two-page preference isn't working when PDF is opened

[novalin]

I opened my PDF in Acrobat, went to properties, and set it to "two-page (cover up)", and then saved. Then I opened the PDF in Preview (MacOS), but it still shows it as one page throughout the document.

I need it to open as a cover followed by two-page spreads (it’s a book) so that I can share the PDF with customers.

If I switch it to two-page view in Preview it looks right. If I save and reopen it looks right. But if I then share it without another user it reverts back to single pages.

[JR Boulay]

Preview (aka "the PDF killer") is not a PDF reader, it's a previewer for many files formats.

It only partially supports PDF version 1.4, which dates back to 1999, and it does not support the opening settings, JavaScript and most of the features that make the PDF format interesting.

When you preview a PSD or DOCX file with Preview you don't expect to find all the features of Photoshop or Word, the same goes for PDF and Acrobat.

[novalin]

Thank you. Very helpful. Also, unfortunate, since I imagine it's commonly used these days.

In that case, it sounds like I did everything correctly in Acrobat — in terms of the preferences I set — is that right?

[Luke Jennings3]

If you set the initial view settings (File> Properties> Initial view), you have done all you can do. This will work in Acrobat & Reader when the user's Acrobat page display preference is set to the default "Automatic". There are three Acrobat user preferences that will override the pdf initial view settings;

Using a setting other than Automatic. (Page Display)

Accessibility settings. (Accessibility)

Restore last view settings when opening. (Documents)