pdf.js is an HTML5 technology experiment that explores building a faithful

and efficient Portable Document Format (PDF) renderer without native code

assistance.

pdf.js is community-driven and supported by Mozilla Labs. Our goal is to

create a general-purpose, web standards-based platform for parsing and

rendering PDFs, and eventually release a PDF reader extension powered by

pdf.js. Integration with Firefox is a possibility if the experiment proves

successful.

For an online demo, visit:

+ http://andreasgal.github.com/pdf.js/web/viewer.html

This demo provides an interactive interface for displaying and browsing PDFs

using the pdf.js API.

A Firefox extension is also available:

+ http://andreasgal.github.com/pdf.js/extensions/firefox/pdf.js.xpi

However, note that the extension might not reflect the latest source in our master branch.

To get a local copy of the current code, clone it using git:

$ git clone git://github.com/andreasgal/pdf.js.git pdfjs

$ cd pdfjs

Next, you need to start a local web server as some browsers don't allow opening

PDF files for a file:// url:

$ make server

If everything worked out, you can now serve

+ http://localhost:8888/web/viewer.html

You can also view all the test pdf files on the right side serving

+ http://localhost:8888/test/pdfs/?frame

In order to bundle all `src/` files into a final `pdf.js`, issue:

$ make

This will generate the file `build/pdf.js` that can be included in your final project. (WARNING: That's a large file! Consider minifying it).

Here are some initial pointers to help contributors get off the ground.

Additional resources are available in a separate section below.

For a "hello world" example, take a look at:

+ [examples/helloworld/hello.js](https://github.com/andreasgal/pdf.js/blob/master/examples/helloworld/hello.js)

This example illustrates the bare minimum ingredients for integrating pdf.js

in a custom project.

Check out the presentation by our contributor Julian Viereck on the inner

workings of PDF and pdf.js:

+ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv15UY-4Fg8

pdf.js is a community-driven project, so contributors are always welcome.

Simply fork our repo and contribute away. A great place to start is our

[open issues](https://github.com/andreasgal/pdf.js/issues). For better consistency and

long-term stability, please do look around the code and try to follow our conventions.

More information about the contributor process can be found on the

[contributor wiki page](https://github.com/andreasgal/pdf.js/wiki/Contributing).

If you don't want to hack on the project or have little spare time, __you still

can help!__ Just open PDFs in the

[online demo](http://andreasgal.github.com/pdf.js/web/viewer.html) and report

any breakage in rendering.

Our Github contributors so far:

+ https://github.com/andreasgal/pdf.js/contributors

You can add your name to it! :)

pdf.js comes with browser-level regression tests that allow one to probe

whether it's able to successfully parse PDFs, as well as compare its output

against reference images, pixel-by-pixel.

To run the tests, first configure the browser manifest file at:

test/resources/browser_manifests/browser_manifest.json

Sample manifests for different platforms are provided in that directory.

To run all the bundled tests, type:

$ make test

and cross your fingers. Different types of tests are available, see the test

manifest file at:

test/test_manifest.json

The test type `eq` tests whether the output images are identical to reference

images. The test type `load` simply tests whether the file loads without

raising any errors.

If you are a reviewer, you can use our remote bot to issue comprehensive tests

against reference images before merging pull requests.

See the bot repo for details:

+ https://github.com/arturadib/pdf.js-bot

Our demo site is here:

+ http://andreasgal.github.com/pdf.js/web/viewer.html

You can read more about pdf.js here:

+ http://andreasgal.com/2011/06/15/pdf-js/

+ http://blog.mozilla.com/cjones/2011/06/15/overview-of-pdf-js-guts/

Talk to us on IRC:

+ #pdfjs on irc.mozilla.org

Join our mailing list:

+ dev-pdf-js@lists.mozilla.org

Subscribe either using lists.mozilla.org or Google Groups:

+ https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-pdf-js

+ https://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.pdf-js/topics

Follow us on twitter: @pdfjs

+ http://twitter.com/#!/pdfjs

A really basic overview of PDF is described here:

+ http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/livecycle/lc_pdf_overview_format.pdf

A more detailed file example:

+ http://gnupdf.org/Introduction_to_PDF

The PDF specification itself is an ISO and not freely available. However, there is

a "PDF Reference" from Adobe:

+ http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/pdf_reference_1-7.pdf

Recommended chapters to read: "2. Overview", "3.4 File Structure",

"4.1 Graphics Objects" that lists the PDF commands.