Throughout the NAMS Web site, there are several documents available only in a PDF Portable Document Format . To read a PDF file, Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required. This section of the site provides information on how to download a free version of Acrobat Reader and how to view and print PDF files.
Making documents available as PDF files has several advantages:
- The original format and layout of the document are secured.
- The files are more compact than the same documents in their original format.
- Files created with different software packages Word, Excel, Quark, etc can all
be viewed with the same program.
- PDF files can be viewed on any platform Windows, Macintosh, etc .
To view or print a PDF file, a reader program must be installed on your computer. The most widely used reader program Adobe® Acrobat® Reader is available for most of the popular Web browsers.
 To download and then install this software on your computer, access the Adobe Web site or click on the yellow graphic that appears throughout the NAMS site and then follow the three easy steps. The approximate time to download the software is 25 minutes, but this will vary depending on the speed of your operating system. Once the download is completed and saved on your hard drive, click "Open" in the dialog box and follow the instructions.
Once Acrobat Reader has been installed, just click on the link to the document that you wish to view. You can tell something is a link because it is usually underlined. Your browser will automatically launch Acrobat Reader and open the PDF document. It may take more time to open a PDF document than a text file, especially if it contains graphics.
When you are finished viewing the PDF document, simply click on your browser’s Back button to return to the place in the Web site where you accessed the PDF file.
If you want to save the document on your computer, place the cursor over the PDF file icon, then click your right mouse button. Select “Save As” from the menu and indicate the computer drive where you want to save the document. It may be saved with its current name -- or you can rename it. When you want to view the saved document in the future, launch Acrobat Reader, choose “File,” and then “Open,” -- or double-click on the file name and it will launch Acrobat Reader automatically.
To print a PDF document, while in Acrobat Reader, select “Print” from the file menu or click on the “Print” icon. The document should print exactly as it appears on the monitor. Note that a PDF document may take more time to print than a text file, especially if it contains graphics.
If you receive an “Error” message when trying to open a PDF document, the most common problem is simple -- you need to download a newer version of Acrobat Reader. For tips on downloading the recent version and other technical support for Acrobat Reader, go to Troubleshooting/Support Knowledge for Acrobat Reader on the Adobe Web site. |