PDF Files
PDF was developed by the computer software company Adobe.
PDF stands for portable document format and is a means of displaying a document, in the same format as the publisher intended, without you having the software which created it. The software from Adobe to read pdf files is available free.
Professional publishers, for example, often use Quark Express to create product brochures. Quark Express cost many hundreds of pounds and few home computer users are likely to own a copy. However, a completed brochure can be converted to a pdf and easily distributed on a computer disk or offered as a download on the Internet. Manuals for computers and peripherals are often supplied on disk as a pdf to save money (and trees).
DO YOU HAVE ADOBE READER?
Many pieces of software install Adobe Acrobat Reader so that you can read their manual from a disk (a paper copy often not being provided). Look in your Programs for a folder called Adobe and inside that folder look for a program called Adobe Reader.
(If you don't have Adobe reader installed, it is available here but note that you may need to untick some additional downloads. It is, even with the extras unticked, a large download. If you have a broadband connection, you will not have a problem. If you only have a 56K dial-up connection, you may be better to look for it on a magazine cover disk.)
ALTERNATIVES
There are several alternative pdf readers available and most are free. One such is CAD-KAS pdf reader. It is less than 2Mb in size and is available to download here. This pdf reader does not integrate with web browsers so Method 2 (below) needs to be used.
HOW DO I USE A PDF READER?
One of the two methods decribed below should work.
Method 1
Just double-click on the file or single click the Internet link that you want.
This method may not work if certain security options are set or if your pdf reader is not integrated with your browser.
Follow on-screen guidance.
Alternatively use method 2 instead.
Method 2
Right-click on the Internet link that you want and click on 'Save Link As' or 'Save Target As'
This allows you to save a copy to your hard disk drive and then open it from there.
(Make sure that you know where you are saving it, so that you can find it later!)
When it has finished saving, go to the file on your hard drive and double-click it or open your pdf reader and use File - Open to locate and open the file. Method 2 is better for large files.
