Reading PDF files of Fact Sheets

Configuring your Acrobat Reader

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download PDF versions of fact sheets. This can be downloaded for free from the Adobe Acrobat Reader (WINDOWS) page, Adobe Acrobat Reader (MACINTOSH) page or Adobe Acrobat Reader (UNIX) page on the Adobe Web site. To access the PDF versions of fact sheets, please follow these instructions.

You should set up the Acrobat reader as a plug-in "helper application" to your browser to begin. If you're using Acrobat 3.0 reader, it should have done this automatically and will open itself when you select a PDF document link. The older versions of Acrobat Reader usually require you to configure this manually.

For example, if you're using an older version of the Acrobat reader (2.0, 2.1) with Netscape on the PC:

  • Click "Options," "General Preferences" and select "Helpers"
  • Click "Create New Type" then type "application" in the MIME type box, and "pdf" in the MIME sub-type box
  • Now click "OK",and on the Helpers screen, select "Launch the application," "Browse" and use the file manager screen that pops up to find the ACROREAD.EXE file
  • Double click on that file to make sure that the filename appears in that "launch the application" box
  • Now click OK
This process should have set up Netscape to launch the Acrobat reader.

What to do if you have problems downloading PDF files

There are several reasons why PDF files of fact sheet documents may not appear to have downloaded properly. To begin with, you should make sure that you have a properly installed version of the Acrobat Reader program. If this seems to be installed properly, check that your browser is correctly configured to read PDF files. It does this by launching the Acrobat Reader program as a plugin or helper application. This help file contains instructions on how to configure Acrobat Reader manually with version 2.0 or lower of Netscape.

Please refer to the Adobe Web site for detailed guidance on setting up and troubleshooting Acrobat Reader with other browsers.
If you have reached the abstract for which you want to download the full text article in PDF format and the abstract has displayed properly in your browser, click on the hypertext-linked title of the abstract to begin to download the PDF file of this article. Some browsers may ask you if you wish to open or save the PDF document at this point. If you see this prompt, it is advisable to save the document to a local drive rather than opening it directly within your browser or the Reader program. Saving to disk will put less strain on your computer's resources than attempting to start the Acrobat Reader in addition to your browser. This method is less likely to cause your computer to hang or crash than attempting to run the Acrobat Reader software at the same time as your Web browser. Remember where you save the file, and you can read it offline at a later time using just the Acrobat Reader program.

The PDF file appears to have downloaded properly but when I try to view it I cannot see, or print, the figures within the article.
This is caused by a lack of system memory: you may also notice that your browser content suddenly changes colors, or begins to dither certain colors. To get around this problem, try to free up system resources by clearing your browser cache (in Netscape: Options, Network Preferences, Clear Memory/Disk Cache Now- in Internet Explorer: View, Options..., Advanced tab, Temporary Internet files, View... then select and delete) and any temporary files which your computer may be storing in Trash, Recycling Bin, or a temporary Windows directory. ALWAYS close any other applications (especially Word, Excel, email clients etc.) before attempting to view a large PDF file.
If this problem persists, use your browser to go to the abstract page and click on the title with the RIGHT mouse button. Choose "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." to save the PDF file to disk: once it has downloaded you can close your browser and all other applications, start the Acrobat Reader and view (File, Open...) the PDF file offline.

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