06-02-2011, 09:22 PM

I am unable to open pdf files in Safari or Firefox on my iMac. I have no problems on either of my MacBook Pro's. When I try to save one I get this error..."The document “output.pdf” could not be exported as “Test”." I have tried to reset Safari, reboot, etc... Any idea's of what could be going on?

06-02-2011, 09:33 PM

Also I have a separate logon for my daughter and when I logon under her name same thing, pdf's won't open in Safari/Firefox.

06-02-2011, 09:52 PM

I'm going to guess you have a PDF file somewhere on your hard disk. Try single-clicking on it and hit Command + I. That should bring up the "Get Info" window. Under "Opens With", what program is listed?

06-02-2011, 09:58 PM

It shows "Preview" as the default program to open pdf's. Pdf's on the hard drive always open in preview, but pdf's you click on in Safari/Firefix always opened in the browser, but won't now. I removed the adobepdfviewer plugin from the plug in folder, then it forces the pdf to download, which is ok for a temporary fix, but I would like pdf's to open in the browser as they always have.

06-02-2011, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by yzfmik

It shows "Preview" as the default program to open pdf's. Pdf's on the hard drive always open in preview, but pdf's you click on in Safari/Firefix always opened in the browser, but won't now. I removed the adobepdfviewer plugin from the plug in folder, then it forces the pdf to download, which is ok for a temporary fix, but I would like pdf's to open in the browser as they always have.

Sounds like you had Adobe Reader installed at one time - and if that's true, PDFs would have opened both in Safari and in Firefox within the scope of the browser window. That is not the default behavior for Firefox, although you can get a plugin that will force Preview to open PDFs in the Firefox window ("Firefox PDF Plugin for Mac OS X").

I really can't speak to Safari (I don't use it - and I could test, but at the moment I do have Adobe Reader installed), but someone else might be able to chime in.

06-02-2011, 10:16 PM

I currently have Adobe Reader & Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional. I have had them both since day 1.

06-02-2011, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by yzfmik

I currently have Adobe Reader & Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional. I have had them both since day 1.

Sounds like the browser plugin might be broken or disabled. Did you check your add-ins for each browser?

06-02-2011, 10:19 PM

This is a bit dated, but gets into troubleshooting the plugins, have a look:

Display PDFs in Safari | Acrobat 8 | Mac OS X

06-02-2011, 10:21 PM

I don't believe so, how would I do that. All I did was remove the adobepdfviewer plugin from the plug in folder. That forced the pdf's to download, but I really just want it the way it was before.

06-02-2011, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by yzfmik

I don't believe so, how would I do that. All I did was remove the adobepdfviewer plugin from the plug in folder. That forced the pdf's to download, but I really just want it the way it was before.

You might have missed this post, since I submitted right after my last reply. Have a look:

Unable to open/save pdf's in Safari or Firefox...

You need that plugin if you want them to be viewable inside the browser window.

06-02-2011, 10:41 PM

I uninstalled Acrobat & I'm reinstalling in now, perhaps that will help.

06-02-2011, 11:05 PM

Well after reinstalling Acrobat, it now downloads the PDF when you click on it, then opens it in Preview when you click on the downloaded file. I assume this is how Mac's behave out of the box? I can live with it, just am frustrated that I can't figure it out. My MacBook's still open pdf's in Safari.

06-03-2011, 07:22 AM

Try the solution suggested here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

06-03-2011, 04:20 PM

Thank you VERY much chas, that solved the problem! I'll save that link so if it ever happens again I can fix it.

04-11-2012, 11:13 AM

I am unable to save PDFs in Safari. I tried the fix listed by chas_m, but it did not work. I have Safari 5.1.5 and Adobe Reader 10.1.3.

I would appreciate any help!