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249
Posted byu/[deleted]9 years ago

How to read any 'preview' document on

Scribd.com for free - plenty of textbooks
can be accessed this way.

I hated the fact that scribd blurs out content of free previews in their documents, so I figured out
a way around it.

Note: this "hack" applies to scribd documents, but not their subscription books/audiobooks (that
I know of). Fortunately, many textbooks can be found as documents.

Anyways, here's a screenshot of my current free preview for a text book:

http://i.imgur.com/SeYzu15.png

My solution to getting around these blurred out pages goes as follows:

1. Right-click on the page for any document you want -- View Page Source

2. Ctrl + a to select all the html/javascript that opened in a new tab

3. Ctrl + c to copy all the code

4. Ctrl + v to paste that code into your favorite text editor (I use notepad++)

5. Save the code as a html file

6. Each blurred page has a div class name similar to "outer_page only_ie6_border
blurred_page" as seen in the following image:

http://i.imgur.com/M8lmhuo.png

7. Do a search/replace (Ctrl + h in notepad++) for "outer_page only_ie6_border

blurred_page" (in the case of the image above, might be different for you) and replace
with "outer_page only_ie6_border" - Replace All

http://i.imgur.com/BFMXX5n.png

8. Save the html file and open in firefox. Voilà, you no longer are viewing a free preview.

http://i.imgur.com/XZZDbhs.png

18 comments

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This thread is archived
New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast
level 1
drobilc
· 9 yr. ago

I'm gonna write javascript bookmarklet later.

level 2
originalone
· 9 yr. ago

me too, please!

5
level 2
LikeALincolnLog42
· 9 yr. ago

Well...?

4
level 2
[deleted]
· 9 yr. ago

hook me up

level 1
TribalLion
· 9 yr. ago

Damn, this would have been useful to me yesterday. Thanks for sharing though.
7

level 1
kinetik
· 8 yr. ago

I'll just leave this here... https://github.com/ayltai/Hack-Scribd-Unblurer

Pro-tip: Scroll the entire length of your Scribd doc. When you get to the end, save as complete
webpage (I suggest Chrome). Delete everything that's not a JPG. Open the folder of images in
your PDF creator of choice and save.

level 1
haithy
· 9 yr. ago

I wish I knew this back in school.

3
level 1
NegimaSonic
· 9 yr. ago · edited 9 yr. ago

I spent like an hour figuring out a way to do this in inspect editor and AFTER discovering a way,
I have the brilliant idea to google it. Your way is way easier.

EDIT: Well I have noticed one difference, control + F doesn't seem to work with your version but
that's only a minor downside.

CTL+F with the saved HTML copy brings up scribd's version of searching a document, which
doesn't work through the html version. But you can easily work around this by going to EDIT
menu-> Find. And search like normal. Alternatively, having the find window up ahead of time
also works. But doing this in the document I tried it on, seemed to yield no actual search results
besides titles.

I'll throw my information out there anyway using inspect editor (Firefox) only though now I know
it is useless.

● you must FIRST manually scroll down through the whole thing. The code changes only
upon being revealed.
● find outer_page_container
● Collapse everything inside, choose EDIT as HTML, copy all of it.
● open NOTEPAD++
● find outer_page_container once more

search for the following values and replace all with nothing (empty space)

1. color: transparent;
2. display: block;
3. text-shadow: 0px 0px 70px black;
4. unselectable="on"

change these
 1. pageParams.blur = true to pageParams.blur = false
2. outer_page only_ie6_border blurred_page to outer_page only_ie6_border
3. outer_page only_ie6_border blurred_page not_visible to outer_page only_ie6_border
4. display: none; to transform: scale(0.805987); transform-origin: left top 0px; display:
block;

Put all the changed cod back inside the inspect editor in the spot you took it from.

As mentioned this method isn't as good as the OP's. Taking longer and formatting doesn't look
as great. But you have the ability to search the document.

level 1
brotherbock
· 9 yr. ago

Very nice. Thanks :)

level 1
AxeManJack
· 9 yr. ago

Smart

2
level 1
the-average-user
· 9 yr. ago

if I could, I would kiss you.. thanks a ton..

level 1
whybotherrr
· 9 yr. ago

Do you know if there is any way to do this on a mac?

1
level 2
[deleted]
· 9 yr. ago
I doubt there's anything that is OS specific in this hack. Just edit the text in a text editor like I
said then open the html file in a browser. Chrome didn't work for me but firefox did, so maybe try
some different browsers.

level 3
whybotherrr
· 9 yr. ago

I use chrome. I'll try it on another program; thanks!

level 1
mcquackers
· 9 yr. ago

Noice!

1
About Community

r/lifehacks
Lifehacks: Uncommon solutions to common problems.
Created Jun 21, 2008

11.3m

Members

873

Online

#50

Ranked by Size

Create Post

r/lifehacks Rules
1.
No self-improvement tips
2.
No commercial products with a specific purpose
3.
No food tips
4.
No software tips
5.
No Polls/Surveys
6.
No Life Pro-Tips
7.
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8.
No spam (especially blogspam)
9.
No attacking or being aggressive to others
10.
No personal information

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Top posts january 11th 2015Top posts of january, 2015Top posts 2015
Advertisement

Press J to jump to the feed. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts
Search within r/lifehacks
 r/lifehacks
Advertise

Found the internet!

r/lifehacks
Posts
249
Posted byu/[deleted]9 years ago

How to read any 'preview' document on

Scribd.com for free - plenty of textbooks
can be accessed this way.

I hated the fact that scribd blurs out content of free previews in their documents, so I figured out
a way around it.

Note: this "hack" applies to scribd documents, but not their subscription books/audiobooks (that
I know of). Fortunately, many textbooks can be found as documents.

Anyways, here's a screenshot of my current free preview for a text book:

http://i.imgur.com/SeYzu15.png

My solution to getting around these blurred out pages goes as follows:

1. Right-click on the page for any document you want -- View Page Source

2. Ctrl + a to select all the html/javascript that opened in a new tab

3. Ctrl + c to copy all the code

4. Ctrl + v to paste that code into your favorite text editor (I use notepad++)

5. Save the code as a html file

6. Each blurred page has a div class name similar to "outer_page only_ie6_border
blurred_page" as seen in the following image:

http://i.imgur.com/M8lmhuo.png

7. Do a search/replace (Ctrl + h in notepad++) for "outer_page only_ie6_border

blurred_page" (in the case of the image above, might be different for you) and replace
with "outer_page only_ie6_border" - Replace All

http://i.imgur.com/BFMXX5n.png

8. Save the html file and open in firefox. Voilà, you no longer are viewing a free preview.

http://i.imgur.com/XZZDbhs.png

18 comments

u/Pipedrive_CRM·promoted

Switch to the most easy-to-use, intuitive CRM you'll ever use. Affordable,
customizable and made for scaling businesses across industries.

pipedrive.comSign Up
This thread is archived
New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast
level 1
drobilc
· 9 yr. ago

I'm gonna write javascript bookmarklet later.

level 2
originalone
· 9 yr. ago

me too, please!

5
level 2
LikeALincolnLog42
· 9 yr. ago

Well...?

4
level 2
[deleted]
· 9 yr. ago

hook me up

level 1
TribalLion
· 9 yr. ago

Damn, this would have been useful to me yesterday. Thanks for sharing though.
7

level 1
kinetik
· 8 yr. ago

I'll just leave this here... https://github.com/ayltai/Hack-Scribd-Unblurer

Pro-tip: Scroll the entire length of your Scribd doc. When you get to the end, save as complete
webpage (I suggest Chrome). Delete everything that's not a JPG. Open the folder of images in
your PDF creator of choice and save.

level 1
haithy
· 9 yr. ago

I wish I knew this back in school.

3
level 1
NegimaSonic
· 9 yr. ago · edited 9 yr. ago

I spent like an hour figuring out a way to do this in inspect editor and AFTER discovering a way,
I have the brilliant idea to google it. Your way is way easier.

EDIT: Well I have noticed one difference, control + F doesn't seem to work with your version but
that's only a minor downside.

CTL+F with the saved HTML copy brings up scribd's version of searching a document, which
doesn't work through the html version. But you can easily work around this by going to EDIT
menu-> Find. And search like normal. Alternatively, having the find window up ahead of time
also works. But doing this in the document I tried it on, seemed to yield no actual search results
besides titles.

I'll throw my information out there anyway using inspect editor (Firefox) only though now I know
it is useless.

● you must FIRST manually scroll down through the whole thing. The code changes only
upon being revealed.
● find outer_page_container
● Collapse everything inside, choose EDIT as HTML, copy all of it.
● open NOTEPAD++
● find outer_page_container once more

search for the following values and replace all with nothing (empty space)

1. color: transparent;
2. display: block;
3. text-shadow: 0px 0px 70px black;
4. unselectable="on"

change these
 1. pageParams.blur = true to pageParams.blur = false
2. outer_page only_ie6_border blurred_page to outer_page only_ie6_border
3. outer_page only_ie6_border blurred_page not_visible to outer_page only_ie6_border
4. display: none; to transform: scale(0.805987); transform-origin: left top 0px; display:
block;

Put all the changed cod back inside the inspect editor in the spot you took it from.

As mentioned this method isn't as good as the OP's. Taking longer and formatting doesn't look
as great. But you have the ability to search the document.

level 1
brotherbock
· 9 yr. ago

Very nice. Thanks :)

level 1
AxeManJack
· 9 yr. ago

Smart

level 1
the-average-user
· 9 yr. ago

if I could, I would kiss you.. thanks a ton..

level 1
whybotherrr
· 9 yr. ago

Do you know if there is any way to do this on a mac?

1
level 2
[deleted]
· 9 yr. ago

I doubt there's anything that is OS specific in this hack. Just edit the text in a text editor like I
said then open the html file in a browser. Chrome didn't work for me but firefox did, so maybe try
some different browsers.

level 3
whybotherrr
· 9 yr. ago

I use chrome. I'll try it on another program; thanks!

level 1
mcquackers
· 9 yr. ago

Noice!

About Community

r/lifehacks
Lifehacks: Uncommon solutions to common problems.
Created Jun 21, 2008

11.3m

Members

873

Online

#50

Ranked by Size

Create Post

r/lifehacks Rules
1.
No self-improvement tips
2.
No commercial products with a specific purpose
3.
No food tips
4.
No software tips
5.
No Polls/Surveys
6.
No Life Pro-Tips
7.
No memes, image macros, plain-text image posts
8.
No spam (especially blogspam)
9.
No attacking or being aggressive to others
10.
No personal information

Moderators
Message the mods
u/Kylde
u/esoterix_luke
Ramen Noodle Expert
u/FlairModeratorBot
u/RepostSleuthBot
u/AudibleNod
View All Moderators

Top posts january 11th 2015Top posts of january, 2015Top posts 2015
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