PaperView

PaperView is a cross-platform desktop PDF reader built with Tauri v2. It focuses on an immersive dual-page spread reading experience for PDFs, especially books, papers, and other page-based documents.

Features

• Dual-page spread display - Simulates physical book reading with two pages side by side.
• Cover mode - Displays page 1 alone, then pairs pages from page 2 onward (2-3, 4-5, ...). Cover mode can be toggled at any time.
• Multiple navigation methods
  • Left click: right half = next spread, left half = previous spread
  • Right click: next spread, with the default context menu disabled while reading
  • Keyboard: Left / Up / PageUp for previous, Right / Down / PageDown / Space for next
  • Mouse wheel: scroll down/up to move forward/back
• Fullscreen reading - Opening a PDF automatically enters fullscreen. Press Esc to leave fullscreen without closing the app.
• Adaptive scaling - Pages are rendered to canvas and scaled to fit the current window while preserving aspect ratio.
• Performance optimizations - Rendered pages are cached, and upcoming spreads are preloaded for smoother navigation.
• Reading UI - Current page/total pages are shown in the corner and fade out after a short idle period.
• Theme support - Light, dark, and system theme modes are available from the top-right theme control, including on the start screen.
• Multiple file loading methods
  • Native file dialog
  • Drag and drop
  • Command line path argument
• Custom app icon - Project icons are stored in src-tauri/icons/, with a source master image included as paperview-icon-source.png.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Tauri v2 (Rust)
• Frontend: TypeScript + Vite
• PDF rendering: pdfjs-dist
• Tauri plugins:
  • @tauri-apps/plugin-dialog - Native file dialogs
  • @tauri-apps/plugin-fs - File system access
  • @tauri-apps/plugin-store - Persistent settings storage

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18 or later
• Rust stable toolchain
• Platform-specific dependencies for Tauri:
  • Windows: Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools and WebView2
  • macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Linux: Required system packages listed in the Tauri prerequisites

Installation

git clone <repository-url>
cd PaperView
npm install

Development

Start the Tauri development app:

npm run tauri dev

This starts the Vite dev server, launches the Tauri window, and reloads frontend changes during development.

Building

Build the application for the current platform:

npm run tauri build

Build artifacts are written to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Cross-platform Build Notes

Tauri builds native binaries, so each target must be built on its corresponding platform:

• Windows: Run npm run tauri build on Windows to produce .msi and/or .exe installers.
• macOS: Run npm run tauri build on macOS to produce a .dmg.
• Linux: Run npm run tauri build on Linux to produce .deb and .AppImage packages.

Project Structure

PaperView/
├── src/                         # Frontend source (TypeScript)
│   ├── main.ts                  # App bootstrap and event wiring
│   ├── state.ts                 # Reader state and spread calculation
│   ├── pdf-loader.ts            # File dialog, drag/drop, CLI path, PDF loading
│   ├── renderer.ts              # PDF.js canvas rendering, cache, preload
│   ├── navigation.ts            # Previous/next spread navigation
│   ├── ui.ts                    # Viewer UI updates and reader controls
│   ├── theme.ts                 # Theme loading, saving, and system sync
│   ├── store.ts                 # Persistent settings store
│   └── style.css                # Application styles
├── index.html                   # Frontend entry point
├── src-tauri/                   # Tauri backend (Rust)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs              # Native app entry
│   │   └── lib.rs               # Plugin registration and commands
│   ├── capabilities/
│   │   └── default.json         # Tauri permissions
│   ├── icons/                   # App icon assets
│   ├── tauri.conf.json          # Tauri configuration
│   └── Cargo.toml               # Rust dependencies
├── package.json                 # Node.js dependencies and scripts
├── vite.config.ts               # Vite configuration
└── tsconfig.json                # TypeScript configuration

Usage

1. Launch PaperView.
2. Open a PDF by clicking the start screen, dragging a PDF into the window, or passing a path on the command line:

PaperView path/to/file.pdf

3. Read with mouse clicks, keyboard shortcuts, or the mouse wheel.
4. Use the top-right controls to switch theme, toggle cover mode, or close the current PDF.
5. Press Esc to exit fullscreen.

Configuration

User settings, including cover mode and theme preference, are saved automatically to settings.json in the platform app data directory:

• Windows: %APPDATA%/cn.skstudio.paperview/settings.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/cn.skstudio.paperview/settings.json
• Linux: ~/.config/cn.skstudio.paperview/settings.json

License

MIT