PDFViewer: A small and quick viewer for PDF files: History and user guide

This document covers the history and user guide for PDFViewer, version 1.1, a small, free Windows program for reading PDF files, written for occasional computer users who have no reason to buy Adobe Acrobat to read a few documents a year, and used by the NutritionModels programs to open their manuals. PDFViewer opens a PDF file in one of three ways: in its own PDF viewer, built on ComponentOne for WinForms, with pages, thumbnails, the outline, search, zoom, and print; in a browser view, the PDF reader of Microsoft Edge inside the program, which reads the pages as they are needed and uses little memory for very large files; or with the program Windows has for PDF files. You choose the option in the Settings menu, or for one file in an Open with window that explains what each option does, and PDFViewer asks before opening a PDF too large for its viewer to hold in memory. PDFViewer reads but does not edit: Save As makes a copy. The first chapter traces the program from its first release in December 2025 to version 1.1, alongside its companion DocViewer, which brought it up to the standard of the other NutritionModels programs. The second chapter explains three ways to open a PDF file and when each is the better choice. The third is a quick guide to installing and starting the main window, opening, reading, saving, and printing a PDF, moving through the PDF files of a folder, the Properties card, the settings and the twelve color schemes, About, Help, and updates, and what to do when something goes wrong. The fourth applies it to a manual opened by another program and to a large scanned book.