# View PDF Documents

You can view PDF files with Viewing SDK in one of three ways:

- View the PDF by using the Adobe Acrobat ActiveX control.

- View the PDF by using the Microsoft WebBrowser ActiveX control.

- View an image of each page of the PDF by using a graphic-based PDF reader (`kppdfrdr` or `kppdf2rdr`).

By default, Viewing SDK uses the Acrobat ActiveX control to view PDF documents. If you do not want to redistribute the Acrobat Reader with your application, you can use a graphic-based reader instead.

## Use the Acrobat ActiveX Control

The Acrobat control is automatically installed with Adobe® Reader® 4.0 or later. To download the Adobe Reader, go to www.adobe.com.

## Use the Microsoft WebBrowser ActiveX Control

You can use the Microsoft WebBrowser ActiveX control to view PDF documents. The Microsoft WebBrowser ActiveX control is installed automatically with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or later. To use the WebBrowser ActiveX control to view PDF documents, follow one of these procedures:

In the `kvsdk.ini` file

1. Open the `kvsdk.ini` file with a text editor. The file is installed in the root of the Windows directory.

2. In the `[General]` section of the `kvsdk.ini` file, set the `UseHTMLPluginForPDF` parameter to `True`.

3. Pass the highlight or search term in by using `VAPIMWP_INIT_OPENDOCEX` (the extended version of `VAPIMWP_INIT_OPEN_DOCUMENT`. Refer to `ihademo.cpp` for details) with the `OpenDocInfo.lpszHighlight` structure. For example:

       OpenDocInfo.lpszHighLight="search_term";

   where `search_term` is the highlight or search term.

In the registry file

1. Open `install.reg.txt` ``in a text editor. The file is installed in the `install``\redist` directory, where `install` is the directory in which you installed Viewing SDK.

2. Under the `[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Autonomy\Viewing SDK\General]` key, set the following parameter:

       "UseHTMLPluginForPDF"="true"

3. Save the file as `install.reg`.

4. Import the file into your Windows system registry.

## Use a Graphic-Based PDF Reader

There are two graphic-based PDF readers available. The readers display PDFs by converting each page of the PDF to an image. If you do not want to redistribute the Acrobat Reader with your application, you can use a graphic-based reader instead.

The two readers support different features. Choose the appropriate reader depending on your requirements:

- The `kppdfrdr` reader supports highlighting, annotation, and several other features, but also has several graphical limitations.

- The `kppdf2rdr` reader produces high-fidelity raster images but is a viewer only, and does not support highlighting or other features.

### Use the kppdfrdr Reader

The `kppdfrdr` graphic-based reader has the following features:

- supports vector images

- supports rotation and scaling

- supports multibyte and bidirectional text

The `kppdfrdr` reader has the following limitations:

- Embedded fonts in a PDF file are not translated correctly. They are usually displayed using the question mark (?) replacement character.

- If an unsupported font is encountered during conversion, the default font, Times New Roman, is substituted.

- Supports 180-degree rotation only for raster images.

- Supports the following color spaces: DeviceRGB, DeviceGray, DeviceCMYK, CalGray, and CalRGB color spaces. Indexed color spaces are supported as long as they are used with a supported basic color space.

- Does not support hyperlinks.

- Does not extract summary information (metadata).

### Use the kppdf2rdr Reader

The `kppdf2rdr` graphic-based reader produces high-fidelity raster images. However, it has the following limitations:

- Does not support anything beyond viewing, such as highlighting or annotation.

- Does not support PDFs containing XFA forms content.

### Specify the Graphic-based Reader

By default, the Acrobat control is used to view PDF documents. To use one of the graphic-based readers to view PDF documents, follow one of these procedures:

In the `kvsdk.ini` file

1. Open the `kvsdk.ini` file with a text editor. The file is installed in the root of the Windows directory.

2. In the `[VAPI]` section of the `kvsdk.ini` file, change the `200=doc 0 kvaxcc.dll` parameter to `200=pic 0 kvpicve.dll`.

3. In the `[KVPICVE]` section, set the following parameter to the graphic-based reader you want to use. Set one of the following values:

   - For the `kppdfrdr` reader:

         200=kppdfrdr.dll

     This is the default setting.

   - For the `kppdf2rdr` reader:

         200=kppdf2rdr.dll

In the registry file

1. Open `install.reg.txt` in a text editor. The file is installed in the `install\redist` directory, where `install` is the directory in which you installed Viewing SDK.

2. Under the `[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Autonomy\Viewing SDK\VAPI]` key, change the `"200"="doc 0 kvaxcc.dll"` parameter to `"200"="pic 0 kvpicve.dll"`.

3. Under the `[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Autonomy\Viewing SDK\KPICVE]` key, set the following parameter to the graphic-based reader you want to use. Set one of the following values:

   - For the `kppdfrdr` reader:

         "200"="kppdfrdr.dll"

     This is the default setting.

   - For the `kppdf2rdr` reader:

         "200"="kppdf2rdr.dll"

4. Save the file as `install.reg`.

5. Import the file into your Windows system registry.

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