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Help with the AdobeAcrobat PDF files
on our web site
Ideas from Joe Vecchio, Administrative Assistant (1/22/07)

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What are AdobeAcrobat PDF files, and why do you use them?

  1. Web pages look and print differently on every computer. Web pages (like this one) load quickly, but they make poor bulletin inserts, or standardized documents where everyone can refer to the same page or line.
  2. PDF files load slowly from the web and you must have the free reader, but, they look and print the same on everyone's computer.
  3. (about $300) The Adobe Acrobat program creates PDF (portable document format) files from documents created by other programs. Some programs like WordPerfect12, include PDF creation as a feature. I often use the free program PrimoPDF to make PDF files from any program: http://www.primopdf.com
  4. (free) Adobe Acrobat Reader lets anyone view and print PDF files on the computer.

You must have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.

  1. Get a recent version at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
  2. You don't need the free PhotoAlbum program, uncheck the box
  3. If you already have Acrobat Reader, find your version by clicking "Help", then "About Acrobat Reader..."
    • Windows XP: Version 8 in January 2007
    • Windows 98: Version 5 in May 2005
    • There are 20 additional operating systems listed on the Get Acrobat Reader web site

I have a recent version of Acrobat Reader installed, but I still have trouble viewing PDF files over the web.

  1. Computers can only do one thing at a time, though they often appear to do many things at one time. Very fast computers with a lot of memory, appear to do many things at the same time. Other computers get stuck or freeze. When you click with the "left mouse button" on the "blue underlined link" your computer does 4 things seemingly at once: continues to work with the web page, starts to download the PDF file, starts to open AdobeAcrobatReader, starts to try and display the PDF file while it is downloading. As the computer switches back and forth among these 4 tasks, sometimes one of the tasks gets dropped or stalled.
  2. How to force your computer to do things in order and hopefully avoid getting stuck.
    • Click with the "right mouse button" on the "blue underlined link" for the PDF you want to read.
    • A box of "things you can do" will open up. Choose "Save Link as..."
    • The "Save As..." box will pop open that shows the files on your computer.
      • Choose a place to save the PDF file where you can find it and open it later.
      • "Desktop" is a good place to save the file. "Desktop" is the "picture" you see when you first turn on the computer.
      • When the PDF file has been saved, click on it to open the file.
  3. Things you might notice:
    • A computer that dials a phone number to access the web and email, will take about 5 minutes to download a PDF file with a size of 200k.
      • Using the "right click" method you can see a progress indication so you know the computer is still functioning.
      • Using the "left click" method, there is no way for you to know your computer is taking a 5 minute break while it downloads.
    • Display of the PDF while it is downloading.
      • Using the "right click" method the file is completely downloaded before the PDF file is opened for display.
      • Using the "left click" method your computer will try and display page one of the PDF while page two is still downloading.
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