[Feature Request] Add PDF file support

[Tarek-Hasan]

Hi, we talked on Twitter about PDF support a few months ago. You are working on PDF feature for a long time now. Are you having complication implementing the feature in Icaros? This issue is here, as a marker to keep track of the PDF support.

You can use these following libraries if seems useful.

1. Microsoft PowerToys File Explorer add-ons: Supports thumbnail preview for; PDF files (.pdf), SVG icons (.svg), G-code files (.gcode), STL files (.stl), QOI images (.qoi).
2. SumatraPDF Reader: it has a PDF preview library.

Additional Information:
KDE desktop environment has thumbnails preview for most of the popular file formats to be shown in its file manager, Dolphin. Including .docx .pptx .xlsx .pdf .epub .djvu .mobi .svg .avif .blend .kra etc. Though the libraries are for QT, I still mentioned them, hoping it helps anyway.
Links to source of the libraries used to generate thumbnail:
https://invent.kde.org/multimedia/ffmpegthumbs
https://invent.kde.org/network/kio-extras/-/tree/master/thumbnail
https://invent.kde.org/graphics/kdegraphics-thumbnailers

[Xanashi]

Hi Tarek-Hasan,

Thank you for all the references.
I already have PDF implemented and working internally.
The reason why it's not out yet, is because I've designed a new Icaros module for larger formats like PDF and SVG, that can be added to Icaros via a separate download. This new module and its integration with the "base" version of Icaros simply isn't finished yet. So stay tuned!

[03302024]

Just a follow up for this feature request.

[RemixPL1994]

Hi Tarek-Hasan,

Thank you for all the references. I already have PDF implemented and working internally. The reason why it's not out yet, is because I've designed a new Icaros module for larger formats like PDF and SVG, that can be added to Icaros via a separate download. This new module and its integration with the "base" version of Icaros simply isn't finished yet. So stay tuned!

@Xanashi

How does the PDF thumbnails look like at the moment for Icaros v3.3.3 Beta 2

Is it available or not?

[Xanashi]

It's currently only available for PDF's with embedded previews, but it will soon be fully supported.
There are still a few issues I need to iron out, but it's getting there.

[Tarek-Hasan]

Hi,
FYI, previously I provided a list of open source libraries, which can solve the following issues.

• [Feature Request] SVG Support #17
• [Feature request] MOBI support #51
• [Feature Request] Add support for 3D files (STL/OBJ) #84
• Support for .docx files #117

Additionally, I also suggest checking out the following libraries.

• DarkThumbs: For mobi and azw support
• For SVG: resvg, SVG Shell Extensions and iShell.

Please, use libraries with smaller footprint for PDF and SVG so that those can be included in the installer without resorting to additional download.

[Xanashi]

Hi Tarek-Hasan,

Thank you for the suggestions.
I already have SVG planned out, and been through most c/c++/rust libraries, trying to find the best fit for Icaros.
MOBI is still on the todo list, so I will make sure to check out libmobi, when I get to it.

There isn't really any small footprint libraries when it comes to PDF and SVG as they are both very complex formats.
That's why I'm supporting these filetypes using an additional optional module/DLL, so users that don't care about
these formats can still download Icaros at half the size compared to when these formats are included.

[RemixPL1994]

It would be nice if an additional module/dll could be downloaded and installed directly from inside the running Icaros program.

Manually downloading a separate file and pasting it into the appropriate directory of the program and possibly checking whether we have the current version for PDF/SVG or it is outdated can be problematic.

[Xanashi]

Could potentially be added as an optional download in the installer, so the installer download and installs it, when selected.

Icaros itself currently doesn't make any network calls, which is nice when it comes to antivirus/antimalware software.
Chances of false-positives becomes much less frequent.

[RemixPL1994]

"Could potentially be added as an optional download in the installer, so the installer download and installs it, when selected."

Good :)