Reading Mode

HtkPDF offers two distinct reading variants — the classic Reading Mode with its floating toolbar, and Presentation Mode, which hides every control for a full-frame display. Both modes share the same rendering engine as the editing modules, which guarantees visual consistency between reading and working on the document. Alongside these two modes there is Text search, available at any time from the Dashboard.

Entering Reading Mode

Reading Mode can be opened in several ways:

• By clicking directly on the document thumbnail shown in the Dashboard;
• From the Reading category of the Dashboard, via the Presentation button (mode without controls).

To go back to the Dashboard, click the floating close button (cross) at the top right of the screen.

Displaying the document

The display uses by default the mode set in Settings (Single page, Continuous scroll, Two pages, or Two pages continuous). This setting applies to every new opening and can be changed on an ad-hoc basis from the control bar.

The document is shown on a neutral background with a slight drop shadow to detach it visually from the rest of the interface.

The floating control bar

In standard Reading Mode, a floating toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen. It gathers all the actions related to display and navigation.

Zoom and fit

• Zoom out (⌘ −);
• Zoom in (⌘ +);
• Fit to window (⌘ 0): reframes the display so a full page fits within the visible area.

Document dark mode

A moon/sun button inverts the colors of the displayed document. This option does not alter the PDF file: it only improves reading comfort on a dark background when you are working at night, for example. It is independent of the application Dark Mode set in Settings.

Navigation history

Two arrows (Back / Forward) let you return to a previously visited view, in the manner of a web browser. This history records your page jumps (clicks in the outline, from search, or opening an internal link).

Page navigation

• Previous page / Next page buttons;
• A "Page X / Y" field displays the current position. You can click in this field, type a number and press Return to jump directly to the requested page. If the number entered is out of bounds, the initial value is restored.

Note: the control bar is hidden in Presentation Mode, as well as in editing modules that have their own interface (search, document outline, etc.).

Presentation Mode

Presentation Mode is reading without any interface element. It is useful for consulting a document in "full screen" conditions, for proofreading sessions or for projecting a document.

When it is active:

• The sidebar, the Dashboard and the control bar are hidden;
• Only the document remains visible, on a uniform background;
• A floating Close button (cross) remains available in a corner to return to the Dashboard.

Navigating between pages in this mode is done through native macOS gestures (scroll wheel, trackpad, PDFKit shortcuts) since the buttons are deliberately hidden.

Text search

Search is a module in its own right, available from the Reading category of the Dashboard or via the ⌘F shortcut. It opens a dedicated sidebar while keeping the document displayed on the left.

Running a search

• Type a term in the Search… field;
• Start the search by pressing Return or by clicking the Search button;
• While it runs, the button reads "Searching…" and the results area shows a progress indicator.

The × button to the right of the field clears the current query and interrupts the search.

Navigating the results

When occurrences are found, a "n / Total results" counter appears, along with two navigation buttons:

• Previous result (⌘ ⇧ G);
• Next result (⌘ G).

The document automatically scrolls to the page containing the active occurrence, which is highlighted.

If no result matches, "No results" is shown.

Leaving search

Closing the sidebar (the cross at the top right — this module has no Back button) interrupts the search and clears the highlights. You then return to the Dashboard.

Note: search applies to the PDF text layer. Scanned documents containing only page images (without vector text) will generally return no result; the OCR option available in the Text extraction module can then be used to obtain the text content separately.

Screenshots

2 screenshots — click to enlarge

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