Using Acrobat Reader

The Acrobat Reader allows anyone to view, navigate, and print documents in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). You may make and distribute unlimited copies of Acrobat Reader, including copies for commercial distribution, as long as each copy you make and distribute includes all of the following:

• The Acrobat Reader installer, exactly as provided by Adobe
• The Acrobat Reader Electronic End User License Agreement
• Copyright and other proprietary notices included in Acrobat Reader

Viewing PDF documents on the Web

You can view PDF documents that are on the World Wide Web or an intranet using a Web browser. Every document on the Web is identified by a unique address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). When a PDF document is stored on the Web, you can click a URL link to it to open the document in your Web browser.

Reading PDF documents in a Web browser

PDF documents can display in Web browsers compatible with Netscape ® Navigator ® 4.0 (or later) or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 (or later). The necessary plug-ins are automatically installed when you install Acrobat Reader. For information on getting your browser ready, see Installing the Web browser plug-in. (If pages of your PDF document appear blank when viewed in a Web browser, you may be using an early version of a Web server. Try saving the PDF file locally, and viewing it using Acrobat Reader.)

When you view a PDF document in a Web browser, all of the Acrobat Reader tools are available in the browser. In Windows, you can click the two small vertical lines (next to the Adobe icon at the left of the tool bar) to minimize or maximize the tool bar.

Note: Many keyboard commands are mapped to the Web browser rather than to Acrobat Reader, so some Acrobat Reader keyboard shortcuts may not be available in the browser window.

Opening a PDF file embedded as an OLE object in another file

You can read PDF documents that have been incorporated into other documents created by any OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) 1.0 or OLE 2.0 container application such as Microsoft Word, Excel ® , or PowerPoint ®.

1. Open the document into which the PDF document has been embedded.
2. Double-click the Acrobat icon in the document. Acrobat Reader launches and displays the activated PDF document.

Note: You cannot make changes or save while in Acrobat Reader.

Printing PDF documents

You can print and view PDF documents from Acrobat Reader.

1 Use File > Page Setup to set general printing options. The available options will vary with different printers and drivers. See your printer driver documen-tation for details.

If Download Asian Fonts is not selected, the PDF document prints correctly only if the referenced fonts are installed on the printer. If the fonts are not on the printer but the printer has similar fonts, the printer  substitutes the similar fonts. If there are no suitable fonts on the printer, Courier is used for the text.

If you have a PostScript Level 1 printer that does not support Type 0 font exten-sions, or if Download Asian Fonts does not produce the results you want, print the PDF document as a bitmap image. Printing a document as an image may take longer than using a substituted printer font. Use Printer Halftone Screens prints halftones using the printer’s halftone screens. If you do not select this option, the halftones are printed using halftone information from the PDF file.

Note: If Use Printer Halftone Screens is not selected, and if the halftone infor-mation sent to the printer from the PDF file is not appropriate for that printer, the screens may produce "muddy" images.

Printing PDF documents from the command line (UNIX)

Besides printing directly from within Reader by choosing File > Print, you can print PDF files from the command line. To print the file sample.pdf to the default printer, type the following:

Customizing resources for your personal use (UNIX)

When Acrobat Reader starts, it searches for resources in the standard X Window System resource file (~/.Xdefaults). It uses all resources it finds to determine the proper setup. If it finds a resource more than once, it uses the last value found. By editing the resource file, you can customize Acrobat Reader. For your changes to take effect, you must restart your windowing system. The following sections describe some general Acrobat Reader resources that you can change in the .Xdefaults file:

• Plug-in location (UNIX).
• Starting multiple Acrobat viewers (UNIX).
• Fonts for bookmarks (UNIX).

Plug-in location (UNIX)

When Acrobat Reader starts, it searches for plug-ins in the directory $ACRO_INSTALL_DIR/$ACRO_CONFIG/plug_ins. You can specify a new default directory by changing the *systemPlugInPath label. The *systemPlugInPath label specifies the location of the plug-ins used by all users of Acrobat Reader: *systemPlugInPath /net/Acrobat/Sun_OS4/doc_dept/plug-ins

 You can specify your own plug-ins when starting Reader. By default, Acrobat Reader searches for personal plug-ins in the $HOME/plug_ins directory. You can specify a new default directory for personal plug-ins by changing the *userPlugInPath label. For example: userPlugInPath $HOME/Acrobat/plug_ins

Starting multiple Acrobat viewers (UNIX)

If you want to open a new Reader program every time you open a PDF file, set the *userFrontEndProgram  resource to FALSE. By default, the *userFrontEnd-Program is set to TRUE, meaning that the Reader program that is already opened is used to display the new PDF file.

Fonts for bookmarks (UNIX)

If you want to change the default font size used for bookmarks, you can change the value of *bookmarkFontSize. The font size is expressed in points. If you want to change the font family, you can change the value of *bookmark-FontName.

For example:

*bookmarkFontSize 10

*bookmarkFontName Courier

Giving Acrobat Reader access to fonts (UNIX)

If a font is referenced in a PDF file, but not embedded, and Acrobat Reader finds that font on the system opening the file, Acrobat Reader will use the font on the system to display the text. You can give Reader access to your installed Type1 fonts by setting the PSRESOURCEPATH variable in the viewer launch script or in your user configuration file. Editing the launch script, usually done by a system administrator, gives all users who access that copy of the viewer access to the fonts. Editing your user configuration file gives you access to the fonts. The PSRESOURCEPATH variable looks for UNIX PostScript Resource (.upr) files in the location at which you point it. The .upr files are created when Type1 fonts are installed. If you have installed Adobe Illustrator ® or Adobe Photoshop ® , the PSRESOURCEPATH is already set for the individual and Reader will find it.

1) Open Acrobat4/bin/acroread in a text editor.

2)Enter the following command:

# PSRESOURCEPATH=<font_location>::

3) Restart Acrobat Reader.

1) Open your user configuration file in a text editor.

2) Set the PSRESOURCEPATH environment variable:

# PSRESOURCEPATH=<font_location>::

3) Restart Acrobat Reader.

Magnifying and reducing the page view

The minimum and maximum zoom levels available depend on the current page size.  If you magnify a page to a size larger than the window, use the hand tool to move the page around so that you can view all the areas on it. Moving a PDF page with the hand tool is like moving a piece of paper on a desk with your hand.

To increase magnification:

Do one of the following: Select the zoom-in tool , and click the page.

Select the zoom-in tool, and drag to draw a rectangle, called a marquee, around the area to magnify. Click the Magnification button in the status bar, and choose a magnifi-cation level.

To decrease magnification:

Do one of the following:\ In Single Page layout, the Edit > Select All command selects all text on the current page. In Continuous and Continuous - Facing layouts, it selects all text in the PDF document.

To set page layout:

Do one of the following:Click the Page Layout button in the status bar, and choose a page layout. Choose Single Page, Continuous, or Continuous - Facing from the View menu.

To see two-page spreads most efficiently, use the Continuous - Facing page layout, and choose View > Fit Width.

Setting a default view

You can set a default viewing magnification, a default page layout, and other viewing defaults in the General Preferences dialog box. These settings apply to any document that has been set to open in the default view. In UNIX, the first time you open Acrobat Reader, a preferences file named .acrorc is created in your $HOME directory. If you have opened an earlier version of Acrobat Reader at any time prior to opening the 4.0 version, you should delete $HOME/.acrorc before starting Acrobat Reader 4.0. A new .acrorc file will be created with the recommended Acrobat Reader 4.0 settings when you start Acrobat Reader 4.0.

Reading documents in Full Screen view

In Full Screen view, PDF pages fill the entire screen; the menu bar, command bar, tool bar, status bar, and window controls are hidden. A document creator can set a PDF document to open in Full Screen view, or you can set the view for yourself. Full Screen view is often used for presentations, sometimes with automatic page advancement and transitions. The pointer remains active in Full Screen view so that you can click links and open notes. You can use keyboard shortcuts for navigational and magnification commands, even though the menus and tool bar are not visible. You can also set preferences to define how Full Screen view appears on your system.

To read a document in Full Screen view:

Choose View > Full Screen. Press Return or the Down or Right Arrow key to page through the document. Press Shift-Return or the Up or Left Arrow key to page backwards through the document.

Note: If you’re using Mac OS and have two monitors installed, the Full Screen view of a page appears on only one screen. To page through the document, click the screen displaying the page in Full Screen mode.

To exit Full Screen view:

Press the Escape key, if your Full Screen preferences are defined this way, or press Ctrl+L (Windows and UNIX) or Command+L (Mac OS).

Setting Full Screen preferences

Choose File > Preferences > Full Screen to set the characteristics of the Full Screen view. These settings apply to any document you open in Full Screen view and that does not have its own Full Screen settings. The default settings are usually acceptable and do not need to be changed.

1) Choose File > Preferences > Full Screen.

2) Select the navigation options:

Advance Every specifies whether to advance automatically from page to page every set number of seconds. You can page through a document using mouse or keyboard commands even if automatic paging is selected.

Advance On Any Click lets you page through a PDF document by clicking the mouse. If this is not selected, you can page through a document by pressing Return, Shift-Return (to go backwards), or the arrow keys. Loop After Last Page lets you page through a PDF document continuously, returning to the first page after the last. This option is typically used for setting up kiosk displays.

Escape Key Exits lets you exit Full Screen view by pressing the Escape key. If this is not selected, you can exit by pressing Ctrl+L (Windows and UNIX) or Command+L (Mac OS).

Choosing a Web browser for Weblinks

When you click a Weblink in a PDF document, the default browser opens for you to view the linked document. Before this happens, however, you have to identify the default browser to Acrobat Reader. You can also choose to show or hide the Web browser button and link information and status.

1) Choose File > Preferences > Weblink.

2) From the menu, choose whether to display link information below the

pointer when the pointer is over a Weblink. You can display a URL for a Weblink always, never, or only when you press Ctrl (Windows and UNIX) or Option (Mac OS) while pointing on the link.

3) Set the following options for displaying Web information:

Show Toolbar Button shows the Web Browser button in the command bar. You can click this button to open the Web browser from Acrobat Reader. Show Progress Dialog displays status information such as how much data is being downloaded when you click a Weblink.

4) Click Browse (Windows and UNIX) or Select (Mac OS), locate the Web browser you want to use, and click Open.

5) Choose the connection type that matches your browser. If your browser is not listed, choose the Standard connection type.

6) Click OK.

Displaying information about a document

The Document Info submenu of the File menu contains commands that display information about a document.

To display document information:

Choose File > Document Info, and then choose a type of document info: General displays basic creation information about the PDF document. For more information, see Getting General information about a document. Fonts displays font usage information. For more information, see Getting information about fonts used in a document. Security displays the document’s security settings. For more information, see Getting information about security settings.

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