Downloading and Installing Adobe's

Downloading and Installing Adobe's

Acrobat Reader

1. Go to Adobe's website at www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html. Scroll down to the three numbered choices. Fill in the appropriate information for #1; for #2 select "Web Publishing"; for #3 click on "download."

 2. As the Reader is being downloaded, pay attention to the "Location" it reports to you. The portion after the last slash (/) is probably <ar40eng.exe>. If it is something else, be sure to write it down.

 3. After it has been downloaded, you need to find where your computer put this file. In Windows-95 or -98, use Windows Explorer. From "Start" in the bottom left corner, choose "Tools" then "Find" then "Files or Folder". Then in "Name" enter the <ar40deng.exe> or whatever it told you (see 2 above) and click on "Find Now." This should find the downloaded file for you. When it does, just double click on it, and it will install itself for you.

 4. When installed, your computer normally will automatically open Reader as a plug-in whenever you ask it to open an Adobe pdf file. I have found on my own computer that occasionally a file does not successfully open Acrobat Reader as a plug in. In these cases it is necessary to configure the Reader to open as a helper! Here are the instructions which work only for version 4.

.....a. Start your Acrobat 4.0 viewer from the desktop.

.....b. Choose File > Preferences > General.

.....c. Deselect Web Browser Integration in the Options section and then click OK.

.....d. Exit from Internet Explorer or Netscape.

.....e. Restart Internet Explorer or Netscape.

.....f. The next time you select a link to a pdf file, a dialog box will appear that asks what you want to do with the file. If you select "Open this file from its current location," your browser will open the pdf file in your Acrobat viewer as a helper. If you select "Save this file to disk," the pdf file will be saved to your hard disk where you can open it later. (These notes on configuring the Reader as a helper were supplied by David Siwiak of dlb associates.)

A Few Hints to Get You Started Using Reader v.4

1. On the bar on the bottom, you will find the % size of the document being displayed; you can change this here. Next to it is a box that tells you the number of pages and the page you are on; you can use the little arrows to either side to move forward or backward. The next box tells you the dimensions of the page.

 2. The bar just above the text is very useful. The third button from the left can be used to display or hide the bookmarks feature. If a document has bookmarks, these are like an active table of contents. Clicking on one takes you to that spot in the text. You can also resize the bookmarks to take up less space but still be usable by putting your cursor on the line separating them from the text, holding down the left mouse button and pulling the line to the left (or right).

 3. The little magnifying glass on the fifth button from the left can be used to magnify a piece of the document. Click on it, then you can draw a box around the piece of the document (text, map, etc.); "enter" will then enlarge this piece.

 4. Next to the magnifying glass are your main navigation controls. The first arrow will take you to the very beginning of the document, the second arrow moves you backwards one page at a time, the third arrow moves you forwards one page at a time, and the fourth arrow takes you to the end of the document.

 5. The next three buttons change the display. The first displays the document full size, the second displays the entire document (so often it is unreadable), and the third button displays the full width. You often just have to experiment with these buttons.

 6. Next is the image of a pair of binoculars. This is the "Find" function which allows you to put in a word or a phrase which Reader will find for you.

Robert Lupp, New Jersey State Library

7-20-99