About PDF Files

PDF files present a document precisely the way the creator intended it to be seen. They are much larger (and take longer to download) than HTML files, but the PDF file (especially when printed) gives a version of the document very close to the original. PDF format is often used for forms that need to be printed consistently.

To view or print a PDF file, you must have a program installed on your computer that understands the PDF format. The program usually used for this is Adobe Acrobat Reader. If Acrobat Reader is not installed on your computer (or if your version of Acrobat Reader is too old to read our PDF files), you can Download Acrobat Reader for free from Adobe.

(Be patient when doing this; it takes a while to download.)

Once Acrobat is downloaded, execute the downloaded file to install Acrobat on your computer. You only need to do this once, until you upgrade to a newer version of Acrobat.

Once Acrobat Reader is installed on your computer, you can open our PDF files (or anybody else’s) directly in your browser by clicking on the link to the PDF file. When the file is open, you can save a copy by clicking on the Save File icon, or print it by clicking on the Print File icon. (These are not the usual browser icons, but icons at the left of the Acrobat Toolbar immediately above the area showing the PDF file.)

Alternatively, download the PDF file (without opening it first) by right-clicking on the link and choosing

     “Save Target As . . .”   (in Internet Explorer)  or

     “Save Link As . . .”   (in Netscape Navigator)

This will allow you to save the file to a convenient location on your computer.

Once you have saved a copy of a PDF file, you can view or print a copy whenever you need it by opening the PDF file directly with Acrobat Reader.