iOS page spreads

Hi -- is there a way to adjust two-page spreads on PDF viewer for Zotero on iOS (e.g., odd-even as in desktop app)? Is that in the works? Thanks!
  • You can enable two-page spreads from the gear menu by selecting Double for Page Mode. Is that what you mean? You can't change between odd and even spreads, though.
  • Thanks @dstillman — Yes, I’m specifically wondering about changing between odd spreads and even spreads.

    Is there any chance of this in a future iOS build?
  • @dstillman This feature is very much required (i.e. changing between odd and even spreads). I read my PDFs in even spread on my laptop and when I read them on Zotero, they're in odd spread. Human mind tends to have a certain memory of the page layouts, and when you suddenly see the pages differently, it becomes hard to read the same book. As much as it may surprise you, I still don't use Zotero's iPad solely for this reason, since it doesn't fulfill my need of reading books (which I read on my laptop as well). I eagerly await this feature to be implemented one day so that I can start using my iPad for reading.
  • edited 27 days ago
    Thanks @shivams@dstillman is this coming?

    Reversing spreads is a common and necessary feature in a pdf viewer. It’s tortuous to suffer hundreds of backwards spreads because someone deleted or didn’t scan a blank page somewhere in the front matter.

    A simple toggle would be great.

    Else a way to easily delete or add a blank page would be even better, though probably harder to implement.
  • edited 27 days ago
    I think one common reason this happens is because publishers typically distribute PDF ebooks with a single cover image, followed by page i/1, which should be recto (odd/left). To fix this, you have to manually add a blank page between the cover and short title.

    As someone who cares about book design, I find it almost insufferable to have page numbers in the gutter.

    And to the point raised by @shivams — there plenty of evidence and theory going back 3,000 years that our memory is enhanced (even dominated) by spatial location. So for those of us who care about PDFs as a way of mediating the print-digital divide, we should expect to be able to locate information in the same place on a two page spread as we would also find it in print.

    It’s extremely cumbersome to add the necessary blank page from the iPad app, and as a result I also don’t use it nearly as much as I want to. There’s so much potential with this new app, but this is a detail that has almost ruined it, because it’s so fundamental to the essence of the PDF as a more holistic print-proxy than cursed free-flowing text.
  • You don't have to convince us — we'll support it if we can. It just may not be currently possible in the PDF framework we use on iOS (which powers the PDF support in many apps). But we're checking.

    (And let's not be hyperbolic here. It's fine if this is important to you, but as far as I know you two are the first to request this in the two years the iOS app has been out and the three years since we released the first beta. Even macOS Preview seems to support this only via a bug.)
  • @sheltonryan, @shivams: We've added support for odd spreads in the last version of the app.
  • @dstillman -- Thanks so much! Just tested it and it works great. A huge win for iPad use.
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