Help with PDFs

Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) is the College standard for the electronic delivery of text-based documents. To view or download PDF documents you will need the free Adobe Reader.

Opening a PDF in your web browser

To open a PDF from within a browser, simply click the link. When installed, the Adobe Reader plugin will display the document in your browser window.

Saving a PDF to your computer

PC: Right-click the link and select Save Target As (IE) or Save Link As (Firefox). You will be asked where you would like to save the document.
Mac: Hold down the Control key and click the link, then select Download Linked File (Safari). You will be asked where you would like to save the document.

Printing a PDF

If you want to print the document from within your browser, be sure to use the Print icon in the Reader plugin and not your browser's Print button.

Creating a PDF

To make a PDF you will need additional software; Reader can only display the documents. Adobe Acrobat is the standard for advanced creation of PDF files (with forms, indexes, etc.), but there are free options available for basic documents (Word or Excel documents, for example). Just do a web search for "free pdf makers".

As with any software, use caution when downloading and installing programs from the internet.