evernote regarding the changes in pdf-viewing and editing?

Can't comment on a complete fix, but earlier this week, I received the following comment about a lag I was having with PDF viewing from Evernote Support. 

"We're currently aware of this issue and working on a fix that is scheduled to be included in the next release (version 6.11). Evernote for Windows Desktop version 6.11 is scheduled to be released within the next 1-2 weeks."

They suggested I try the latest Beta version, but I have found Beta testing to be too risky,  So I will sit on the sidelines and wait for the GA version. Then I will wait a couple more weeks while I read the comments once the GA version.

[jbenson2 2,147]

To view the maximum amount of a PDF possible while eliminating all the wasted white space I do the following.

1.) Open the note to a 2nd full-size window.

2.) Click on the "Fit to Page" icon twice. The first click shows the entire PDF page with lots of white space. The 2nd click zooms the page out to eliminate the white space and make the text legible. 

 

[Door County 3]

Chrome built in PDF viewer.  Well, so much for privacy.  What's next, Google buys Evernote? 
To open the PDF in your preferred/default viewer right click the PDF and select Open.  Instead of double clicking on it?  That is a very very bad idea.
deliaknight, RIGHT ON! "What happened to the drag and drop feature from evernote, if you had a pdf in evernote you could drag and drop to desktop or wherever. Now you can't do that and have to right click it, save it, rename, on and on.  That was one of the greatest features of Evernote for someone who scans all the time straight into Evernote and then you just drag and dropped files on your computer and other programs. Or if you have to send an email you just drag and dropped the pdf.  Not having this feature anymore is like stepping back in time.  Will this feature be available again or a way to install previous version of Evernote?"
You have to view the PDF as an attachment before you can drag it.
The worst thing is it doesn't show the whole document any more. You have a scroll window in a scroll window. Bad UI.
It used to be superfast to scroll through an entire note even if it had multiple PDFs in it.
The new PDF holder has a large grey background/border taking up a lot of screen space.

SUMMARY / CONCLUSION:  Evernote really needs to ditch this Google gizmo. 

[Dan Bilsborrow 4]

I'm going to join in here and say wath a huge step backwards.   Evernote has now switched to wasting time in my day instead of saving it.

 

• scrolling a note is very hard, it keeps scrolling the pdf.  Why?????
• long process to copy
• I don't want to make my pdf files look like attachments to move them around
• it was one click to open, now its a right and a left...
• can't annotate....
• It was almost perfect before, please put it back.
• This is really dumb evernote....you must have made a mistake.  

[TK0047 422]

Do we need to create a petition against the new PDF viewer?

I have not seen a post about how great it is and people loving it thus far. Has anybody liking it? The benefits they are getting out of it versus the old "within" the note style PDF?

To me it does not seem to be one of those features that some will like and some won't so you cannot make everybody happy. Again, I have not heard anything good about it or anybody defending it. That obviously does not mean there aren't people out there that is not on the discussion boards but the consensus among active members seem to be against the new PDF viewer.

[Brother Tobias 8]

I deleted my earlier negaitve comment, because I now see how to open the annotate and edit function, which used to be a button command, but which now requires a context menu popup. Not as convenient, but not onerous.

I've come to enjoy the scrolling window as opposed to the page to page display of the old pdf viewer. I find it easier when reading long document; also makes search hits easier to see in terms of context when I don't have to go page by page but can scroll.

[CalS 5,280]

14 minutes ago, Brother Tobias said:

i've come to enjoy the scrolling window as opposed to the page to page display of the old pdf viewer. I find it easier when reading long document; also makes search hits easier to see in terms of context when I don't have to go page by page but can scroll.

Yeah, add scroll the old PDF viewer and you have a HIT!!!  

[yugoport 5]

I will join to the people complaining about the new pdf viewer. I much prefer the in-line view of previous versions. 

It's impossible in majority of the cases to see the full pdf, then you are scrolling the note itself and it stops in the pdf window, and the lack of the icons to annotate or drag it's not reasonable.

Although, I recognize that in the case where there are pdf with multiple pages in one note the pdf window is interesting and  a good feature, but needs some work.

Thanks

[djtropodx 6]

The problem is the people at Evernote just don't seem to care what users want and no amount of complaining about these bad decisions (and I agree the new PDF viewer is utterly dreadful) is going to change their minds.  I mean maybe it will work, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that.  

[AndysDisplayName 2]

Further complaint I've only just noticed; if the EN window is resized, the PDF view window does not resize to suit.

[randial 6]

On 4/5/2018 at 1:14 PM, TK0047 said:

Do we need to create a petition against the new PDF viewer?

I have not seen a post about how great it is and people loving it thus far. Has anybody liking it? The benefits they are getting out of it versus the old "within" the note style PDF?

To me it does not seem to be one of those features that some will like and some won't so you cannot make everybody happy. Again, I have not heard anything good about it or anybody defending it. That obviously does not mean there aren't people out there that is not on the discussion boards but the consensus among active members seem to be against the new PDF viewer.

I agree and would add that we also never see Evernote responding to these related posts about it.  I would like to know if there is a petition or somewhere to try to make a difference.

[jefito 5,589]

17 minutes ago, randial said:

I agree and would add that we also never see Evernote responding to these related posts about it.  I would like to know if there is a petition or somewhere to try to make a difference.

These posts are all read by Evernote, so they already know about your displeasure. If it makes you feel any better, you can always you can always make a petition at https://www.thepetitionsite.com/ or wherever, for all the good that it will do you (probably won't be read). But the correct thing to do is to make or vote for a feature request in the Feature Requests - Evernote for Windows forum; as it happens, there's already one available , so you shouldn't make a new one for this issue. Of course, from the note at the head of the feature request forum:

Quote

Our Product Feedback forums are places to suggest great ideas on improving Evernote. It could be a little idea or a very big idea. Like someone else's idea? Vote on the idea, or provide a comment of your own. One thing to remember: popularity does not mean implementation. Our forums are one component of the decisions we make, and while a bunch of ideas have merit, we need to be selective and always balancing priorities. 

One thing: they don't always respond there, either.

[jbenson2 2,147]

2 hours ago, jefito said:

These posts are all read by Evernote, so they already know about your displeasure.

You keep making this statement. Evernote reads all the posts! Really? As I pointed out in a different thread, other than a few anecdotal examples, I don't see the evidence to support Evernote's 100% viewing participation in this forum.  

[DTLow 5,736]

2 hours ago, jefito said:

These posts are all read by Evernote
,...
One thing: they don't always respond there, either.

Also, a post doesn't guarantee a request will be implemented or a bug will be fixed
These forums are just one of the factors used in the prioritization of development work.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses....Henry Ford

[jefito 5,589]

2 hours ago, jbenson2 said:

You keep making this statement. Evernote reads all the posts! Really? As I pointed out in a different thread, other than a few anecdotal examples, I don't see the evidence to support Evernote's 100% viewing participation in this forum. 

How can you prove this? You cannot (you might link to the thread you reference, though). And while I cannot prove mine, there are any number of posts by Evernote folks that say they do. So I'm sticking with this stance until informed by an Evernote staffer that it's not true, in which case I'll happily retract. Of course if you think they are lying... *shrug*

[CalS 5,280]

1 hour ago, jbenson2 said:

You keep making this statement. Evernote reads all the posts! Really? As I pointed out in a different thread, other than a few anecdotal examples, I don't see the evidence to support Evernote's 100% viewing participation in this forum.  

You may be wrong @jbenson2, but a great meme in any case.

[jbenson2 2,147]

What I am suggesting is that instead of an individual customer having to request an Evernote response (like the informative one pasted below); the Evernote employees who allegedly read all these posts, could easily just add a forum response. That comment could be seen by everyone in the forum, not just one individual who submitted the support request. What a stunning concept!

This action would help keep us informed; instead of the current method of other users guessing on possible solutions. Shut down and reboot, uninstall, reinstall, replace disk drive with an SSD, contact support, etc. 

Example of an informative Tech response on March 15, 2018, to an individual:
"I can confirm that this is a known issue on our end that our development team is actively investigating. It so far appears to be specific to setting all notebooks to offline. We are working on identifying the root cause and implementing a fix as soon as possible. It has so far been a rather complex issue to nail down, but our development team has been making good progress and they are in the process of testing a potential fix."

"In the meantime, since the issue is specific to offline notebooks, one workaround would be to turn that feature off, though of course I understand this may not be ideal depending on your workflow. Another workaround that seems to help is to set the device to airplane mode, which usually speeds things up."

If Evernote knows there is a problem; AND the customers are complaining about the problem; AND Evernote employees are reading all these posts; why can't Evernote have the decency to inform us of their answer - regardless of whether it is good or bad? 

 

 

 

 

 

[dtslax 1]

Question: when right clicking on a pdf and selecting annotate this pdf, there's no option to rotate the  pdf. It does not keep the rotation selected before opening the annotation window. Does anybody know how to fix this? Thanks. I totally share the frustration of the users with the new pdf viewer.

[jefito 5,589]

21 hours ago, jbenson2 said:

What I am suggesting is that instead of an individual customer having to request an Evernote response (like the informative one pasted below); the Evernote employees who allegedly read all these posts, could easily just add a forum response. That comment could be seen by everyone in the forum, not just one individual who submitted the support request. What a stunning concept!

I've always been in favor of more direct Evernote feedback. That's not what we are disagreeing about, which is whether all posts are read or not; specifically your statement: "You keep making this statement. Evernote reads all the posts! Really?". Please stop trying to turn my words into something that they're not.

[Dan Bilsborrow 4]

Follow up on my frustration

- and ownership at EVERNOTE :WAKE UP!!

Believe it or not, this issue was the straw that caused me to do a major review of our knowledge base system used in house a couple weeks ago (we are on business and have several users in the same notebooks, I have about 200 shared business notebooks, 1600 notes).  That reminds me, the other thing that pissed me off recently is the link to see all business note books (like not on my list) got hidden in the search menu for notebooks.  Thank you so much for that, I guess that helps promote spaces?  Really?

So after some very careful and long hours searching and reading and evaluating we found another product that makes evernote looks like it's from the dark ages or DOS era, and for our company size we got more users for way less. I'm flabbergasted at how far ahead it is or how far evernote is not now that I have seen something better.   Evernote has been amazing and got us this far, but it hasn't improved much over the years and I keep banging my head on its feature ceiling and I feel like they are stuck in the mud.  There are a couple products out there that are really pulling away fast for knowledge bases (they already have strong lead).   Our new product is like a fantasy product and although I will always have a fondness for Evernote, I'm hoping I'm not going to miss it much - if someone thinks of something I'm going to miss, ill be impressed. 

-Sorry Evernote, you really do need to wake up and move fast or I fear you will fall into the history books as another product that was king for innovation but lost it's way like a BlackBerry.  You have got some serous issues with product advancement and your not paying attention.

By the way, does evernote not have an official feature request page or they just use forms and kinda never read them?

[randial 6]

Dan,
Do share please.  We are looking also.  What will your group be using now?  DM me if you want.

thanks. 

[CalS 5,280]

On 4/19/2018 at 12:14 PM, dtslax said:

Question: when right clicking on a pdf and selecting annotate this pdf, there's no option to rotate the  pdf. It does not keep the rotation selected before opening the annotation window. Does anybody know how to fix this? Thanks. I totally share the frustration of the users with the new pdf viewer.

The EN annotation tool does not rotate a PDF, it strictly provides annotation.  A PDF editor is required rotate a PDF..

[TK0047 422]

On 4/20/2018 at 4:09 AM, Dan Bilsborrow said:

By the way, does evernote not have an official feature request page or they just use forms and kinda never read them?

I messaged an Evernote employee directly about the PDF viewer frustrations and asked for some explanation or the reason for the change. He seems to be a nice guy who is trying to help. Hopefully, he will get back with me. I will post more info once I receive it. Hopefully, we will get some answers and also a change to the better.

[XZYtopia 0]

Dan, can you tell me what the name of the new product you have found is as well please.  I have used Evernote for 3 years as a paying client for three years but I'm looking for a new product now.

I've been mildly frustrated by the 200 notebook limit which has required setting up (and paying for) new accounts three times so far - which is a real pain because Evernote's most useful function for me is it's clipper in gmail, and means I have to sign in and out to use between the three different accounts.

But the recent problems with the clipper - not being able to search emails - and now the pdf issues means I've had enough, and badly want another product.

Would love to know what you have found.

[rwpritchett 6]

On 4/24/2018 at 7:39 AM, TK0047 said:

I messaged an Evernote employee directly about the PDF viewer frustrations and asked for some explanation or the reason for the change. He seems to be a nice guy who is trying to help. Hopefully, he will get back with me. I will post more info once I receive it. Hopefully, we will get some answers and also a change to the better.

Did you ever receive a response from him? Would love to know if they plan to change the PDF handling before reverting to an older version or finally giving up on EN completely. Most of my notes contain PDF files, and this new method of handling them is maddening. Thanks!

[TK0047 422]

16 hours ago, rwpritchett said:

Did you ever receive a response from him? Would love to know if they plan to change the PDF handling before reverting to an older version or finally giving up on EN completely. Most of my notes contain PDF files, and this new method of handling them is maddening. Thanks!

No response yet, last communication was on April 23rd which was my response to his 1st email. Waiting for a response, hopefully we will receive some information soon.

[Faisal Malallah 51]

Another voice to the horrible horrible new PDF viewer in Evernote. I tried to like it... I really did, but it is just horrible compared to the older much more functional PDF viewer.

Evernote... I don't know why you chose to change the PDF viewer, but this was a big mistake. Please return the older version which your customers all love. 

[TK0047 422]

1 hour ago, Faisal Malallah said:

Please return the older version which your customers all love. 

It would be awesome if they brought it back or even give us an option between the new style vs. the old. But I really doubt that, I think we are going to accept that.

Until then, I will stay with 6.7 with the old style. 

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, Faisal Malallah said:

Another voice to the horrible horrible new PDF viewer in Evernote. I tried to like it... I really did, but it is just horrible compared to the older much more functional PDF viewer.

Evernote... I don't know why you chose to change the PDF viewer, but this was a big mistake. Please return the older version which your customers all love. 

The relevant link from an Evernote employee is here: 

Short form: they changed it because the Foxit viewer didn't work well with their current editing framework (this is the CEF3 referenced there, seehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_Embedded_Framework). It seems unlikely that they're going to change the framework back (they've put a lot of work into that). So maybe the Foxit viewer gets updated to work with CEF3 eventually and they bring it back in. Or not.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

7 hours ago, jefito said:

Short form: they changed it because the Foxit viewer didn't work well with their current editing framework (this is the CEF3 referenced there, seehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_Embedded_Framework).

The upgrade to CEF3 has been referenced in other threads here too. It seems to have been necessary, but to have left a bunch of functionality behind, or messed up. Hopefully eventually everything gets fixed to work with it; by which time CEF4 will no doubt be available and mandatory....

[CraigZ 21]

I'm still on 6.7.5 ... question - if you double click on a PDF, can you have it open it in foxit PDF externally for markup? (then at least I'm only relying on Evernote for displaying the PDF)

[Brother Tobias 8]

2 hours ago, CraigZ said:

I'm still on 6.7.5 ... question - if you double click on a PDF, can you have it open it in foxit PDF externally for markup? (then at least I'm only relying on Evernote for displaying the PDF)

In 6.11.2 an option click on my Win 10 system gives a pop up menu that includes Foxit. 

[CalS 5,280]

3 hours ago, CraigZ said:

I'm still on 6.7.5 ... question - if you double click on a PDF, can you have it open it in foxit PDF externally for markup? (then at least I'm only relying on Evernote for displaying the PDF)

It should open the PDF in your default PDF application.

[jefito 5,589]

3 hours ago, CalS said:

It should open the PDF in your default PDF application.

Moreover, you should be able to open it in any application you choose using the right-click Open With... menu item.

[CraigZ 21]

14 hours ago, jefito said:

Moreover, you should be able to open it in any application you choose using the right-click Open With... menu item.

I'm embarrased to admit I never right clicked on it, just used the embedded viewer or double clicked on it to mark-up the PDF.  Thanks for the tip.

[JeffreyC 66]

On 4/16/2018 at 4:27 PM, AndysDisplayName said:

Further complaint I've only just noticed; if the EN window is resized, the PDF view window does not resize to suit.

I wanted to take a second and echo this.  This is a real PITA.   Ever since the change, I've really struggled with and been frustrated with PDF's.  

I so want the PDF viewer to resize so I to the size of my window allowing me to have better use and viewing of the PDF.  As you can see in the attached, the un-re-sizing really doesn't help.

Thanks for your consideration, Evernote.  Appreciate you all! 

 

[righteousdork 203]

Not sure if this is the right place to mention this or not...but it seemed like a general thread to air PDF grievances.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, and I hope that's the case.
Here's my scenario:

I have two notes and I want to get a PDF in one note over to the other note.

1. I have tried right-clicking in the body of the PDF.  Hit Copy.  And then Paste into the new note.  No luck.  Not sure what the copy is actually doing.
2. I have tried dragging the header of the PDF over.  No luck.
3. I have tried viewing it as an attachment.  And then it looks like it's going to drag to the new note, but doesn't show up.
4. If I drag to the desktop and then to the new note, that works.

I feel like Steps 1-3 should be doable. Am I missing something? Can anyone repeat and see if they get the same results?

 

 

[CalS 5,280]

41 minutes ago, righteousdork said:

Not sure if this is the right place to mention this or not...but it seemed like a general thread to air PDF grievances.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, and I hope that's the case.
Here's my scenario:

I have two notes and I want to get a PDF in one note over to the other note.

1. I have tried right-clicking in the body of the PDF.  Hit Copy.  And then Paste into the new note.  No luck.  Not sure what the copy is actually doing.
2. I have tried dragging the header of the PDF over.  No luck.
3. I have tried viewing it as an attachment.  And then it looks like it's going to drag to the new note, but doesn't show up.
4. If I drag to the desktop and then to the new note, that works.

I feel like Steps 1-3 should be doable. Am I missing something? Can anyone repeat and see if they get the same results?

Used to be able to drag and drop, but now:

1. Have View as Attachment selected.
2. Right click and copy
3. Go to other note an right click paste.

or

1. Down arrow and save to desktop
2. Change focus to other note
3. Drag to other note
4. Delete from desktop

PITA any way you slice it,

[NikolayS 2]

I wonder, any response from EN company? We are paying money and looks like they don't want our input?

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

7 hours ago, NikolayS said:

I wonder, any response from EN company? We are paying money and looks like they don't want our input?

As with most software help forums, these are primarily user-to-user. Evernote staff look in here sometimes. I have no idea whether they note problems and requests or not. But the forums are mainly ways of getting help from other users, rather than a means of bringing concerns to Evernote itself. At any rate, that's been my experience.

[NikolayS 2]

Thank you, Dave. You are most helpful. I'm still surprised this PDF issue hasn't been resolved.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,958]

Yes, there have been many, many complaints about the revised PDF reader, so undoubtedly Evernote is aware of the issue. But it's impossible for users to know whether they intend to make changes.