G: Yes — what you’re describing absolutely exists. The default GNOME viewer (Evince) is just… bad at this specific UX. It treats zoom as a geometric transform instead of a reading mode, which is why things drift and de-center.

What you want is basically:
“page-aware viewing” instead of “canvas zooming.”

Here are the ones that actually behave closer to what you’re describing:

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1. entity["software","Okular","KDE document viewer"] (closest to what you want)

TL;DR: This is the “just works” answer.

• Has fit-to-width / fit-to-page modes that stay centered
• Can force single-page view (no weird vertical drift)
• Smooth zoom that respects page boundaries
• Has a presentation mode that isolates the page entirely
• Handles PDFs, comics, etc. (so it thinks in pages, not scroll blobs)

This is why people keep recommending it everywhere citeturn0search1turn0search17

👉 Key setting to flip:

• View → View Mode → Single Page
• View → Fit Width (this is the magic one)

This combo basically gives you the “mcomix but for PDFs” feel.

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2. entity["software","qpdfview","Qt tabbed PDF viewer"] (more minimalist, very clean behavior)

TL;DR: Lighter, more “viewer-like,” less feature bloat.

• Proper single-page mode
• Clean centering behavior
• Tabs + low memory usage citeturn0search4
• Feels closer to a dedicated reading tool than a document app

Downside:

• Scrolling can feel a bit stiff depending on setup (people complain about that)

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3. entity["software","Zathura","minimal keyboard-driven PDF viewer"] (if you’re okay with vim-style control)

TL;DR: Extremely controlled, no nonsense.

• Very deterministic zoom and positioning
• Always feels “locked” to the page
• No UI weirdness because there’s barely any UI

Downside:

• Keyboard-driven (j/k, gg, etc.)
• Not “user-friendly” in the traditional sense citeturn0search17

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4. entity["software","PDF Studio Viewer","free cross-platform PDF viewer"] (more “Adobe-like”)

TL;DR: If you want predictable behavior over minimalism.

• Strong zoom control (10%–6400%) citeturn0search9
• Designed to be explicitly user-friendly citeturn0search18
• Less “Linux-y weirdness,” more “normal software”

Downside:

• Heavier
• Slightly more “corporate UI”

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Why your current experience feels broken

You’re running into a real design split:

• Evince / basic viewers:
  Treat PDF like a scrollable canvas → zoom = scale → center drifts

• Okular / comic-style viewers:
  Treat PDF like a sequence of pages → zoom = reframe → stays centered

That’s the difference you’re feeling.

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Bottom line (no fluff)

• If you want mcomix-style behavior → use Okular
• If you want lighter but similar → qpdfview
• If you want absolute control → Zathura

Evince isn’t fixable into what you want — it’s the wrong model.