macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install gnome-paperslocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install gnome-papers with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, winget, zypper
Document viewer for PDF and other document formats aimed at the GNOME desktop. Version 50.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-07.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add papersAlpine Linux edge package indexes · papers · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install gir1.2-papers-4.0Debian stable package indexes · gir1.2-papers-4.0 · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install papersFedora Rawhide package metadata · papers · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#papersnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/pa/papers/package.nix · source: api.github.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S papersArch Linux sync databases · papers · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libppsdocument4_0-6openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libppsdocument4_0-6 · source: download.opensuse.org
Windows
Windows Package Managerverified · 92%
winget install --id DigitalScience.Papers -eWindows Package Manager source index · DigitalScience.Papers · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com
overview
Package summary
Document viewer for PDF and other document formats aimed at the GNOME desktop
Project links
Commands and aliases
- papers
- papers-previewer
- papers-thumbnailer
history
Project history and usage
Papers is GNOME's document viewer for PDF, DejaVu, TIFF, and comic-book archive formats. It continues the GNOME document-viewer lineage associated with Evince while moving the application to GTK 4, libadwaita, and a more adaptive interface.
Project history
Papers began as a hard fork and rename of Evince during the effort to modernize GNOME's core document viewer. Pablo Gomez's GNOME blog post explains that the work grew from downstream mobile and sizing patches, GTK 4 porting work, and many merge requests around making the viewer adaptive and touch-friendly.
The repository preserves extensive Evince history and includes Evince news/security files alongside Papers-specific code. Its README describes Papers as a document viewer for multiple and single-page formats and points users to GNOME's welcome page and Flathub packaging.
Adoption history
Papers' adoption is significant inside GNOME because it represents the document viewer moving with the broader platform transition to GTK 4 and libadwaita. Distribution packaging under names such as `papers` and `gnome-papers` followed that GNOME transition, while package managers kept the command-line helpers for previewing and thumbnailing.
How it is used
Practitioners use Papers to read, search, annotate, print, preview, and thumbnail documents on GNOME systems. Desktop users mostly launch the graphical app, while packagers care about the `papers`, `papers-previewer`, and `papers-thumbnailer` executables and the document libraries they expose.
Why package nerds care
For package nerds, Papers is a useful case study in desktop app succession: a GNOME core app keeps compatibility with a long document-viewer history while changing toolkit generation, app identity, library names, backends, and package naming. That makes it important for downstream transitions from Evince-era dependencies.
Timeline
- 2005: Evince enters GNOME as the default document viewer lineage that Papers later inherits.
- 2022: GTK 4 and mobile-oriented work on Evince-related branches accelerates.
- 2024-01: Papers is submitted to GNOME Incubation as the renamed Evince fork.
- 2025: Papers packages appear broadly under GNOME distribution naming.
Related projects
- Papers is related to Evince, Poppler, DjVuLibre, libarchive comic-book support, GTK 4, libadwaita, Nautilus thumbnailing, and GNOME's core application set.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 18 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 10 build dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
papers | cli | global executable | |
papers-previewer | cli | global executable | |
papers-thumbnailer | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version50.2
manager updated2026-07-07
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:gnome-papers |
|---|---|
| Version | 50.2 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/gnome-papers |
| Homepage | https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/ |
| Repository | https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/papers |
| Upstream docs | https://help.gnome.org/papers/index.html |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://download.gnome.org/sources/papers/50/papers-50.2.tar.xz |
| Last updated | 2026-07-07T14:59:01Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | adwaita-icon-theme, cairo, djvulibre, exempi, gdk-pixbuf, gettext, glib, graphene, gtk4, gtksourceview5, harfbuzz, hicolor-icon-theme, libadwaita, libarchive, libspelling, libtiff, pango, poppler |
| Build dependencies | blueprint-compiler, desktop-file-utils, gettext, gobject-introspection, itstool, meson, ninja, pkgconf, python@3.14, rust |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | gnome-papers |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt92%
gir1.2-papers-4.0 48.3-1
GObject introspection data for the papers libraries
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install gir1.2-papers-4.0- Section: introspection
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: papers
- 9 dependencies
- 2 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Debian apt92%
libpapers-dev 48.3-1
Document (Comic Books, DjVu, PDF) rendering library - development files
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install libpapers-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: papers
- 11 dependencies
- 2 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Debian apt92%
libpapers-doc 48.3-1
Document (Comic Books, DjVu, PDF) rendering library - documentation
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install libpapers-doc- Section: doc
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: papers
- 1 optional deps
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Debian apt92%
libppsdocument-4.0-5 48.3-1
Document (Comic Books, DjVu, PDF) rendering library
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install libppsdocument-4.0-5- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: papers
- 11 dependencies
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Debian apt92%
libppsview-4.0-4 48.3-1
Document (Comic Books, DjVu, PDF) rendering library - GTK widgets
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install libppsview-4.0-4- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: papers
- 10 dependencies
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Debian apt92%
papers 48.3-1
PDF document viewer for GNOME
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install papers- Section: gnome
- Architecture: amd64
- 16 dependencies
- 2 provides
- 4 optional deps
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Debian apt92%
papers-common 48.3-1
PDF document viewer for GNOME - common files
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apt install papers-common- Section: gnome
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: papers
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
Nix92%
papers
nix profile install nixpkgs#papers- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
apk92%
papers 50.2-r0
simple document viewer for GNOME desktop
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apk add papers- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
apk92%
papers-dev 50.2-r0
simple document viewer for GNOME desktop (development files)
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apk add papers-dev- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
apk92%
papers-doc 50.2-r0
simple document viewer for GNOME desktop (documentation)
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apk add papers-doc- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
apk92%
papers-lang 50.2-r0
Languages for package papers
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apk add papers-lang- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
apk92%
papers-libs 50.2-r0
simple document viewer for GNOME desktop (libraries)
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apk add papers-libs- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
apk92%
papers-nautilus 50.2-r0
papers (Nautilus extension)
https://apps.gnome.org/Papers/
sudo apk add papers-nautilus- License: GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- 1 dependencies
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
dnf92%
papers 49.6-1.fc45
View multipage documents
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/Incubator/papers
sudo dnf install papers- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND GPL-3.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later AND MIT AND libtiff AND BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause AND Unicode-3.0 AND
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- 17 dependencies
- 4 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
dnf92%
papers-devel 49.6-1.fc45
Support for developing backends for the Papers document viewer
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/Incubator/papers
sudo dnf install papers-devel- License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND GPL-3.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-or-later AND MIT AND libtiff AND BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause AND Unicode-3.0 AND
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: papers
- 5 dependencies
- 2 provides
- installed executable or alias match
- Matched by: Papers
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment