How do I read a PDF in 2 simultaneous views (split view) / Mac

Sometimes I need to see and read two different parts of the same document at the same time (e.g. reading the explanation of a chart while viewing it). How can I do that? Is there any PDF reader with that feature or do you open the same file twice?

According to How do I use Revu's Split View mode on a single monitor or with multiple monitors? Bluebeam has this feature. Unfortunately there is no Mac version and it is very expensive.

I also found this discussion thread recommending STDU Viewer but it is also for Windows only: How to view two not continuous PDF pages at once,like the split view of Word .

Alejandro Lengua Vega

Posted 2014-08-10T04:45:10.287

Reputation: 101

Answers

You can use Skim (which is free) which offers the View -> Show Split PDF feature.

Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker for OS X. It is designed to help you read and annotate scientific papers in PDF, but is also great for viewing any PDF file.

Download Skim here.

Plecto

Posted 2014-08-10T04:45:10.287

Reputation: 111

Do you have a link for Skim? – suspectus – 2015-03-27T13:12:11.943

@suspectus Is there a PDF viewer with a vertical split screen feature?

– DavidPostill – 2015-03-27T15:13:44.327

1@suspectus hmm do you know how to set the vertical split in Skim? – JPCF – 2016-12-20T10:10:42.340

One way to accomplish this in Preview (the default PDF reader in OSX) is to open the same file twice.

The quickest way to do this is to open the file then click File -> Duplicate. This will open the duplicated file in a new Preview window.

For extra goodness use something like Spectacle to give you the ability to quickly snap your two preview windows side-by-side.

BlueC

Posted 2014-08-10T04:45:10.287

Reputation: 161

Skim has the ability to split horizontally, but the maintainer has explicitly declined the request to include a vertical split feature.

You can open two, distinct instances of Preview (and the same PDF) by using the open command at the command line:

open -n "path/to/your.pdf"

I then use Magnet to arrange my windows, though there's a native, macOS solution for this as well.

chb

Posted 2014-08-10T04:45:10.287

Reputation: 380

What works best for me is this approach:

Press Cmd-Alt-2 for thumbnails view
In thumbnails view press Cmd-A Cmd-C to select all pages and copy them to the clipboard. Then press Cmd-N to open a new document from the clipboard contents.

rexford

Posted 2014-08-10T04:45:10.287

Reputation: 171

PDFpen 11 seems to support vertical split view of the same pdf. https://smilesoftware.com/pdfpen/entry/new-pdfpen-11-split-view-font-bar-and-for-pro-users-enhancements-to-interactive-form-creation-and-editing

Mahatma_Fatal_Error

Posted 2014-08-10T04:45:10.287

Reputation: 101