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When viewing PDFs that are setup for print, I often want to view facing page spreads. Typically PDFs are typeset such that the first page of the file/part/chapter always starts on a right page so facing page spreads are always even-odd number pairs. Unfortunately Zathura's "dual" display mode shows everything in odd-even pairs starting with 1-2.

Is there some way to setup display of facing-pages much the way most PDF readers default to in 2-up modes?

Caleb
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1 Answers1

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Yes this is possible, it's just not well documented. Or documented at all for that matter. The only reference I found was in an issue report.

  • Once a file is opened, you can change the first page location by running :set first-page-column 2 from the command line.
  • This same line can be added to the rc file at ~/.config/zathura/zathurarc to make it the default.

Note: Since zathura 0.3.5 the format for this setting has changed. It is no longer a fixed value for all page configuration but can be set independently for different numbers of columns. As a result in order to set this for a two column layout you actually need to set the second column of the setting, the above format will have no effect. The new format looks like this:

:set first-page-column 1:2

Or if you want to set layouts for 3 and 4 column views as well:

:set first-page-column 1:2:1:2

That will start three column views with the first column but use skip to the second column to start 2 and 4 page spreads.

Caleb
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    Thank you for your answer as it helped me with this particular adjustment. Later on, I realized that `zathura` settings is actually well documented in `man` pages which can be invoked at a Linux command line using: `man zathura` and `man zathurarc`. Moreover, by typing `:set` and hitting `tab` a list of all settings parameters along with a brief description for each appears. – Pooya May 13 '21 at 19:00
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    @Pooya I believe both tab completion and the config man page post-date this answer, but yes those are good resources to point people towards! – Caleb May 14 '21 at 13:54