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Why until now Firefox desktop can't Print to PDF?

venier
venier
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why i need install third party software to "print to pdf", while firefox have this natively on android?

There is a request at bugzilla, dated to 2002 (16 years ago!!!), to add this functionality internally, but someone from mozilla said that this functionality could overload the Firefox source code and wont add this.

Meanwhile, paradoxically, Mozilla added, some time ago, a PDF reader in the source code and this was not considered as overload.

Google Chrome, created in 2008 (6 years after the request), already added reader and print to PDF, and Mozilla until now think that a "print to PDF" could overload the Firefox source code.

link to bugzilla: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=162659 , see comment #8 that defined this as "WONTFIX".

PS: sorry my english, isn't my native language.

why i need install third party software to "print to pdf", while firefox have this natively on android? There is a request at bugzilla, dated to 2002 (16 years ago!!!), to add this functionality internally, but someone from mozilla said that this functionality could overload the Firefox source code and wont add this. Meanwhile, paradoxically, Mozilla added, some time ago, a PDF reader in the source code and this was not considered as overload. Google Chrome, created in 2008 (6 years after the request), already added reader and print to PDF, and Mozilla until now think that a "print to PDF" could overload the Firefox source code. link to bugzilla: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=162659 , see comment #8 that defined this as "WONTFIX". PS: sorry my english, isn't my native language.

All Replies (3)

WestEnd
WestEnd
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Print to PDF requires at least Acrobat Reader to be installed to have this feature. I don't recall by default FF having this option. PDF print AFAIK is a Adobe IP and to do so most likely would require FF to pay Adobe to use their code to provide this option. So first you should install Acrobat Reader and should the Print to PDF to know if there is a problem or not. Otherwise you need to find some other similiar programs like FoxIT that can provide that option but then again you will have to make this decision.

venier
venier Question owner
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1) Acrobat Reader, as the name says, is just a PDF reader, not a "PDF printer".

2) I did not say that FF has an option to "print to PDF", I was asking why the FF does not add this option. There is a request dated 2002! link: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=162659

3) PDF is an Adobe IP. FF has to pay Adobe to use it. So, why does FF no longer pay Adobe by including the option to read PDF files? Why there are so many FREE "PDF printers" on the internet, as yourself suggested one of them.

4) Why I had no option to decide that I did NOT want to install the PDF reader in FF and now I need to make a decision to have a PDF print in FF?

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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Mozilla isn't going to "pay" anyone for anything, especially when it comes to proprietary software like from Adobe. If it ain't open source it won't be included in Firefox.

I can't remember where I read it, but Firefox is slated to get a new (open source) PDF reader to replace the current PDF.JS reader which has been in Firefox since Firefox 19.0. And that it will be the same PDF reader that is currently used by Google Chrome; hopefully that will include the "print to PDF" feature.