Change Adobe Reader Default Behaviors

When viewing PDF files in Adobe Reader, some PDFs have specified zoom level, and Adobe Reader will use that to display the file. However, I want to stay in "fit width" zoom level all the time by default. And Adobe Reader always open the useless "Tools panel" for no reason, which is very annoying. I want to utilize my screen for MORE CONTENTS! Moreover, some PDFs have bookmarks that redirect to a page AND RESET THE ZOOM LEVEL TO "FIT PAGE", and disable continuous scrolling, which is EXTREMELY ANNOYING that I have to manually set it back to "fit width" every time I click a bookmark link!

These problems haunted me for very long time. Recently I finally found the way to solve all of them, so I decided to share these solutions.

Disable Tool Panels

In Adobe Reader, go to menu "Edit -> Preferences". Under "Documents", uncheck "Open tools panel for each document."

I also prefer to check "Restore last view setting when reopening documents." It remembers the page I left when reopening a file, which is very handy.

Default "Fit Width"

In Adobe Reader, go to menu "Edit -> Preferences". Under "Accessibility", check "Always use Page Layout Style," and choose "Single Page Continuous." Also Check "Always use Zoom Setting," and choose "Fit Width."

Fix Bookmarks

It's impossible to prevent the bookmark reset zoom operation in Adobe Reader, which is a TOTAL FAIL. However, I still found a workaround, which requires you to modify your PDF file with Adobe Acrobat Pro, with a plugin called PubHelper.

Download the PubHelper plugin. Unzip the PubHelper 0.991.api file to <Adobe Acrobat Pro>/Acrobat/plug_ins.

Then open your targeting PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Click on any bookmark item, then press Ctrl-A to select all of them. Go to menu "PubHelper -> Bookmarks -> To Inherit Zoom". Now clicking any bookmark won't reset your zoom level.

I also prefer to run "PubHelper -> Bookmarks -> Expand all" to make all levels of bookmarks expanded by default.

Now save the modified PDF file. You can now switch back to Adobe Reader to view the file.

PS: I wish there's a GhostScript or pdfmark script that can substitue the use of Adobe Acrobat Pro and the PubHelper plugin to modify PDF files. If you know how please tell me in the comment section.