pdf links won't open in safari browser???

[snobrdinrtiste]

Hey Mac guru's, I have a pressing problem I can't seem to find an answer to.
I have a bunch of pdf's online and they all have hyperlinks. The hyperlinks all work fine in IE, Firefox, Chrome (PC based browsers). But in Safari, the links won't open unless I open up the pdf in Acrobat Reader first. Is there setting I have to change in Safari??

 

[IMacQuarker]

hi snobrdinrtiste

Do you want to post a link to one of those PDFs?
Sometimes when I go to a url with a PDF it will open in the browser, other times it will only download to my comp.

IMacQarker

 

[JimHilton]

This is a fairly common problem with mac and pc's. Depending on the connection speed and how big the .pdf the pdf reader app starts well before the "download". People think that something is wrong and leave the site etc.

As a prove out, try clicking on one of the .pdf files in question and walk away for a few minutes. If you are able to see the .pdf then its a lag/speed/size issue.

One of the work arounds we use at the shop is to have preview view the .pdf. Its much more "patient" then adobe.

Hope that helps!

 

[IMacQuarker]

I have found that Safari 4.0.5 (4531.22.7) on OS 10.4.11 will open and let me read and do fillable forms online without downloading the PDF or opening Adobe Reader. So it must have Adobe Reader built in.
FireFox 3.6.3 apparently does not have Adobe Reader built in and always downloads the PDF to be opened with Adobe Reader.

IMacQuarker

 

[snobrdinrtiste]

can you guys try this site/pdf and tell me if you can view it in safari?

http://cityclerk.lacity.org/election/ncdocs/website.pdf

 

[spamjim]

So [Safari] must have Adobe Reader built in.
FireFox 3.6.3 apparently does not have Adobe Reader built in

Let's make this complicated.

Any browser (including Safari, Firefox, Opera, IE, Chrome) can be configured to open PDF files or to download them. A web server can also be configured to force download a PDF file instead of having the browser open it.

Adobe Reader is not the only PDF viewer. You can view PDF files in OS X without Adobe Reader. These browsers can have various helper apps associated to open/view PDF files. None of these browsers have built-in PDF capabilities. A helper app is always required.

Recognizing that every user will have a distinct configuration for handling PDF files, there is no reliable way to control how your end user will handle the file.

If the issue of being unable to access links within a PDF file is happening exclusively on your own computer, consider configuring Safari to use the Adobe Reader component instead of OS X Preview. The sample link to lacity.org works fine in my Safari because I have Adobe Reader assigned to view it within the browser.

It would help to troubleshoot this further if we knew what version of OS X was in use and if you were fully patched. I recall this issue in the past for OS X Preview and assumed it was already fixed.

More reading:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/333/333545.html