PDF files

PDF look like a printed page and are often used for documents on this web site.

Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

You may already have the software on a CD-ROM disk given to you by your the company that supplies your Internet connection, or on a disk from a computer magazine.

Or you can download the reader for free from Adobe.

The reader program download filesize is about 20MB.

Reader version

We advise our customers to upgrade to the latest version of the reader - www.adobe.com/reader.

There was recently a security problem with older versions of the reader - www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa07-01.html and for this reason new pdf files are created using the latest version of Acrobat and can't be opened using older versions of the reader.

For people with visual difficulties

If you have any problems reading PDF files, the following tools are available:

Convert the PDF document to html: e-mail the PDF or its web address as an e-mail attachment to pdf2html@adobe.com. The converter will e-mail back the translation as an html file.

Convert the PDF document to plain text: e-mail the PDF or its web address as an e-mail attachment to pdf2txt@adobe.com. The converter will e-mail back the translation as a plain text file.

Visit Adobe's Accessibility web site to find out about services to make Acrobat documents more accessible.

Reading PDFs

When you select the link to a PDF, it will open in your browser window.

A toolbar will appear below the browser address bar, featuring a number of tools to help you view and search the document.

If you use a mouse, running your mouse over the icons in PDF reader, without clicking, will tell you what each of them does.

Especially useful are the page size tools (which look like 3 pages). You can use these or the dropdown view menu (bottom left hand corner of the screen) to select a suitable view.

Troubleshooting

Sometimes a PDF file will open but only a blank page is visible. This may be because the view is zoomed into a blank section of the document. Use the dropdown view menu (bottom left hand corner of the screen) to select a suitable view - 100% or 'Fit Width' are usually best.

It may also be because the you are using an older version of the reader, you may want to upgrade to the latest version of Acrobat Reader at www.adobe.com/reader.

If you are still having problems, try clicking on the link to the PDF file you want to see with your right mouse button (Control-click on Mac). This will bring up a small menu - if you select 'Save Target As' (or Save Link As) from this you will be able to save the file and open it outside the browser.

For more help visit the adobe site - www.adobe.com/support/products/acrreader.html

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