Change the Default Zoom Level in Adobe Reader 9

Posted on January 6, 2011 at 6:34 am

Part of the Acrobat family of portable document format (PDF) applications, Adobe Reader 9 is the company’s latest and free container software for reading documents converted to PDFs. However, Reader 9 is not without its quirks. One of these quirks has to do with the default layout and zoom level the application assumes is best for viewing PDF documents.

Adobe Reader 9 and Zoom Levels

Back when everyone had 4:3 ratio monitors, fitting documents to the width of the screen was useful so you wouldn’t have to squint to see everything on the page. Most applications such as Word, WordPerfect, and many other applications fit the width of the page to the screen by default.

Now that most computers use widescreen monitors with ratios of 16:9 or 16:10, fitting a document to the width of the screen gives you an in-your-face feeling; the text ends up being way too large and you have to scroll almost immediately to continue down the page. Adobe Reader 9 continues with this tradition by setting the default zoom level to the width of the PDF document.

Text Too Large in Adobe Reader 9

Luckily, Adobe made it possible to change the default zoom level when opening PDF documents; you simply have to change one or two settings. Resetting the default zoom setting can make you more productive if you often find yourself working with PDF documents in Adobe Reader 9.

Change Adobe Reader 9 Default Zoom Level

To change the default zoom level for Adobe Reader 9, begin by opening up the application without opening up a PDF document to do so. In other words, open Reader 9 from the Start menu. For most people, this is located at Start>All Program>Adobe Reader 9.

Click on Edit on the menu bar and select Preferences from the drop down menu. This will open up the very complicated Preferences window.

Click on Adobe Reader 9 Preferences

To find the options we need, click on Page Display located in the Categories section on the left hand side of the window. Then locate the section of the window labeled Default Layout and Zoom at the top.

You need to change two settings here. First, in the Page Layout drop down menu, change the value from Automatic to Single Page. In the Zoom drop down menu, change the value from Automatic to 100%.

Change the Default Zoom in Adobe Reader 9

It is possible that the current settings may be something other than Automatic for the Page Layout and Zoom options. Whatever they are, change them to Single Page and 100% respectively.

Adjusting Zoom in Adobe Reader 9

Although we set the default zoom to 100% above, you may find that you need to adjust this setting for two reasons. Depending on the physical size of your monitor and your current screen resolution, you may find that you need to make the Zoom setting either higher or lower than 100% to make it convenient to read.

You may also want to adjust the zoom level based on personal preferences. For example, if your eyesight is excellent, you may wish to decrease the zoom in Reader 9 to make room for other elements on your screen.

In addition, you may find that a zoom level above 100% makes the screen easier to read when two or more people are using the screen at the same time. Play with the zoom setting in Adobe Reader 9 to display PDF documents in a way that is most convenient for you.

» Filed Under Computer Tips

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Comments

One Response to “Change the Default Zoom Level in Adobe Reader 9”

  1. jasray said on : January 6th, 2011 at 11:13 am

    Guess I’m confused. Says Adobe X Reader is the latest, so that’s what I am using.

    http://blogs.adobe.com/adobereader/2010/10/announcing-adobe-reader-x.html

    Long ago time announcement.


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