HELP: About PDF and Acrobat Reader

PDF is a file format that the St. Louis CIN uses to distribute many online documents. PDF (Portable Document Format) files have become a standard on the Internet to publish documents especially where it is important to maintain original formatting. The IRS, for instance, publishes all its tax forms and instructions as PDF files.

They can be viewed across different computer platforms. This means if you can view the same PDF file on a PC, Mac, or Unix system.

PDF files are created by Adobe Acrobat from other electronic files or scanned in from paper. A PDF file may have originally been created by word processing or desktop publishing software.

To view a PDF file on the St. Louis CIN, you must first have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download Acrobat Reader for free. Once you have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you view a document by clicking on the link to that document. Then, depending on the version of your browser and how it is configured, you will either be able to view the document automatically or will be prompted to save it to disk. If you are prompted to save it to disk, you run Acrobat Reader and open the file that you just saved.

Downloading Acrobat Reader

You can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking the Adobe Reader Icon at the left. At the Adobe web site, select the version that matches your operating system (Windows 2000, Windows XP, Macintosh, etc.). Follow the instructions for your operating system to install the software.