A PDF file is a special form of file which was developed (as far as I'm aware) for electronic transmission, i.e. for e-mailing as attachments and for putting on the internet for downloading. Since then, however, it's use has extended to the printing industry as well as numerous other uses. It is a very common format that took some time for me to see its advantages. However, since then I have become a devotee of the format and have purchased the software to enable me to create PDF files as well as to read them.
PDF stands for Portable Document File and enables a file to be created from just about ANY file that can be printed. This is true certainly for a PC and I believe the Mac computer as well. I won't go into the creation process, suffice it to say that the file produced is a very compact file. One other very important thing is that you see it exactly as the writer intended. The creator does not have to worry about the typeface used as the fonts used can be embedded in the file. In addition, the writer doesn't have to worry about the layout of the documents as you will see them exactly as intended. Essentially, the files cannot be changed without the appropriate software and even this feature can be disabled. This is a distinct advantage as not everyone will have the program used to prepare the file, e.g. Corel Ventura, Serif Pageplus, Lotus Wordpro 97, MS Word97, Corel Wordperfect etc. so it would be most inappropriate to have the native file. In addition to this, files produced by different versions of the same program are not always compatible and Microsoft is particularly well known for this problem. They are not alone, though, as many other distributors adopt the same attitude towards compatibility between files produced by two different versions of the same program. You can even read and print PDF files produced on other types of computer, e.g. a PC can read files created on a MAC and vice versa.

What follows is really an adaptation of what is on the Chelmsford & D.A.C. and Eastern Thumpers (E.F.A.) web sites (www.cdac.org.uk and ww.thumpers.org.uk respectively) in that it describes where the Reader program can be obtained. It also gives guidance on how to find out if you already have it installed on your computer. However, I don't pretend that I shall answer all your questions, hopefully most of them, but unlikely all. To this end you are most welcome to contact me, preferably by phone as it is easier if you are sitting at your PC at the time (it would be even better by mobile in case I need to guide you through getting the program from the internet whilst we are on the phone), and I will try and guide you through anything you are unsure of. Yes, I know it amounts to technical support but it is not something I’m totally new to as I was on a help line for several years for a top DTP program (Ventura).

Its all very well to get PDF files but as I've already said, you will need a Reader program in order to read or print the file - but where do you get it and how much does it cost?

Firstly, Acrobat Reader is a free program readily available from Adobe who wrote the program. Acrobat Reader is available for most types of computer, e.g. Macs, Acorns (it is our experience that you may need to purchase the program for the Acorn) and, of course, PCs. It is known to be readily available from many places such as magazine CDs, application CDs (you may even have Reader on CDs supplied with your PC), perhaps on CDs accompanying books you may have purchased on software and/or hardware, it could also have been installed as part of an application installation process without you even realising it(!) and, of course, it is available from the distributor's site on the internet. However, the best way to get the very latest version is to purchase a monthly computing magazine such as PC Pro or Computer Shopper (no, I don’t have shares in these magazines). Both are monthly UK computing magazines available from about the 8th-10th of every month, each of which includes a magazine CD. During the past three or four years, this CD has ALWAYS included the latest version of Acrobat Reader (at least for PCs but I don’t know about other types of computer such as the Mac). By purchasing a magazine such as PC Pro, not only will you have Acrobat Reader but you'll also have the magazine and a CD full of possibly useful programs (several of which are demos). The latest version is also available on the internet from the Adobe Systems site (www.adobe.com). However, it is a little longwinded process and it is a large download of in excess of 10 Mb or more, taking perhaps well over an hour with a 56k modem.

You may of course already have Acrobat Reader on your PC - but how do you know? If you have a PDF file on your system it should be represented by a symbol (termed an icon) as shown on the right (or similar). This icon may not be identical with that shown as it may depend on the version you have installed but you should be able to recognise it from the icon shown which has a red panel reading PDF with the remainder being predominantly shades of grey. Providing you find a file indicated by an icon of this type or similar, it almost certainly means you have a version of Acrobat Reader already installed on your system. You should therefore be able to double-click the file using the mouse and Acrobat Reader will automatically open and load the file into it. You could also look for a directory or folder that has the name Reader or Acrobat Reader or possibly just Acrobat. Yet another way is to search for .PDF files using the Windows Find feature. To do this, go to Start at the bottom left of the screen and click. From the menu displayed, select Find and then Files or Folders (these are the options selected using Windows98). In the dialogue box type "*.PDF" (don't include the inverted commas), select the hard drive/s you want to search and press or click OK. Windows then searches for any PDF files you may have on the selected drive/s and if found it will tell you where they are. If any PDF files are found and they are NOT represented by an icon similar to that above, then you are unlikely to have Acrobat Reader on your system. In the same way you can search for the Acrobat Reader program file to find out if you have the program on your system. In this case search for ACRO*.EXE.

Now a word of caution! It has now been many years since the release of Acrobat Reader version three. However, there may well be some computers which still have version 2.1 installed. Since the file format changed quite dramatically between the two versions, a version 3 file will NOT open in Acrobat Reader version 2.1 - IT JUST WILL NOT WORK! It will NOT damage your computer but it WILL bring up an error message and refuse to open the file. Acrobat Reader 2.1 is old and not compatible with the version 3 (or later) file formats so Acrobat Reader version 2.1 will NOT open .PDF files created using Acrobat 3 or later. If you get an error message when you try opening a PDF file, you may find you have an early version of Acrobat Reader installed. So how can you check the version of Acrobat Reader you have installed on your computer?

To check the version of your program, load Acrobat Reader and then go to the Help menu and click to drop the menu. Towards the bottom is an option labelled About Acrobat Reader (or similar) and clicking this option brings up a window which tells you what version of Acrobat Reader is installed on your computer. If the version number is less than version 3, you will need to upgrade to a later version, preferably version 5 (the latest version). This will ensure you can open and print ANY PDF file you may receive from whatever source. Occasionally you may also get a file that may not display correctly in version 3 although you should be able to open it. However, because of the extra features available in Acrobat version 5, it is possible that not all
features of the file will be available. We can't guarantee you won't have problems, but if you do, you would be well advised to install the latest version of the program.
No doubt there may well be questions you want to ask about what I've written on this subject, so please feel free to contact either Jim (web master) or myself (Tracey - Centre Secretary) and we will try to answer any questions you may have. Please use the e-mail form on the Contact Us page.