Setting how a PDF opens with Initial view in PDF by Zaweba

First impressions count, even for documents. A PDF that opens on a tiny view with a cluttered sidebar feels harder to read than one that opens with its first page filling the screen and its outline ready down the side. PDF by Zaweba lets you decide how your document opens, for you and for everyone you send it to.

Initial view

File > Initial view writes into the PDF how the document should open. The setting travels with the file, so it is the document's own instruction, not a preference on one PC. When PDF by Zaweba opens a file that has an initial view set, it follows it.

Use it to make a document open the way it is best read. Think about what suits the reader. A long report and a brochure designed as spreads are read in different ways, and the document can open in the way that suits it rather than in whatever the reader's program last used.

Setting it is a finishing touch, the last thing you do before sending a document out. It takes moments and makes the document feel considered.

Binding

Binding sets the reading direction of the document. Most documents in English and other left to right languages are bound on the left: you turn pages from right to left, and in a two-page view page 2 sits on the left with page 3 on the right.

Documents in right to left languages such as Arabic or Hebrew are bound on the right. Their pages run the other way, and spreads should show them in that order. Setting the binding tells viewers which way round to put pages side by side, so a two-page view looks like the printed book rather than a mirror of it.

If you produce documents in more than one language, it is worth checking the binding on each. A right to left brochure shown the wrong way round looks muddled, even though every page is correct on its own.

Word count

The File menu also has Word count. It counts the words in the document, which is handy for checking a report against a limit, quoting for translation, or getting a sense of how long a document will take to read. It counts real text, so a scanned document needs text recognition first.

Putting it together

These settings make the most sense together at the end of a job. Check the word count against what was asked for. Set the binding to match the language. Then set the initial view so the document opens the way you want readers to meet it. Save, and the document is ready to send.

Requests, not commands

An initial view is a request. PDF by Zaweba follows it, but other programs your readers use may follow only parts of it, or let their own preferences win. It is still worth setting, because many readers will see it as you intended.

Don't fight the reader. An initial view that hides all the panels and locks the page at an odd zoom can be more irritating than helpful. Pick something comfortable and let readers change it from there.

Used lightly, Initial view and Binding in PDF by Zaweba are the polish that makes a document feel finished, the PDF equivalent of handing someone a report with the cover facing the right way up.