Let’s say you’re searching for something online in the PDF format. You type in the title (if you knew the file you were looking for) or the subject (if you had no clue what was out there on the subject) and perhaps, even type in “filetype:pdf” (for those who are seasoned Google users).
Then, depending on the popularity of your search topic, you’d get over 10 billion relevant results, each listed by title. When combing through the actual PDF file results, you would essentially have 2 options: click on the “View as HTML” button or download the PDF to view it.
While the former stripped out the PDF’s formatting that left gaping holes in the text, the latter was something akin to buying a car without test driving it. You had to blindly download the file (sans scanning, sans security) before previewing just exactly what was in the file. Neither option was ideal, but they were good enough for getting the job done.
Cue in Google’s new third option: “Quick View”.
You might have heard of it already or might have seen it in action as the viewing option was made available just this week. You can see the added link under the title of the PDF file in a Google search results page.
Finally, instead of viewing the format in HTML or opening it in a PDF viewer on your computer, you can now quickly preview it inside your browser without losing the content’s original formatting.
You’ll be able to view the file’s graphics, layout, and tables that go missing in your browser window. And, to top it off, the view includes a sidebar for thumbnail TOC navigation and options for downloading, printing, and previewing in HTML.
According to the Google Blog, there are already more than 50% of indexed PDFs that have the “Quick View” link added. Try Googling one. You won’t be disappointed.
