• Downloading and Using Adobe Acrobat Files (PDFs)
• Getting Acrobat Reader
• Printing Problems with PDFs
• Other Common Printing Problems

• To view the Acrobat version of a topic click on the [PDF] link. Provided you have the Acrobat Reader (version 4 or above) and your browser is configured appropriately, Acrobat Reader will open within your browser window and the topic will be displayed as a two-page spread. You can then print the topic by clicking on the print icon in Acrobat. If you have not got Acrobat Reader, or have version number 3 or below, you can download version 5 for free here. Downloading and installing Acrobat Reader should ensure that your browser is configured to display our PDFs.
  
  
  
  
• You can also save PDFs directly to your hard disk for off-line viewing and printing. This is recommended for modules larger than a single topic, is the most convenient option for later use, and avoids problems that may arise if you view PDFs on-line. Just point to the [PDF] link, and then:
  
  For Macintosh users: hold down your mouse button until a new menu appears and select 'Save this Link'
  
   or
  
  For Windows users: click the right button on your mouse to display a menu and choose 'Save Target as'.
  
  Then choose a folder and a name for the PDF file, as you would any other file. Your computer will then indicate that the file is being transferred and when it has finished. You can then view the files with Acrobat at any time, simply by double clicking on their icons.
  
  
• Our PDF files can be quite large and retrieving them may take several minutes in the case of larger modules. The speed varies, depending on the speed of your network connection, the volume of Internet traffic, the speed of your own computer, and the size of the file. You should close any open PDF documents before opening a new one in your browser to speed things up and avoid memory limitations.
  
  
• Acrobat can sometimes stall or take a long time reproducing the contents of a PDF on screen while it is downloading a document. This can happen with certain combinations of browsers and operating systems - in particular when Acrobat Reader is used as a plug-in on a Macintosh system. These problems can be overcome by downloading the files directly to you hard disk (see above) and then running Acrobat on its own to view them.

• You can get Acrobat Reader from Adobe's free download page. Just follow the instructions there.
  
  
  
  
• PDF documents can display in Web browsers compatible with Netscape Navigator 4.0 (or later) or Internet Explorer 4.5 (or later). The necessary plug-ins are installed automatically when you install Acrobat.

Here are some things to try if you are experiencing problems printing PDFs. Diagnoses of more specific problems are given below.

• If you have Acrobat version 3, upgrade to the latest version - it is free to upgrade.
  
  
  
  
• Try printing one page at a time.
  
  
• Try printing with the 'Print as Image' option selected - this will solve problems with images where areas with graduated fills and shades on the screen appear flat in the print-out, which can happen with non-postscript printers.
  
  
• Try printing to a newer printer. (NOTE for Macintosh users: There may be problems printing PDFs with the LaserWriter Driver version 8.4. We suggest using another driver version.)
  
  
• Try saving the file to disk before printing rather than opening it and printing it directly from a browser - see above.
  
  

• If you are getting Postscript errors on a Mac.
  Postscript communication on a Mac is handled by the Control Panel called ~ATM. To see if you have installed ~ATM, go to the System Folder/Control Panels folder and look for ~ATM. If the control panel is not present you will need to install it. If the ~ATM is installed, check to make sure that you are using v4.0 or higher. You can check the version number by selecting the ~ATM icon and choosing 'Get info...' from the File menu.
  
  If you do not have ~ATM installed or need to upgrade to the latest version, you can get this software from the Acrobat web site. If you downloaded Acrobat recently, you may already have this Control Panel in a folder called 'Fonts' within the Acrobat folder. If so, you just need to install it by dragging the ~ATM icon into your System Folder.
  
  
• Are certain characters replaced with rectangles when printed out?
  
  Closing Acrobat completely then reopening it and printing the same document once again normally solves this, but if you continue to have problems please sends us feedback.
  
  
• Are some lines on each page getting cut off?
  
  Your default paper size may be set incorrectly. Change this setting to "US Letter" in File/Page Setup and you should be able to print full pages.
  
  
• Do you get an error saying 'Acrobat Reader can't write to the file' (i.e. to the printer), or that the disk is full?
  
  It's possible that your printer doesn't have enough installed memory to handle the entire PDF. Try printing the file to a printer with more memory, or, alternatively, print the PDF one page at a time.
  
  
• Do some shaded areas not come out at all on your print-outs?
  
  This is typical of black and white laser printers, which are unable to produce fills below a certain density. If you have access to a color printer, try printing in colour.
  
  
• Do some of the images in your print-outs seem to be surrounded by a halo of dots?
  
  Try printing with your printer on a higher quality setting and these dots may disappear or become much less obvious.
  
  
• Do you get the message 'There was an error opening this document. Could not repair file.' when trying to open files you have downloaded for printing?
  
  It's probable that the file did not download completely, or was corrupted during transfer. Please try a fresh download of the file. If you still have problems, please send us feedback and we will investigate.