Hidden Preferences
From skim-app
Hidden Preferences
Skim has a few advanced preferences that are not accessible through the UI. You can set these from the command line in Terminal.app (which can be found in the folder /Applications/Utilities). To change these preferences, make sure you quit Skim, open Terminal.app, type the defaults command with the appropriate arguments, and hit Enter. Typically, the command and arguments look like below, with the angles replaced by the appropriate value.
defaults write -app Skim <Key> -<type> <value>
If this fails with the message "Couldn't find an application named "Skim"; defaults unchanged", you can use
defaults write net.sourceforge.skim-app.skim <Key> -<type> <value>
To reset a preference to the default, you can use
defaults delete -app Skim <Key>
For example, if you want to disable the text from circle and box notes to update when you move them, you type:
defaults write -app Skim SKDisableUpdateContentsFromEnclosedText -boolean true
Booleans also accept values like -boolean yes and -boolean 1. Usually you can leave out -<type>, but for booleans you then need to use the values 0 or 1. Type man defaults in Terminal.app for more information.
Below is an overview of the hidden preferences. Remember that these can change or be removed at any time.
Default Note Properties
- Key
- SKAnchoredNoteIconType
- Values
- -integer, 0=comment, 1=key, 2=note, 3=help, 4=new paragraph, 5=paragraph, 6=insert
- Explanation
- The icon type used for new anchored notes.
- Key
- SKFreeTextNoteAlignment
- Values
- -integer, 0=left, 1=right, 2=center
- Explanation
- The text alignment for new text notes.
- Key
- SKDefaultNoteWidth, SKDefaultNoteHeight
- Values
- -float, a positive number
- Explanation
- The default width and height of new note when no size is provided.
- Key
- SKDefaultFreeTextNoteContents, SKDefaultAnchoredNoteContents
- Values
- -string
- Explanation
- The default text to use for new text or anchored notes when they're not based on a selection.
- Key
- SKUseUserName
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If this is true, the user name of new notes is automatically set.
- Key
- SKUserName
- Values
- -string
- Explanation
- Override the user name to set when SKUSeUserName is set to true.
- Key
- SKDisableModificationDate
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If this is false, the modification date of notes is set when they are created or modified.
Notes Behavior
- Key
- SKDisableUpdateContentsFromEnclosedText
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If this is false, moving or resizing a circle or box note will automatically synchronize their contents with the enclosed text.
- Key
- SKKeepNoteWindowsOnTop
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If this is true, the windows for anchored notes will float on top of the main window by default. This can be changed for individual note windows using the check button at the bottom.
Full Screen Behavior
- Key
- SKFullScreenNavigationOption, SKPresentationNavigationOption
- Values
- -integer, 0=none, 1=bottom, 2=everywhere
- Explanation
- When this is 0, no navigation buttons are shown in full screen or presentation mode. When this is 1 the navigation buttons are shown when you move the mouse to the bottom of the page. When this is 2 the navigation buttons show whenever the mouse moves.
- Key
- SKHideClosedFullScreenSidePanels
- Values
- -integer, 0=collapse, 1=autohide, 2=hide
- Explanation
- Determines how side panels in full screen mode behave when they are closed. When this is 0, they collapse, when this is 1 they hide but will show automatically when the mouse moves to the side, when this is 2 they hide completely and can only be shown manually using the main menu items or shortcuts.
- Key
- SKBlankAllScreensInFullScreen
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If true, all screens other than the screen showing Skim will be blanked out in full screen mode.
- Key
- SKAutoHidePresentationContents
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If true, the contents pane in presentation mode (called through 'p' or Shift-Cmd-T) automatically hides when you make a selection.
- Key
- SKUseNormalLevelForPresentation
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If true, the presentation is shown at normal window level, so it won't always cover other windows.
Apple Remote Behavior
- Key
- SKEnableAppleRemote
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- If true, you can use the Apple Remote to control Skim.
- Key
- SKAppleRemoteSwitchIndicationTimeout
- Values
- -float, a non-negative number
- Explanation
- The timeout for the little splash window that appears when you hit the Menu button on the Apple Remote. Set it to zero if you don't want it to appear.
Automatically Open a .skim File
- Key
- SKReadMissingNotesFromSkimFileOption
- Values
- -integer, 1=always, 0=never, -1=ask
- Explanation
- When a PDF file does not have notes, but there is a separate .skim file with the same name as the PDF, Skim can automatically read the notes from that Skim file. By default it shows a dialog for confirmation, but you can also force to always or never read the notes from the .skim file without asking.
Set Creator Code On Saved Files
- Key
- SKShouldSetCreatorCode
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- When Skim sets its creator code on a PDF file it saves, that file will open by default in Skim rather than your system default for PDF files, unless you override this on the file itself. Skim may only set its creator code for files saved as PDF, Skim Notes, or PDF Bundle.
Autosave Interval
- Key
- SKAutosaveInterval
- Values
- -float, a non-negative number
- Explanation
- The interval in seconds for which documents autosave a backup. Use 0 for no autosave.
Auto Crop Margin
- Key
- SKAutoCropBoxMarginWidth, SKAutoCropBoxMarginHeight
- Values
- -float, a non-negative number
- Explanation
- The horizontal and vertical margin around the page contents used to automatically determine the crop size, used for the Auto Crop functions and for the Crop functions when there is no selection.
Magnification Glass Size
- Key
- SKSmallMagnificationWidth, SKSmallMagnificationHeight
- Values
- -float, a non-negative number
- Explanation
- The width and height of the small magnification glass used for the Magnify Tool. This is used when you click once.
- Key
- SKLargeMagnificationWidth, SKLargeMagnificationHeight
- Values
- -float, a non-negative number
- Explanation
- The width and height of the large magnification glass used for the Magnify Tool. This is used when you click twice or hold the hold the Option key.
Preview Tool Tip
- Key
- SKToolTipWidth, SKToolTipHeight
- Values
- -float, a positive number
- Explanation
- The width and height of the preview tool tip, used over internal links.
- Key
- SKDisableTableToolTips
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Disable preview tool tips on various tables.
Page Numbering
- Key
- SKSequentialPageNumbering
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Use sequential page numbering rather than logical page numbering.
Page History
- Key
- SKMaximumDocumentPageHistoryCount
- Values
- -integer, a non-negative integer
- Explanation
- The maximum number of recent documents that are remembered for reopening documents at a previous page.
Opening DVI Files
- Key
- SKDviConversionCommand
- Values
- -string, dvips, dvipdf, dvipdfm, dvipdfmx, or the full path to any of these tools
- Explanation
- When Skim opens DVI files it needs a tool to convert the DVI to PDF. Skim looks in several standard locations for the tool. This option lets you choose another conversion tool than the default dvipdfmx, or tell Skim the precise path to the tool to use.
- Key
- SKXdvConversionCommand
- Values
- -string, xdv2pdf, xdvipdfmx, or the full path to any of these tools
- Explanation
- When Skim opens XDV files it needs a tool to convert the XDV to PDF. Skim looks in several standard locations for the tool. This option lets you choose another conversion tool than the default xdvipdfmx, or tell Skim the precise path to the tool to use.
Drawers
- Key
- SKUsesDrawers
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- When this is true, Skim uses drawers instead of panes in normal window mode.
Auto Reload
- Key
- SKAutoReloadFileUpdate
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- When this is true, and Skim checks for file updates on disk, the document is automatically reloaded without asking when there are no notes or edits. We don't recommend using this.
- Key
- SKDisableReloadAlert
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- When this is true, and Skim does not show the progress bar and does not bounce the icon when a document reloads. This can lead to crashes, so we don't recommend using this.
Reading Bar
- Key
- SKMoveReadingBarModifiers, SKResizeReadingBarModifiers
- Values
- -integer, a modifier mask
- Explanation
- A mask for the modifiers of the keyboard shortcuts (using arrow keys) for moving and resizing the reading bar. The basic modifiers are Shift=131072, Control=262144, Option=524288, Command=1048576, and can be added for modifier combinations. The default values are Option and Shift+Option respectively.
Pinch Zoom
- Key
- SKDisablePinchZoom
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Set this to disable pinch zoom in the PDF views.
Page Background
- Key
- SKPageBackgroundColor
- Values
- -data, archived color, or an -array of -float
- Explanation
- Set this to change the default white background color of pages. This can be an array of one to four floats between 0 and 1, or data for an archived color.
Image Smoothing
- Key
- SKImageInterpolation
- Values
- -integer, 0=default, 1=none, 2=low, 3=high
- Explanation
- Set this to control the smoothing applied to images in the PDF. The default behavior uses none or high smoothing depending on the anti-alias setting.
Tool Mode Cursors
- Key
- SKUseToolModeCursors
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Set this to use indicative cursors for the note tool modes.
Animations
- Key
- SKDisableAnimations
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Set this to disable all animation effects.
Accessibility
- Key
- SKDisableExtendedPDFViewAccessibility
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Set this to disable Skim's extensions to support for assistive devices, such as the dictionary popup.
Status Bar
- Key
- SKDisplayNoteBounds
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Set this to display the position and size of the currently selected note in the status bar.
Spotlight
- Key
- SKDisableSearchAfterSpotligh
- Values
- -boolean, true or false
- Explanation
- Set this to disable the automatic search after opening a file through Spotlight.
