Huh, I mostly use apvlv and mupdf. They are command line binaries but they have a gui; I don't really see a point in looking at a PDF with something other than a gui.
Watch pdf files on remote server using ssh without gui
But you need tdf installed on the server for that right?
I realize I rarely have to do it so I tend to just download and open the pdf, or use X forwarding. Or while using emacs I just open the remote file (which basically downloads and opens I guess).
Unless you have already made a decision and feel strong about Zathura, I'd like to mention Sioyek. It’s definitely an underrated pick for terminal PDF readers. It works just as well as Zathura, and can even go wayyyy beyond it.
Oh Sioyek looks interesting. Also the blog is great !
Sioyek really is amazing, especially for academic-style reading with a lot of jumping back and forth, and very customizable. I also heartily recommend it, but do be aware that there are some rough edges remaining.
If you ever get stuck, there are a lot of additional tricks and workarounds for some of the quirks hidden in the project’s github issues. And if there’s a feature you feel sorely missing check out the main branch version instead of the latest official point release which is a couple years behind now (e.g. still missing integrated dual-page view which the development version has for close to 2 years now)
Yeah I noticed the main AUR package was last updated in June 2024. Thought they abandoned it but the GitHub shows the last release was around the same time. Downloaded sioyek-git instead and it works great.
I think I'm sticking with Sioyek. It checks enough boxes for what I need from a pdf viewer. Well documented, no performance issues, and it supports epub too.
The command line tools, portals, ruler for reading, keyboard text selection, searchable highlights, easy file opening, marking. Really vim-like. Need to customize some keybinds but otherwise don't see a reason to look elsewhere for now.
Thanks! I think Sioyek is really overlooked.
I bet it is mostly because of its name...
It didn't scare me more than "Zathura" ^^ Hope it will eventually get the love it deserves.
TIL about tdf. Thanks! it really does seem fast.
... zathura seems interesting, it has support for plugins for different document types, but it seemed to open a PDF in secondary window (albeit on a desktop), whereas tdf allowed me to access the PDF inline in ghostty, which was great.
It's the same reason I like TUI utilities like tiv, the terminal image viewer.
Sometimes I don't want to have my workflow broken just to quickly check the contents or layout of what the file contains, I just need to glance at it and continue with what I'm doing.
The only time I find myself in line with CLI purists is when I need to SSH into a machine without X forwarding. Had no idea that there were terminal PDF viewers, but now I know if I ever need to consult a document remotely.
If you're primary interface to your computer is a shell, then why not do this in a shell too? You likely already have your DE setup to handle shells. It fits within all your styling (no weridness between qt, gtk, etc).
A better question might be, why run it in a GUI? What are you actually gaining from doing that?
i selfhost paperless ngx to access my pdfs and that is more than enough for what little i do with pdfs
Also I remember seeing screenshots where PDFs looked transparent or matched the terminal colors. Is that actually a feature of some of these viewers ?
Zathura lets you recolour and theme pdfs, yes. See zathurarc(5). You can set alpha using "rgba(r, g, b, a)" when setting a colour, e.g. set to 0.8 for 0.8 opacity.
What's wrong with "Evince"...? (that's the only one which comes to mind right now..)
I personally want something more minimal.
Gnome+isms, which why Atril. But both are slow with big PDF, have font-size issues with pdf forms (but to their defense; everything PDF aside basics is a mess) and are even slower with comicbook and barely usable for epub. In short, they are jack of all, ~~master of~~ good at none.
not sure if it applies but I use command line to shrink the size of pdfs by putting them to like e-reader standards.
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