Quickly view PDF files in directory

Question

Is there a way to view/browse PDF files/graphs quickly while flipping through them in Ubuntu Narwhal (kind of like in OS X's Finder where it shows an "image" of the pdf when you select it without actually opening it, or you can press spacebar when the file is highlighted and it shows you some quick view of it)?

Answer 1

You can get a "coverflow" style browsing in Ubuntu! (Youtube).

Optionally you can get gloobus-preview, which lets you preview many file types with spacebar without fully opening it. (Homepage) (Youtube)

What you need

• nautilus-elementary (clutterflow, as it's called, is part of nautilus-elementary)

  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:am-monkeyd/nautilus-elementary-ppa
  sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

• If you have Intel hardware:
  • Run the next comand and add "export CLUTTER_VBLANK=none" without the quotes on a new line.

    gksudo gedit /etc/environment

  • Run these:

    gconftool-2 --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_clutter --type bool TRUE
    nautilus -q

• gloobus-preview (is in the nautilus-elementary ppa, which you already added)

  sudo apt-get install gloobus-preview

What You Get

• Open Nautilus and press F4, or click "View" > "Clutterflow."
• You now have bonus features! F3 will show a split pane, and F7 will show a terminal.
• Use clutterflow and scroll to (or just select) a pdf, and hit spacebar You can scroll up and down through the entire pdf. Press spacebar again to close. I have mine set to close when it looses focus (i.e. when I click on something else). You can set that by clicking on the little gear in the top-right corner.

I hope this helps!