Safari - drawings blurry

[blazerdude20]

hope someone has a simple answer for this.

i do estimating for a construction company and use online plan centers to view plans and specs. Every since i upgraded to Yosemite, Safari loads the drawings into new tabs but they are very blurry. they are next to worthless inside of safari. I've tried using Chrome and Firefox and they both load the drawings clear as day.

plan center knows of no issues with compatibility with Safari.

Any ideas on how to correct this?

Thanks!

 

[campyguy]

There's no easy answer to your question and what you're posing. FYI, I'm in your industry and feel your pain. A few bits of advice. First, get over it and use the browser(s) that give you the best results. The most-specific reply is that both FF and Chrome now have built-in PDF viewers and Apple's Safari does not - in our field, Windows provides the best "compatibility" for PDF/TIFF or other take-off files - it's rare you'll find a Mac-friendly take-off file format. Since Adobe went "hands-off" with driving PDF compatibility earlier this year, you'll be hard pressed to find a single app or format that suits your needs - in other words, there aren't any more "can openers" any longer.

Apple's Safari uses Preview to generate "views" or "proxies", and Preview does not - by design - provide compatibility for all of what you'll find in PDF files (which I'm assuming that you're using) - the PDF viewer built into FF and Chrome gets updated far more often than Apple's Preview. Safari becomes more "powerful" if you install Adobe's Acrobat Reader or Acrobat CC (I own a license for the latter) and if you use Adobe's plug-in for the Reader or Acrobat CC app.

My advice? Do not waste your time trying to get Safari "working" for what you're looking for - I've been fighting that battle since 2007. It's not worth it, regardless of what file type you're looking to process. I have 25 Mac and 6 Windows workstations in my company - they all make coin; our estimating is done on 2 Windows workstations with specific software on it as our clients (agencies, owners, and generals) all are on Windows-specific software, and they've encoded their bidding documents in Windows-friendly portals - including the plan centers we work with.

I have a Parallels Desktop program on my Mac, with both Win 7 and Win 10 virtual machines - just to work with bid center documents and files. You've got to adapt to what the client is using, and Safari (or OS X, for that matter) isn't what they're using.

 

[rthpjm]

Do you have an example image/doc that you can post here? It's much easier to comment/help if we can see what you are seeing. An original doc (not a screenshot) will be much more helpful (unless it's a screenshot format that is the original file of course).

Whenever I come across poor resolution files, it is usually because the source image has been down-sized and compressed hard. It is not unheard of that you are looking at a generated thumbnail (small size, small dimensions, high compression) and then zooming it up to view it.

How are you initiating the view of the file? Is it in a web portal? If so it might be worth reporting it to the portal operator as a potential bug. Web site programmers often use a header field (User-Agent) to determine which type of browser is connecting, and will often perform different actions accordingly. Take for example web pages presented as "mobile" versions on smartphones. It's possible that you portal is seeing a new User-Agent string because of your upgrade to Yosemite (and the accompanying Safari), this string might not match in the web site programming and thus you're presented with the lowest common denominator of an image.

These are just guesses. You can try altering the User-Agent from the Develop menu. If you can't see the Develop menu, turn it on from the Safari Preferences > Advanced.

Select an older User-Agent string, it'll reload the page, then click on your image. See if it has any effect....

 

[Alexander B.]

The most-specific reply is that both FF and Chrome now have built-in PDF viewers and Apple's Safari does not

Safari has built-in PDF viewer. Actually PDF is supported rather well through the system - Safari, Preview etc.

 

[Alexander B.]

An example file would be helpful to see why it looks bad.

 

[campyguy]

Safari has built-in PDF viewer. Actually PDF is supported rather well through the system - Safari, Preview etc.

Safari has a built-in PDF renderer, not a viewer - I differentiate the two means of displaying a PDF file within Safari. The viewers within Chrome and FF and the Acrobat CC/Reader plug-in offer many more options than PDF files rendered within Safari. Given that, I respect your comment.

 

[CreatorCode]

Did OP ever say these were PDFs in the first place?

If they are, you can always install the Adobe Reader plugin, which will override Safari's native PDF viewer.

Safari has a built-in PDF renderer, not a viewer - I differentiate the two means of displaying a PDF file within Safari. The viewers within Chrome and FF and the Acrobat CC/Reader plug-in offer many more options than PDF files rendered within Safari. Given that, I respect your comment.

Your differentiation is imaginary. They all let you view PDFs. They all do this by rendering (rasterizing) them. They are all viewers, and they are all renderers. You can invent distinctions all you like, but you can't criticize others for not conforming to them.

 

[campyguy]

Did OP ever say these were PDFs in the first place?

If they are, you can always install the Adobe Reader plugin, which will override Safari's native PDF viewer.

Your differentiation is imaginary. They all let you view PDFs. They all do this by rendering (rasterizing) them. They are all viewers, and they are all renderers. You can invent distinctions all you like, but you can't criticize others for not conforming to them.

I'm not criticizing, nor am I inventing - I've clarified a difference in features outlined by the respective developers. Google calls it a "plug-in". Mozilla calls it a "plug-in". Adobe calls it a "plug-in". Apple calls it "rendering". Google's/Mozilla's/Adobe's plug-ins offer and provide features that do not exist in Safari's built-in capabilities. Before trying to pick nits with me, take a bit of time poking around the advanced features built in to FF's and Chrome's plug-ins - they're not just "rasterizers".

And, I already have Acrobat CC and its PDF plug-in installed/enabled...

 

[rthpjm]

Hmm. It looks like we may have strayed off-topic with the PDF discussions.

If the OP is using Plan Center (http://plancenter.djc.com/func/plan-index.php) then it uses the DjVu plug in.

The OP should ensure that they have the latest version of this plugin installed, and should probably follow the optimisation tips (http://plancenter.djc.com/func/djvu-tips.php)

Safari is tightening up on plugin security, so the plugin might also need to be "allowed" for the web site.

==== Edit ====

It looks like it might be difficult now, because the "official owners" of the DjVu code have stopped developing a plugin for MacOS X, it has gone Windows only. There are alternatives in the open source domain, but you will probably have to download the file and use a desktop viewer (rather than a plugin inside the browser)