Adobe Acrobat Download Tips

(adapted from the American Thyroid Association Web Site)

There are two ways to view a PDF file from our web site:

  1. Open the file in your browser, using the Adobe Acrobat Reader® plug-in, which is free.
  2. Download the file and save it on your computer, and then open it directly with Acrobat Reader®.

The Adobe software program, Acrobat Reader®, is needed to open a PDF document. This software can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe's web site. There's a link to Adobe's web site from the lower left side of ThyCa's Home Page. You download the version that matches the type of computer that you have.

Opening the PDF file in your browser:

  • Left- click on the link to open the PDF file in your browser.
  • When opening a file on screen, please be patient. PDF files often take time to open. If it looks as though the program has stopped opening the file, clicking on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser toolbar may help.
  • Once the PDF document is open in your browser window you may save the document to your computer. Click on the Save button on the Reader toolbar; this icon looks like a floppy disk and is located second from the left.

Download the PDF File and Save it to Your Computer

  • If you are having trouble opening the PDF file, try saving the file to the hard drive on your computer and opening it from there. It will open and print much more quickly.
  • Hold your cursor over the link and right-click (Windows).
  • Select "Save target as" (in Internet Explorer) or "save link as" (in Netscape) and save it to a folder on your hard drive.
  • Once the file is downloaded click on the file in the folder you saved it to and the Adobe Acrobat Reader will open it.
  • For Macintosh - Option-click on the link of the file that you wish to download and specify a local path and file name.

Many of the PDF files on this site are quite large and may therefore take several minutes to download, depending on the speed of your modem and on how busy the computer server is.

Approximate download times for a 1 MB document:
14.4K Modem = 10 minutes
28.8K Modem = 5 minutes
56K Modem = 3 minutes
ISDN Connection = 1-2 minutes
DSL Connection = 10-40 seconds
Cable Connection = 10 seconds

Printing PDF Documents

One common issue is printing PDF documents viewed from a Web site. Since Acrobat Reader is operating within the browser window, the browser print button does not work. Instead, use the print button within Acrobat.

Upgrading your Browser and Acrobat Reader

It may also be helpful to update your Browser to the newest version available and to update your Acrobat Reader to the latest version.