How to use PDF-XChange Editor in preview pane of FreeCommander XE?

[Impress]

Does anyone know how to get PDF-XChange Editor to be used for the preview pane in FreeCommander XE (https://freecommander.com/)? Thanks in advance.

[Dimitar - Tracker Supp]

Hello Impress,

Can you tell me, is this what you are trying to achieve or are you trying to edit the file inside the FreeCommander?

I've just downloaded and tested it at my end - and the preview seems to be working just fine:


Thank you for choosing our software.
Best Regards Tracker Software Support Team

[Impress]

Hello Impress,

Can you tell me, is this what you are trying to achieve or are you trying to edit the file inside the FreeCommander?
FreeCommmander.jpg
I've just downloaded and tested it at my end - and the preview seems to be working just fine:


Thank you for choosing our software.
Best Regards Tracker Software Support Team

That's exactly what I'm trying to achieve. Is that PDF-XChange Editor providing the preview on your end?

[Patrick-Tracker Supp]

Hi Impress,
Thank you for you post. Is sure is! If the DLL's are installed correctly it should work. To activate the preview pane in FreeCommandrer XE use Ctrl+Q. As you can see it is working for me too:


You may need to click into the pane in order for the preview to show.

[Impress]

Hi Impress,
Thank you for you post. Is sure is! If the DLL's are installed correctly it should work. To activate the preview pane in FreeCommandrer XE use Ctrl+Q. As you can see it is working for me too:
...

You may need to click into the pane in order for the preview to show.

Thanks Dimitar and Patrick.

I got it up and running. Had to set pdf files to use Windows preview.

As you noticed, sometimes you may need to click in the pane in order for the preview to show. Is that a PDF-XChange bug or a FreeCommander bug?

[Dimitar - Tracker Supp]

Hi Impress,

I do not think this a bug in our software because it seems to be working normally at my side. I suspect it is probably a Free Commander setup issue.
Please check it's settings and specifically those for file visualization.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.


Best regards.

[Impress]

Hi Impress,

I do not think this a bug in our software because it seems to be working normally at my side. I suspect it is probably a Free Commander setup issue.
Please check it's settings and specifically those for file visualization.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.


Best regards.

Thanks Dimitar. Patrick from Tracker Software is having the issue as well.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello Impress,

I just tested on my machine as well - and could not reproduce the issue where you need to click on the QuickView ane first to actually see the preview.
It started working from the get go - and I even tested with the portable Free Commander, and it was also showing the previews correctly and immediately.

Are you using the current latest version available from their website?
And also - are you with the 32 or 64 bit version (seems like the 64 bit version is only available for 'donors' at this time, so I've downloaded the 32 bit version).

Regards,
Stefan

[Arnold]

Control Q seems to be working fine in the 64 bit version on Windows 7 (Build 768). For me, FreeCommander is indispensable just like the Editor. If the computer is running, they are both running.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Thanks for the feedback Arnold,

Do you have the issue where you need to click the QuickView pane for it to display the PDF preview or is this working smoothly for you?

Regards,
Stefan

[Arnold]

It works smoothly in Windows 7, and the pane just pops up with the document displayed. On Windows XP things are a little different, but I have modified the configuration and layout of FreeCommander on that machine extensively over time.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Thanks Arnold,

I can't tell for XP (have not tried on a Virtual Machine - and this is the only place I still keep XP installations!) - but it is definitely working on Win 10 without any hickups straight out of the box even with the portable Commander!

Cheers,
Stefan

[Impress]

Thanks for the feedback Arnold,

Do you have the issue where you need to click the QuickView pane for it to display the PDF preview or is this working smoothly for you?

Regards,
Stefan

Here are a few reproducible examples of when PDF-XChange Editor will display nothing or a partial image in FreeCommander's QuickView preview pane (until you click in the pane). I'm not sure if it is a PDF-XChange Editor or FreeCommander bug (or both!).

Steps to reproduce:
1. Launch FreeCommander (32-bit version is fine for testing)
2. Select a PDF file
3. Press Ctrl+Q to open the preview pane
4. Press F11 to go to full-screen mode
5. Note that PDF-XChange no longer displays any image in the preview pane
6. Click on the preview pane
7. Note that the preview will now appear
8. Press F11 to exit full-screen mode
9. Note that PDF-XChange no longer displays any image in the preview pane, or displays part of an image
10. Click on the preview pane
11. Note that the preview will now appear
12. Minimize the FreeCommander window by clicking on the FreeCommander taskbar item
13. Maximize the FreeCommander window by clicking on the FreeCommander taskbar item
14. Note that PDF-XChange no longer displays any image in the preview pane, or displays part of an image

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Thanks Arnold,

I can't tell for XP (have not tried on a Virtual Machine - and this is the only place I still keep XP installations!) - but it is definitely working on Win 10 without any hickups straight out of the box even with the portable Commander!

Cheers,
Stefan

At some point ill have time to setup an XP VM as well, but until then, ill leave this topic to you good sir!

[Impress]

Thanks Arnold,

I can't tell for XP (have not tried on a Virtual Machine - and this is the only place I still keep XP installations!) - but it is definitely working on Win 10 without any hickups straight out of the box even with the portable Commander!

Cheers,
Stefan

At some point ill have time to setup an XP VM as well, but until then, ill leave this topic to you good sir!

Just FYI, my testing was performed on Win7.

[Arnold]

The author of FreeCommander just released Build 770 which is a free public release. You may want to download it and try it. A number of bugs, etc. were fixed.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hi Arnold,

Thanks for the suggestion. We tried the latest Free Commander (FC) build, and the issue is still there, but it still does seem to be more at their side.

The scenario at which we reproduced this is to have the quick view pane open, and a PDF file already visible, then use F11 to go to full screen. This takes Free commander to full screen but the preview has to be clicked to show again.
However I managed to reproduce this same issue with a Word document selected - the preview disappeared until I clicked on it - so that is definitely a FC issue with preview plug-ins, and should be taken to their own support forums, as there isn't much more that we can do from our end.

Regards,
Stefan