Ipad Unable to open PDF Portfolio

[samf58498923]

I'm trying to open a PDF Portfolio via Ipad but I only get a cover sheet saying...

'For the best experience, open this PDF portfolio in Acrobat X or Adobe Reader X, or later.'

There are no documents just this message, I have adobe reader installed so I don't understand what the issue is?

Thanks,

Sam

[Test Screen Name]

Unfortunately the mobile versions of Acrobat Reader do not display portfolios. Adobe don't have feature parity for some reason. (Actually one reason is that most portfolios need Flash, for some reason, and Flash isn't available for mobile).

[samf58498923]

I've figured out if you hold down on the file and open with Adobe Reader this works, I'm not familiar with the Apple UI, is this because it is not set up as a default that if you tap it, it opens at the cover sheet?

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

Actually, Adobe Reader for both iOS and Android do provide limited Portfolio support. They do not provide the beautiful Flash-based interface that was available with Acrobat XI and earlier, but it does provide a list of the files within the Portfolio from which you can open the individual files within the Portfolio.

Apple's built-in PDF support does not support Portfolios in any way whatsoever other than displaying the default page indication lack of such support.

          - Dov

[rdeblock]

Coming in late on this...

I've successfully opened a Portfolio in Adobe Reader on my iPad and can see the component documents. I can print component documents but cannot find a way to print the entire Portfolio which is my primary purpose for using Portfolio. Is there a way to print the Portfolio as I can on my PC?

[gkaiseril]

Probably not, since the amount of JavaScript supported by the Adobe Reader app for mobile devices is very limited.

JavaScript for Acrobat Reader Mobile API Reference (iOS) shows there is no print method for the Doc object and no PrintParams needed for printing using JavaScript and no Collection object which is the object for the PDF Package or PDF Portfolio.

[rdeblock]

The functionality I'm missing is being able to print all component documents in one step rather than needing to print each. That doesn't seem like a function that would require Flash. Am I wrong?

[Joel Geraci]

That functionality would not require Flash, however, the mobile PDF viewer JavaScript engine doesn't support the properties or methods that allow scripted access to attachments, which is what the files in a Portfolio are. For what it's worth, none of the other mobile PDF viewers that support JavaScript do either.

One thing to bear in mind is that PDF Portfolio items are not limited to PDF files. They can be anything that is permitted as an attachment, this means that the if something other than a PDF were encountered, you'd need some way to open the attachment in another app ("Open In" or "Export") in order to print it. My understanding of iOS is that isn't possible without user interaction.

[gkaiseril]

Please check the link provided to enterprise Tookit for Acrobat Products and the doc object. There is no "print" method and not "Collection" object, no "Annotation" object (file attachment), and probably many more objects, properties, and methods needed by JavaScript to be able to print to a printer.

It should be noted that many features within Acrobat are dependent upon JavaScript whether it is explicitly stated as in a script or used behind what the user or developer can see.

[Test Screen Name]

Ah, so you have a portfolio that does work in the iPad Reader? That's lucky, and unusual.

To answer your question: you cannot change the default PDF app in iOS (iPad/iPhone). Apple just don't let you do it. So you always have to open in the default app, then send to Reader or whatever PDF app you want; or in some cases send from one app to Reader. In theory any one app could do this by default, but none do. There just isn't the Windows/Mac idea of a changeable default app.

[samf58498923]

Just to clarify, it doesn't work in the Ipad reader you have to hold down on the link and select open with Adobe Reader, this lists the files that are available within the file.

It's a shame it's like that, Android has no trouble either, just seems to be iOS.

[MisterParker@SAI]

The best way that we have found to access and modify portfolios is through a third party app on iOS called PDF Expert. The interface and accessibility is very user friendly.