Blog: Mozilla Eyes Hassle-Free PDFs on the Web

Mozilla Eyes Hassle-Free PDFs on the Web
CNet (06/24/11) Stephen Shankland

Mozilla is developing pdf.js, a PDF reader that uses Web technology to render PDFs in the browser. Although Google is developing PDF software designed for a specific processor, Mozilla's system will use the browser's engine. "Our most immediate goal is to implement the most commonly used PDF features so we can render a large majority of the PDFs found on the Web," says Mozilla's Andreas Gal. The project uses JavaScript to interpret the PDF coding. Gal says it will result in a substantial usability increase as well as a security improvement for users, since pdf.js only uses safe Web languages and does not contain any native code pieces that attackers can exploit. Mozilla also could use a PDF renderer with Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to overcome the shortcomings of Canvas, says Mozilla's Chris Jones. The Mozilla team wants to render a quick version using Canvas, then swap in a more sophisticated SVG-based version, according to Jones. Mozilla expects that pdf.js will improve user's experience with PDFs while slowly phasing out the technology. "We hope that a browser-native PDF renderer written on the Web platform allows Web technologies to subsume PDF," Gal says.

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