Adobe ® Acrobat ® Reader 3.

0
Online Guide
• Using Acrobat Reader
• Viewing PDF documents
• Using PDF on the Web

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Using Acrobat Reader
The Acrobat Reader allows anyone to view,
navigate, and print documents in the Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF).

You may make and distribute unlimited copies of

the Acrobat Reader software, including copies for
commercial distribution, as long as each copy that
you make and distribute includes the following:

• Acrobat Reader installer, exactly as provided

by Adobe

• Acrobat Reader Electronic End User License

Agreement

• Copyright and other proprietary notices included

in Acrobat Reader

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• The following attribution statement on any media
and packaging that include Acrobat Reader:

“Acrobat® Reader Copyright © 1987-1996 Adobe

Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe
and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated, which may be registered in certain
jurisdictions.”

The Acrobat Reader Electronic End User License

Agreement and proprietary notices are contained in
the Reader installer program. You are expressly
prohibited from modifying or creating your own
installer for the Acrobat Reader software. Details
on the terms of use for the Acrobat Reader products
are found in the Acrobat Reader Electronic End User
License Agreement presented during installation of
each product.

A special “Includes Adobe Acrobat” logo is available

from Adobe for use when distributing Acrobat
Reader. See http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/
acrodist.html for more details.

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Viewing PDF documents
Opening and printing PDF documents

Setting preferences

Viewing documents

Displaying information about a document

Navigating pages

Finding words

Reviewing notes

Playing movies or sounds

Filling out forms (Windows and Macintosh)

Copying and pasting text and graphics to

another application

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Opening and printing PDF documents
Opening PDF documents

Opening PDF documents in a Web browser

window

Opening a PDF file embedded as an

OLE object in another file (Windows
and Macintosh)

Printing PDF documents

Printing PDF documents from the command

line (UNIX)

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Opening PDF documents
To open a PDF document, choose File > Open. In
the Open File dialog box, highlight the filename,
and click Open. Normally a PDF document has the
extension .pdf. In Windows, or on the Macintosh,
you can also open a PDF document by double-
clicking the file icon.

If double-clicking a file on the Macintosh platform

does not open the file in your Acrobat viewer, use
File > Open to open the file, close the file, and try
again. See Making PDF documents accessible from
the Macintosh Finder for information.

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The document author can set PDF documents to be
opened in full-screen mode, without a toolbar, menu
bar, or window controls. If the menu bar is hidden,
you can press Control+Shift+M (Windows and UNIX)
or Command+Shift+M (Macintosh) to redisplay the
menu bar temporarily. To override all the author’s
document-opening settings, press Control+Shift
(Windows and UNIX) or Option+Shift (Macintosh)
when opening the file.

To display a list of all Acrobat Reader’s command-

line options (UNIX), start the Acrobat product with
the -help option. For example:

acroread -help

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Opening PDF documents in a Web
browser window
To open a linked PDF document in a browser, simply
click the link. The PDF document is downloaded
to your machine either one page at a time or
completely before displaying on-screen, depending
on your browser, the Web server, and whether the
PDF document has been optimized. See Reading PDF
in a Web browser for more information.
See the ReadMe or ReadMe.txt file for a list of the
known supporting browsers. Check the Adobe Web
site for any updates to the supported browser list
(http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/moreinfo) .

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Opening a PDF file embedded as an
OLE object in another file (Windows
and Macintosh)
PDF documents can be incorporated into other
documents created by any OLE (Object Linking and
Embedding) 1.0 or OLE 2.0 container application.

To view an embedded PDF file:

1 Open the document into which the PDF document
has been embedded.

2 Double-click the Acrobat icon or the RTF text in the

document. Acrobat Reader launches and displays the
activated PDF document.

Note: You cannot make changes or save while in

Acrobat Reader.

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Printing PDF documents
First, select the print options you want by using the
File >Print Setup (Windows and UNIX) or Page Setup
(Macintosh) command. When you are ready to print,
choose File > Print.

Acrobat Reader offers a Shrink to Fit print option not

available with most other applications. Shrink to Fit
shrinks (and if necessary rotates) oversized pages
to fit on the paper size currently loaded in your
printer.

PDF files produced by Acrobat Distiller 3.0 can

contain custom halftone screens intended for high-
resolution imagesetters. When sent to standard
desktop PostScript printers, the custom halftone
screens contained in the PDF file can produce
“muddy” images. To avoid poor image quality on
printouts, choose the Use Printer's Halftone Screen
option in the Print dialog box.

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Printing PDF documents from the
command line (UNIX)
Besides printing directly from within Reader by
choosing File > Print, you can print PDF files from
the command line. To print the file sample.pdf to
the default printer, type the following:

% cat sample.pdf | acroexch

-toPostScript | lp
Each time you print a PDF file to a printer, Reader
displays a message:

request id is < ID>

< ID> is the print job identification number. You
can use this number to cancel your print job.

Note: If a PDF file has been secured with an Open

password or does not allow printing, you will not be
able to print from the command line.

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You can use options to control your print job from
the command line. Options available to Reader are
the following:

To create a level 2 PostScript file:

-level2

To print a PDF file to a differently named

PostScript file:
-pairs <pdf filename> <PostScript
filename>
For example, to print sample.pdf to test.ps, you
would use the following syntax:

acroexch -toPostScript -pairs

sample.pdf test.ps

To use the printer’s default halftone screens

instead of custom halftone screens included in
the file:
-printerhalftones

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Setting preferences
Preferences are settings that modify the perfor-
mance, interface, and behavior of an application.
For the most part, the preference settings of
Acrobat Reader determine the view of a document
on-screen for your copy of Reader. Some of these
settings can be overridden for a particular PDF
document by a document author. For information
about overriding the author’s document settings,
see Opening PDF documents.

In UNIX, you can define resources in the .Xdefaults

file. See Customizing resources for your personal
use (UNIX) for information. You can also give
Acrobat Reader access to more fonts systemwide
or for individual users. See Giving Acrobat Reader
access to fonts (UNIX) for information.

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To set preferences:
Choose File > Preferences, and then choose the type
of preference you want to change:

• General preferences specify options for setting a

comfortable default document view.

• Notes preferences specify a font and point size for

viewing note text.

• Full Screen preferences determine how a document

appears and behaves in Full Screen view.

• Weblink preferences determine the behavior of

information display for Weblinks and provide a way to
choose which browser to launch when activating a
Weblink.

Other Acrobat plug-ins may add new preference

items to this list. See the plug-in’s documentation
for information.

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Customizing resources for your
personal use (UNIX)
When Acrobat Reader starts, it searches for
resources in the standard X Window System
resource file (~/.Xdefaults). It uses all resources
it finds to determine the proper setup. If it finds
a resource more than once, it uses the last value
found. By editing the resource file, you can custom-
ize Acrobat Reader. For your changes to take effect,
you must restart your Windowing system.

The following sections describe some general

Acrobat resources that you can change in the
.Xdefaults file:

Plug-in location

Starting multiple Acrobat viewers

Fonts for bookmarks

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Plug-in location
When Acrobat Reader starts, it searches for plug-ins
in the directory
$ACRO_INSTALL_DIR/$ACRO_CONFIG/plug_ins.
You can specify a new default directory by changing
the *systemPlugInPath label. The *systemPlugInPath
label specifies the location of the plug-ins used by
all users of Acrobat Reader.

*systemPlugInPath /net/Acro-
bat/Sun_OS4/doc_dept/plug-ins
You can specify your own plug-ins when starting
Reader. By default, Acrobat Reader searches for
personal plug-ins in the $HOME/plug_ins directory.
You can specify a new default directory for personal
plug-ins by changing the *userPlugInPath label. For
example:

userPlugInPath $HOME/Acrobat/plug_ins

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Starting multiple Acrobat viewers
If you want to open a new Reader program
every time you open a PDF file, set the
*userFrontEndProgram resource to FALSE. By
default, the *userFrontEndProgram is set to TRUE,
meaning that the Reader program that is already
opened is used to display the new PDF file.

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Fonts for bookmarks
Normally, Acrobat Reader uses 12-point Helvetica
as the font for bookmarks. If you want to change
the font size, you can change the value of
*bookmarkFontSize. The font size is expressed
in points. If you want to change the font family,
you can change the value of *bookmarkFontName.
For example:

*bookmarkFontSize 10
*bookmarkFontName Palatino

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Giving Acrobat Reader access to fonts
(UNIX)
If a font is referenced in a PDF file, but not
embedded, and Acrobat Reader finds that font on
the system opening the file, Acrobat Reader will use
the font on the system to display the text. You can
give Reader access to your installed Type 1 fonts
by setting the PSRESOURCEPATH variable in the
viewer launch script or in your user configuration
file. Editing the launch script, usually done by a sys-
tem administrator, gives all users who access that
copy of the viewer access to the fonts. Editing your
user configuration file gives you access to the fonts.

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The PSRESOURCEPATH variable looks for UNIX Post-
Script Resource (.upr) files in the location at which
you point it. The .upr files are created when Type1
fonts are installed. If you have installed Adobe Illus-
trator or Adobe Photoshop, the PSRESOURCEPATH is
already set for the individual and Reader will find it.

To give access to fonts systemwide:

1 Open Acrobat3/bin/acroread in a text editor.

2 Enter the following command:

# PSRESOURCEPATH=<font_location>::
3 Restart Acrobat Reader.

To give an individual access to fonts:

1 Open your user-configuration file in a text editor.

2 Set the PSRESOURCEPATH environment variable:

# PSRESOURCEPATH=<font_location>::
3 Restart Acrobat Reader.

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Viewing documents
Magnifying the page view

Working with large page sizes

Choosing a page layout for scrolling ease

Setting a default view

Reading documents in Full Screen view

Choosing a Web browser for Weblinks

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Magnifying the page view
You can use the zoom tool, the magnification box in
the status bar, or the Actual Size, Fit Page, and Fit
Width toolbar buttons to change the screen magni-
fication. The maximum magnification level is 800%.
The minimum magnification level is 12%. If you
zoom in on a large document, use the hand tool to
move the page around on-screen or in a thumbnail.

Acrobat Reader also offers magnification level

choices that are not related to a specific percentage,
but to the look of the page on-screen:

• Fit Page
window.
r scales the page to fit within the main
• Fit Width s scales the page to fit the width of the
main window.

• Fit Visible fills the window with the page’s imaged

area only (text and graphics).

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When you select any of the Fit options, the magnifi-
cation level resulting from the selection is displayed
in the status bar.

The Fit options—Fit Page, Fit Width, and Fit Visible—

are in a sticky state, which means they don’t change
as you page through a document unless you change
the zoom level.

To increase magnification:
Choose one of the following:

• Select the zoom tool e and click on the document

page to double the current magnification.

• Select the zoom toole and drag to draw a rectangle,

called a marquee, around the area you want to
magnify.

• Click the magnification box in the status bar, and

choose a magnification level. If you choose Zoom To,
type in the magnification level and click OK.

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To decrease magnification:
Choose one of the following:

• Select the zoom tool e while holding down Ctrl

(Windows and UNIX) or Option (Macintosh), and click at
the center of the area you want to reduce.

• Select the zoom tool ewhile holding down Ctrl

(Windows and UNIX) or Option (Macintosh), and drag to
draw a rectangle, called a marquee, around the area
you want to reduce.

• Click the magnification box in the status bar, and

choose a magnification level. If you choose Zoom To,
type in the magnification level and click OK.

Note: If viewing a PDF document in a Web browser

window, use the zoom out tool f
to decrease
magnification.

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Working with large page sizes
If you need to magnify a page to a size larger than
the Reader window, you can use the hand tool to
move the page around so that you can view all the
areas on it. Moving a PDF document around with the
hand tool is like moving a piece of paper around on
a desk with your hand.

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Choosing a page layout for scrolling
ease
Acrobat Reader has three page layout options:
Single Page, Continuous, and Continuous-Facing
Pages. Continuous and Continuous-Facing Pages
facilitate page scrolling so that you can see the
bottom of one page and the top of another.

• Single Page layout displays one page in the document

window at a time.

• Continuous layout arranges the pages in a continuous

vertical column.

• Continuous-Facing Pages layout arranges the pages

to appear side by side. This configuration accommo-
dates two-page spread display and multiple-page
viewing in the viewer window. If the total page count of
a document is greater than two pages, the first page is

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displayed on the right to ensure proper display of two-
page spreads. To see two-page spreads most efficiently
in this page layout, choose View > Fit Width.

Single Page layout Continuous layout

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Continuous-Facing Pages layout

To set a page layout:

Choose one of the following:

• Click the page size box in the status bar, and choose
one of the page layouts from the menu.

• Choose Single Page, Continuous, or Continuous-

Facing Pages from the View menu.

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Setting a default view
You can set a default viewing magnification, a
default page layout, and other viewing defaults in
the General Preferences dialog box. These settings
apply to any document that has been set to open in
the default view.

In UNIX, the first time you open Exchange or Reader,

a preferences file named .acrorc is created in your
$HOME directory. If you have opened Acrobat
Exchange or Reader 2.1 at any time prior to opening
the 3.0 version, you should delete $HOME/.acrorc
before starting Exchange or Reader 3.0. A new
.acrorc file will be created with the recommended
Acrobat 3.0 settings when you start Exchange or
Reader 3.0.

To set a default view:

1 Choose File > Preferences > General to open the
General Preferences dialog box.

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2 Choose settings for the following options:

• Default Page Layout specifies a page layout for

your Acrobat viewer to use when PDF documents are
first opened.

• Default Magnification specifies a magnification

level for your Acrobat viewer to use when PDF docu-
ments are first opened.

• Max “Fit Visible” Magnification sets the maximum

magnification for the Fit Visible view and for viewing
articles.

• Substitution Fonts specifies which Multiple Master

fonts your Acrobat viewer uses to substitute for Type 1
and TrueType fonts that are not available on your
computer. If PDF documents fail to print because of
insufficient printer memory, choose Sans from the
Substitution Fonts menu. Changing the Substitution
Fonts setting has no effect until you restart Windows or
your Macintosh.

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• Page Units (inches, millimeters, or points) specifies
which unit of measurement is used to display the page
size in the status bar and the Crop dialog box with the
Page Units option.

• Display Large Images specifies displaying images

larger than 128K. A gray box appears in place of a large
image if you do not choose this option. Not displaying
large images can speed paging through a document.

• Greek Text: Below [___] Pixels specifies displaying

text below the designated point size as gray lines to
speed display time. The original default is 6.

• Smooth Text and Monochrome Images specifies

smoothing the edges of text and monochrome images
to minimize the contrast between the background and
the text or image. This effect usually improves the
quality of the display on-screen.

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• Use Calibrated Color for Display specifies using
the color space information for each image in this
PDF document to reproduce an accurate display of
the original image. See Calibrated color for more
information.

• Use Page Cache specifies placing the next page in a

buffer to reduce the amount of time it takes to page
through a document.

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• Open “Go to View” Links in Same Window speci-
fies opening linked PDF documents in one window to
minimize the number of open windows in your Acrobat
viewer. If you do not select this option, then a new
window is opened for each new Go to View link. If a
linked file is open when a Go to View link to it from
another document is activated, the file remains open in
a separate window.

• Allow Background Download of Entire File

specifies allowing a PDF file to continue downloading
from the Web even after the requested page displays
on-screen. If you do not select this option, only the
requested page will download to your computer and
other pages will be downloaded as you request them.

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Note: If you do not select background down-
loading, and you link to another file, the Go Back
command in your Netscape Navigator compatible
Web browser will return you to the first page of the
PDF file you linked from, even if you were not on the
first page. This can also happen if you select this
option and link to another file before the entire PDF
file is downloaded.

• Display Splash Screen at Startup specifies

displaying the Acrobat splash screen each time the
program is started.

• Display Open Dialog at Startup specifies

displaying the Open dialog box each time the program
is started.

3 Click OK.

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Reading documents in Full Screen
view
PDF documents fill the entire screen in Full Screen
view; the menu bar, toolbar, status bar, and window
controls are hidden. Document authors can set PDF
documents to open in Full Screen, or you can set the
view for yourself. Full Screen view is often used for
presentations, sometimes with automatic page
advancement and transitions.

Whether you use Full Screen to view a presentation

or for your own purposes, you can establish your
own Full Screen preferences.

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In Full Screen view, the pointer remains active so
that you can click links and open notes. You can use
navigational and magnification buttons, even
though the menus and toolbar are not visible, by
using their keyboard shortcuts:

• For the View menu, you can use shortcuts for all
commands except Page Only, Bookmarks and Page, and
Thumbnails and Page, and except the page layout
views.

• For the Tools menu, you can use shortcuts for the
hand and zoom tools.

To exit from Full Screen view, press the Escape key.

If the Escape key doesn’t work, press Ctrl+Shift+L (Win-
dows and UNIX) or Cmd+Shift+L (Macintosh) to exit full
screen mode

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Full Screen preferences
Choose File > Preferences > Full Screen to set the
characteristics of Acrobat Reader’s Full Screen view.
These settings apply to any document you open
in Full Screen view and that does not have its own
Full Screen settings.

The default settings are usually acceptable and do

not need to be changed.

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The Full Screen Preferences dialog box provides
these options:

• Advance Every __ Seconds specifies whether you

advance automatically from page to page every set
number of seconds. For automatic paging, enter the
number of seconds in the text box. You can page
through a document by using mouse or keyboard
commands even if automatic paging is selected.

• Advance On Any Click specifies navigating through

a document by clicking your mouse.

• Loop After Last Page pages through the document

continuously, returning to the first page from the last. A
typical use for this option is for kiosk displays.

• Escape Key Exits specifies using the Escape key to

exit Full Screen mode. If you disable the Escape key,
Ctrl+Shift+L (Windows and UNIX) or Cmd+Shift+L
(Macintosh) can be used to exit Full Screen mode.

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• Background Color specifies the window’s back-
ground color. Options are Black (the default), White, and
Custom. If you select Custom, the system color palette
is displayed. See your computer’s user guide for instruc-
tions on setting a custom color.

• Default Transition specifies a transition effect to

display when switching pages in Full Screen. The default
transition is None.

• Mouse Cursor specifies how the mouse cursor

appears in Full Screen view. The default is to hide the
cursor after a short delay.

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Choosing a Web browser for Weblinks
When you click a Weblink in a PDF document, the
default browser opens for you to view the linked
document. Before this happens, however, you have
to identify the default browser to Acrobat Reader.
You can also choose to show or hide the Web
browser button and link information and status.

To change preferences:
1 Choose File > Preferences > Weblink.

2 Choose from the following options:

• Choose an option from the Link Information menu to

determine whether Reader displays a URL in the status
bar always, never, or only when Ctrl (Windows and UNIX)
or Option (Macintosh) is pressed at a time when the
pointer is over a Weblink.

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• Select Show Toolbar Button to show the Web Browser
button u in the toolbar. You can open your Web
browser from Acrobat Reader by clicking the
button.

• Select Show Progress Dialog to display status infor-

mation such as how much data is being downloaded
after a Weblink is activated.

• To select a Web browser, click Browse (Windows and

UNIX) or Select (Macintosh), locate your browser, and
click Open.

• Choose the connection type that matches your

browser. If your browser is not listed, choose the
Standard connection type.

3 Click OK to save your preferences.

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Displaying information about a
document
The Document Info submenu of the File menu con-
tains commands that display information about a
document.

To display document information:

Choose File > Document Info, and then choose a
type of document info:

• General displays basic creation information about

the PDF document.

• Font displays font usage information.

• Security displays the document’s security settings.

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Getting General information about a
document
The General Info dialog box provides title, subject,
author, and keyword information if it has been pro-
vided. It also displays attributes set by Exchange,
PDF Writer, or Distiller in this dialog box:

• Creator indicates the program that created the orig-

inal document (if known).

• Producer indicates the application or driver that

produced the PDF document.

• Created indicates the date and time the document

was created.

• Modified indicates the date and time the document

was last modified.

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• Optimized indicates whether the file has been opti-
mized. (Optimized files can be downloaded one page at
a time from a Web server.)

• File Size indicates the size of the PDF file.

Note: The title is the document’s title, not neces-

sarily the filename (unless the title and filename
are identical). The title and filename appear in the
title bar in the document window.

44
Getting information about fonts used
in a document
The Font Information dialog box lists the original
font used in the original document, font type, font
encoding, and the font used in Reader to display
the original font. Only the fonts encountered in the
document so far are listed. To see a list of all fonts
used in the entire document, click the List All Fonts
button.

You can use the Font Information dialog box to see

what fonts were used in the original document and
whether the same fonts are being used as you view
it. If substitute fonts are being used and you aren’t
satisfied with their appearance, you may want to
install the original fonts on your system or ask the
document creator to recreate the document with the
original fonts embedded in it.

While Acrobat Reader creates a substitute font for

the Macintosh, the pointer appears as a spinning
letter a.

45
Getting information about security
settings
The Security Information dialog box lists the
security settings that have been assigned to the
selected PDF file.

A PDF document author can choose to restrict

access to a file by requiring an open password or by
restricting the use of certain tools and commands.
If a file requires an open password, you must enter
the password to view the file. When a file has
restricted access, any restricted tools and menu
items are dimmed.

46
Navigating pages
Paging through a document

Browsing with thumbnails

Browsing with bookmarks

Following links

Retracing your steps

Reading articles

47
Paging through a document
Acrobat Reader provides a number of ways to page
through a document.

To go to the next page:

Choose one of the following:

• Click the Next Page button m in the toolbar.

• Press the Right Arrow or Down Arrow.

• Choose View > Next Page.

To return to the previous page:

Choose one of the following:

• Click the Previous Page button l in the toolbar.

• Press the Left Arrow or Up Arrow.

• Choose View > Previous Page.

48
To go to the first page:
Choose one of the following:

• Click the First Page button k in the toolbar.

• Press the Home key.

• Choose View > First Page.

To go to the last page:

Choose one of the following:

• Click the Last Page button n in the toolbar.

• Press the End key.

• Choose View > Last Page.

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To jump to a specific numbered page:
Choose one of the following:

• Click the page number box in the status bar at the

bottom of the main window, type the page number, and
click OK.

• Choose View > Go To Page, type the page number, and

click OK.

• Drag the scroll box in the vertical scroll bar up and

down until the rectangle to the left of the scroll bar
displays the number of the page to which you want to
jump.

To move one screenful at a time:

• Press the PageDown key, Enter, or Return to move
forward.

• Press the PageUp key, Shift+Enter, or Shift+Return to

go back.

Use the horizontal scroll bar in the status bar to

scroll the page right or left.

50
Browsing with thumbnails
A thumbnail is a miniature view of each document
page which you can display in the overview area.
You can use a thumbnail to jump quickly to a page
and to adjust the view of the current page.

To jump to a page using its thumbnail:

Click the Thumbnails and Page buttonc or choose
View > Thumbnails and Page to display thumbnail
images. Click a thumbnail to move to the page it
represents. The point you click determines the
center of the page display.

Note: If thumbnails appear as gray boxes in the

overview area, the document author did not create
them for you. You can still use the thumbnails
without the miniature views or you can ask the
document author to create them for you.

51
To adjust the view of the current page:
Choose one of the following:

• Place the pointer over the lower right corner of the

page view box (the light-gray box) in the thumbnail of
the current page. When the pointer changes to a double
arrow, drag the corner of the box to reduce or expand
the view of the page.

• Use the hand tool d to move around the current

page by dragging the page view box on the thumbnail.

• Position the pointer anywhere outside the current

page view box, and drag to draw a new box.

See the graphic on the next page.

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Page view box

Place your cursor over the lower-right Drag to magnify the page view.
corner of the page view box.

Place your cursor inside the page view

box, and drag to reposition the page in
the document window.

53
Browsing with bookmarks
Bookmarks can mark parts of a document for quick
access, link to page views in other documents, link
to the Web, play a movie or sound, enter an article,
and reset or submit a form.

To jump to a topic by using its bookmark:

1 Click the Bookmarks and Page button b or choose
View > Bookmarks and Page to display bookmarks in
the overview area. If a triangle appears to the left of
the bookmark, click the triangle to show or hide
subordinate bookmarks.

2 To go to the destination specified by a bookmark,

click the bookmark text or double-click the page icon
to the left of the bookmark name. A bookmark can also
change the page view, play a movie, reset a form, or
perform other actions.

54
Following links
Links can connect parts of a document, jump to
other PDF documents, open another application file,
go to a location on the Web, play a movie or sound,
enter an article, hide or show an annotation, import
form data, and reset or submit a form.

To follow a link:
1 Move the pointer over a linked area. The pointer
J
changes to a pointing finger when positioned over
U
a link. The finger pointer
over a Weblink.
displays a W when moved

2 Click to follow the link. Clicking a link can also

change the page view, play a movie, reset a form, or
perform other actions.

Note: A Web browser must be chosen in your

Weblink preferences to follow a Weblink. See
Weblink preferences for more information.

55
Retracing your steps
The Go Back button traces your viewing path
through a document or series of documents. You
can go back up to 64 views. Go Back will reopen
closed documents if necessary.

To retrace your viewing path:

• Click the Go Back button o or choose View > Go
Back to return to the previous page, document, or
magnification level.

• Click the Go Forward button p or choose View > Go

Forward to reverse direction and return, one view at a
time, to the view where you first used Go Back.

56
Reading articles
Articles connect related parts of a document by cre-
ating a reading path through the document. Articles
are usually created to make reading documents with
multi column magazine articles easier.

To find out whether a document contains articles:

Choose View > Articles. (This menu item is dimmed
if the document contains no articles.)

Note: Clicking Info in the Articles dialog box

displays the title, author, subject, and any
keywords associated with the article. If you have
a larger monitor and want to keep this dialog
box displayed so you can go from one article to
another, deselect Hide on View.

57
To read an article:
1 Choose one of two options to start:

• Choose View > Articles, select the article you want,

and click View to display the beginning of the article.

• Select the hand tool D and click any part of the

article to start reading at that point in the article. Or with
the hand tool selected, press Ctrl (Windows and UNIX) or
Option (Macintosh) and click to start reading at the
beginning of the article.

2 While you read an article, the pointer changes to the

follow article pointer C. Press Return or click to
progress through the article.

3 Continue to press Return or click until you reach the

end of the article. At the end of the article, the pointer
changes to the end article pointer E . Click again or
press Enter to return to the page view displayed before
you started reading the article.

58
To reverse direction in the article:
Do any of the following:

• Press the Shift key and click.

• Press Shift+Enter.

• To return to the beginning of the article, press the

Ctrl (Windows and UNIX) or Option (Macintosh) key
and click.

To exit an article at any time:

Do any of the following:

• Select any navigation method other than pressing

Enter or Return.

• Go to another article or page.

• Hold down Shift+Ctrl (Windows and UNIX) or

Shift+Option (Macintosh) and click.

59
Finding words
Use the Find command to find part of a word, a
complete word, or multiple words in the active
document.

If the Acrobat Search plug-in is installed, you can

search across documents that have been indexed
with the Acrobat Catalog program by using the
Search command instead of the Find command. If
the Acrobat Search plug-in is installed, see the
Acrobat Search Online Guide for more information.
(The Acrobat Search Online Guide is available only if
you have the Acrobat Search plug-in installed.)

To find a word:
1 Click the find tool t, or choose Tools > Find.

60
2 Choose any combination of the following options, or
none of them:

• Match Whole Word Only specifies ignoring words

that are contained within the text you enter. For
example, the word stick would not be highlighted
if you chose the word sticky to find.

• Match Case specifies finding only those words that

contain exactly the same capitalization as you enter in
the Find dialog box.

• Find Backwards specifies starting from the current

page and searching backwards through the file. Find
Backwards is helpful if you want to find a term you
passed earlier in the document.

3 In the Find What text box, enter the text to be found

and click Find. When the program finds the text, the Find
dialog box closes and the page containing the text is
displayed with the text highlighted.

61
4 To find the next occurrence of the word, press Ctrl
(Windows and UNIX) or Command (Macintosh) +G, or
reopen the Find dialog box and click Find Again. With
Windows, pressing F3 also finds the next occurrence of
the word. You will be prompted to loop around to the
beginning of the document if you start the process
on any page other than the first page.

62
Reviewing notes
Notes appear as small page icons on PDF document
pages. They are like the sticky notes used with
paper document reviews. Notes do not print directly
from the document that they annotate.

To review notes:
• To open a note, double-click the note icon h.
• To find the next note in a document, choose
Tools > Find Next Note (Ctrl/Command+T).

• To close a note, click the close box in the upper left

corner of the note window. (If the note is selected,
Macintosh users can also press Command+W.)

63
Playing movies or sounds
Windows and Macintosh viewers can play movies
and sounds added to a PDF document. To play
movies or sounds with Windows, your computer
must have the appropriate sound and video boards
installed, and Apple QuickTime  2.0 or later or
the Microsoft Video for Windows software. On a
Macintosh, you need QuickTime 2.0 or later.

To play a movie or sound clip:

1 When the pointer moves over a movie or sound clip,
the pointer changes to a filmstrip . i
2 Click to start playing the clip.

64
3 Click the clip, or press Escape to exit the clip.

Note: Movies and sounds can also play in a docu-

ment if specified as an action by a link, bookmark,
form field, or page action.

You can control a QuickTime movie with QuickTime

Movie shortcuts.

65
QuickTime movie shortcuts
(Windows and Macintosh)

Result Action
Stop and exit this clip Esc

Toggle between play and pause Return/Space

Step forward one frame Right Arrow

Step backward one frame Left Arrow

Increase sound volume Up Arrow

Decrease sound volume Down Arrow

Go to the start of the clip Home (Win)

Go to the end of the clip End (Win)

Play forward Ctrl/Cmd + Right Arrow

Play backward Ctrl/Cmd + Left Arrow

66
Filling out forms (Windows and
Macintosh)
You can fill out forms in PDF documents in Acrobat
Reader and submit them across the Web if you are
viewing PDF documents in your Web browser
window. Otherwise, print the form with the data
from Reader.

To fill out a form:

1 Select the hand tool d.
2 Position the cursor inside a form field. The I-beam
cursor allows you to type text. The arrow cursor allows
you select the field, checkbox, radio button, or a choice
from a list.

3 After entering text or selecting an item, checkbox, or

radio button choose from the following:

• Press Tab to accept the field change and go to the

next field.

67
• Press Shift+Tab to accept the field change and go to
the previous field.

• Press Return or Enter to accept the field change and

deselect the current field.

Note: In a multiline text field, Return goes to the

next line; it does not accept the field change nor
deselect the current field.

• Press the Escape key to reject the field change and

deselect the current field. If you press the Escape key a
second time and you are in Full Screen mode, you will
exit Full Screen mode.

4 Once you have filled in the appropriate fields, choose

one of the following:

• Click a Submit Form button, if one exists. (The Submit

Form button could have any name.) Clicking this button
should send the form data to a database across the Web
or over your company intranet.

• Choose File > Print.

68
To clear a form in a browser window:
Choose from the following:

• If a Reset Form button exists, click it.

• Exit Acrobat Reader, and start again.

Note: Clicking the Reload button or Go Back button

or following a link in the browser window does not
clear the form.

69
Copying and pasting text and graphics
to another application
You can select text or a graphic in a PDF document,
copy it to the Clipboard, and paste it into a
document in another application such as a word
processor. You can also paste text into a PDF
document note or into a bookmark.

Once the selected text or graphic is on the

Clipboard, you can switch to another application
and paste it into another document.

Note: If a font copied from a PDF document is

not available on the system displaying the copied
text, the font cannot be preserved. Helvetica is
substituted.

70
To select text and copy it to the Clipboard:
1 Do one of the following:

• Click the text selection tool g, or choose

Tools > Select Text and drag to select the text
you want to copy.

• To select text in one column of a multicolumn

story, hold down Ctrl (Windows and UNIX) or Option key
(Macintosh) while.

• To select all text on the pages shown in your Reader

window—even if only a portion of a page is showing—
choose Edit > Select All.

Note: The Select All command will not select all the
text in the entire document. To copy all the text in
the entire document use the Edit > Copy File to Clip-
board command. If you do not see the Copy File to
Clipboard command, install the OLE plug-in. See
the Getting Started guide for information.

71
When you release the mouse button, the selected
text is highlighted. To deselect the text and start
over, click anywhere outside the selected text.

2 Choose Edit > Copy to copy the selected text to the

Clipboard. To view the text, choose Window > Show
Clipboard.

Note: In Windows 95, the Clipboard viewer is not

installed by default; therefore, you cannot use the
Show Clipboard command until you install it.
Install the Clipboard viewer by choosing Start >
Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs
and clicking the Windows Setup tab. Double-click
Accessories, check Clipboard viewer, and click OK.

72
To copy graphics to the Clipboard:
1 Choose Tools > Select Graphics. The cursor changes
to the cross-hair icon.

2 Drag a rectangle around the graphic to select it. When

you release the mouse button, the selected graphic is
highlighted. (To deselect the graphic and start over, click
anywhere outside the selected graphic.)

3 Choose Edit > Copy to copy the selected graphic to

the Clipboard. To view the graphic, choose Window >
Show Clipboard. The graphic is copied in the WMF
(Windows), PICT (Macintosh), or XPIXMAP (UNIX)
format. With UNIX, the graphic is pasted in the
primary selection.

73
Using PDF on the Web
PDF documents can be published on the World Wide
Web and read in Web browsers, or in Acrobat view-
ers used as helper applications with Web browsers.

Web viewing scenarios

Page-at-a-time downloading

Reading PDF on the Web

74
Web viewing scenarios
PDF documents on the Web can be handled in four
ways:

• The browser supports PDF viewing, the PDF file is

optimized, and the Web server supports byte-serving,
so the PDF file downloads a page at a time and displays
in the Web browser window. This situation represents
the fastest viewing scenario possible for viewing PDF
files on the Web.

• The browser supports PDF viewing, but the PDF file is

not optimized or the server does not byte-serve files, so
the entire PDF file downloads to the machine with the
browser and then displays within the browser window.

75
• The browser supports PDF viewing, and PDF docu-
ments are embedded in an HTML page, allowing the PDF
file to display in part of the browser window rather than
in a full window. An ActiveX browser such as Internet
Explorer supports navigating through the document in
the partial window. Netscape Navigator-compatible
browsers can display the PDF document within an
HTML page but require a link to a full window view
for navigation.

• Acrobat Exchange or Reader is configured as a helper

application for the browser, which may or may not
support PDF viewing within the browser window. The
entire PDF file downloads to the machine with the
browser, the Acrobat viewer launches as a separate
application, and the PDF file is then displayed in the
Acrobat viewer.

See also Setting up an Acrobat viewer as a helper

application.

76
Page-at-a-time downloading
With page-at-a-time downloading (byte-serving), the
Web server sends only the requested page of infor-
mation to the user, not the entire PDF document. As
a reader of the PDF document, you do not have to
do anything to make this happen; it is communi-
cated in the background between the Acrobat
viewer and the Web server. However, if you would
like the entire PDF document to continue download-
ing in the background while you view the first page
of requested information, you select the Allow
Background Download of Entire File option in
General Preferences.

For a list of Web server software that include built-

in support for page-at-a-time downloading, see
http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/moreinfo .

If your Web server software does not support

page-at-a-time downloading, you can use a CGI
application to do it. See http://www.adobe.com/
acrobat/moreinfo for information.

77
Reading PDF on the Web
Each document or other resource on the Web is
identified by a unique uniform resource locator
(URL) address. Clicking a URL link to a PDF document
on the Web can open the document identified by the URL
in your Web browser for inline viewing, or in Acrobat
Reader if the Reader has been set up as a helper appli-
cation for your browser. You can also read PDF files
that have been embedded in HTML documents on
the Web.

Reading PDF in a Web browser

Reading embedded PDF files

Setting up an Acrobat viewer as a helper

application

78
Reading PDF in a Web browser
A PDF document on the Web can be displayed in a
Web browser compatible with Netscape Navigator
3.0 or Internet Explorer 3.0.

Netscape Navigator compatible browsers also need

access to the PDFViewer plug-in in their plug-in
folders to display PDF documents. The PDFViewer
plug-in is automatically installed in the Netscape
plug-ins folder with Windows and on the Macintosh.
For other browsers, with UNIX, or if you install a
new browser after installing Reader, see Installing
the Web browser plug-in for information.
See also

Filling out forms (Windows and Macintosh).

Using tools and positioning the Acrobat

toolbar

Visiting the Acrobat Web site

Searching on the Web

79
Using tools and positioning the
Acrobat toolbar
All the Acrobat Reader tools, except Find and Select
Text, are available in Web browsers. A print tool, not
available in Reader outside the browser window, is
added to the toolbar to allow you to print the PDF
file.

Keyboard commands are mapped to browser tools,

not to Acrobat viewer tools, so Acrobat keyboard
shortcuts are not available in the browser window.

When you view a PDF document in a Web browser,

you can position the toolbar along any of the four
sides of the browser window. The default position is
the top of the window.

80
To reposition the toolbar:
1 Click a blank area of the toolbar and drag the toolbar
to the window edge you would like the toolbar to follow.

2 Release the mouse when you see the outline of the

toolbar along the window edge.

81
Visiting the Acrobat Web site
Click the Visit the Acrobat Web Site button to
link directly to the Acrobat Web site. This page con-
tains valuable information about new technology,
links to free Acrobat plug-ins, and more.

82
Searching on the Web
Some Web search engines index PDF documents as
well as HTML documents on Web servers. And some
search engines support PDF search highlighting,
although not all search engines that support PDF
indexing support search highlighting. See the
Adobe Web site, http://www.adobe.com/
acrobat/moreinfo, for a list of both types of
search engines.

If you encounter a Web site that uses a search

engine that indexes PDF documents, your search
results list may include PDF documents. If the Web
site uses a search engine that supports PDF search
highlighting and you open one of the PDF docu-
y
ments in the search results list, the Search Next
and the Search Previous x buttons activate on the
Acrobat toolbar in your Web browser window. Also,
the search term is highlighted in the document.

83
To go to the next search hit, click the Search Next
button. To return to a previous search hit, click the
Search Previous button. The Search Next and Search
Previous commands jump across PDF documents
but not across HTML documents.

84
Reading embedded PDF files
HTML documents can include embedded PDF files.
An embedded PDF file normally displays an image of
the first page of the file in the HTML document.
An embedded PDF file can be configured by the
HTML document author to display, when clicked,
in a separate window. It will display in a browser
window or in an Acrobat viewer window, depending
on how you have configured your browser. When a
PDF file is opened in this manner, you can read the
file as you would any other PDF file.

If the file is not configured to open in a separate

window, you will be able to interact with the PDF
document in a browser compatible with Internet
Explorer but not one compatible with Netscape
Navigator. For example, links would not be active in
an embedded PDF file displayed in the HTML page in
Netscape Navigator, but they would be active in
Internet Explorer.

85
Setting up an Acrobat viewer
as a helper application
If your Web browser does not support inline viewing
of PDF documents or you prefer not to view PDF
inline, you can set up Acrobat Reader as a helper
application with your browser’s preferences. With
Reader set up as a helper, Reader will launch and
display any PDF file linked on the Web.

When you use Reader as a helper application, page-

at-a-time downloading, form submittal, search
highlighting on the Web, and viewing embedded
PDF files are not available.

86
To set up your browser to recognize PDF files,
you must define a MIME Type and a file type.
File Type should be pdf. MIME Type should be
application/pdf. See your browser’s documenta-
tion or http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/moreinfo
for information about configuring specific Web
browsers.

If you are using Netscape Navigator 2.0 or later with

Windows or on the Macintosh and you want to use
your Acrobat viewer as a helper application, rename
or delete the PDFViewer plug-in from the Netscape
plug-in folder. The plug-in is named NPPDF32.dll or
NPPDF16.dll (Windows) or PDFViewer (Macintosh).

87
Installing the Web browser plug-in
If you are using a Web browser that supports the
Netscape API architecture, copy the Web browser
plug-in to your browser’s plug-in folder. If you are
using a Netscape Navigator browser, the Acrobat
installer attempts to install the plug-in for you.

To install the Web browser plug-in (Windows):

1 Open File Manager or Windows Explorer.

2 Locate the Acrobat3\Reader\Browser folder.

3 Copy the NPPDF32.dll or NPPDF16.dll file to your

Web browser’s plug-in folder.

88
To install the Web browser plug-in (Macintosh):
1 Open the Web Browser Plug-in folder within the
Adobe Acrobat 3.0 folder.

2 Copy the PDFViewer plug-in to your Web browser’s

plug-in folder.

To install the Web browser plug-in (UNIX):

Run <installdir>/Browsers/netscape.

89
Making PDF documents accessible
from the Macintosh Finder
PDF files created with Windows or UNIX Acrobat
producers cannot be opened by double-clicking on
the Macintosh. To enable double-clicking to open
the PDF files, choose one of the following:

• Choose File > Open instead of double-clicking. Use

the Open command on the Macintosh once, and the next
time you will be able to open it by double-clicking.

• Use the PDF Type Utility to set the file type and creator
on the Macintosh.

The PDF Type Utility (Macintosh) is available in the

Utility folder on the Acrobat 3.0 CD-ROM. To use the
utility, you simply drag PDF files created on another
platform to it. The utility adds the appropriate infor-
mation so you can open the files by double-clicking.

90
Calibrated color
The Portable Document Format allows for device-
independent color (DIC) specifications. DIC allows
creators of PDF documents to specify the colors of
objects in page descriptions independent of the
color characteristics of destination monitors or
printers.

The result of using DIC is consistent color reproduc-

tion from device to device. This is important
because of the large color variations between differ-
ent devices. Even two monitors can have widely dif-
ferent color characteristics. Note that not all colors
in a given PDF document will be specified in this
DIC manner. Currently, only PDF files created by
Acrobat Distiller 2.1 or later contain DIC color
specification on a global level, and only images are
affected, not vector-based line art.

Shown here are two images, both derived from the

same original image. Think of this as the same
image being scanned by two different scanners.

91
The PDF file describing this page contains a
different color space and different image data
for each image.

Monitor A Monitor B

PDF without color calibration

PDF with color calibration

92
Although each image contains different image
data, the Acrobat viewer is using the color space
information for each image in this PDF document to
reproduce an accurate display of the original image.
Although the colors will not match perfectly on
two devices such as monitors, they will be more
consistent.

93
Keyboard shortcuts (Macintosh)

Result Action
Exits Full Screen view Escape

Exits Full Screen view x + (period)

Overrides open document settings, Shift + Option +
and uses default settings Open Document
Exits Full Screen view if the
Option + Shift + L
Escape key has been disabled

94
Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows
and UNIX)

Result Action
Exits Full Screen view Escape

Overrides open document settings Shift + Ctrl +

and uses default settings Open Document
Exits Full Screen view if the
Option + Shift + L
Escape key has been disabled
Opens Exchange or Reader
F1
Online Guide

95
Paging shortcuts (Macintosh)

Result Action
Scrolls page to the right Right Arrow + Shift

Scrolls page to the left Left Arrow + Shift

Scrolls page up Up Arrow + Shift

Scrolls page down Down Arrow + Shift

Go to first page x+1

Go to previous page x+2
Go to next page x+3
Go to last page x+4
Go to last page End key

96
Paging shortcuts (Windows and UNIX)

Result Action
Scrolls page to the right Right Arrow + Shift

Scrolls page to the left Left Arrow + Shift

Scrolls page up Up Arrow + Shift

Scrolls page down Down Arrow + Shift

Go to first page Ctrl + 1

Go to previous page Ctrl + 2

Go to next page Ctrl + 3

Go to last page Ctrl + 4

Go to last page End key

97
 1996 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Adobe Acrobat 3.0 Reader Online Guide
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license
and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.
The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to
change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe
Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility
or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book.
The copyrighted software that accompanies this manual is licensed to the End
User for use only in strict accordance with the End User License Agreement,
which the Licensee should read carefully before commencing use of the soft-
ware. Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior writ-
ten permission of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Acrobat Capture, the Acrobat logo, Distiller,
Acrobat Exchange, Adobe Type Manager, PostScript, and the tagline “If you can
dream it, you can do it” are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks and ActiveX and Windows NT
are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Apple,
Macintosh, Power Macintosh, and QuickTime are registered trademarks and
AppleScript and TrueType are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Lotus Notes
is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Netscape and
Netscape Navigator are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation.
UNIX is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries, licensed exclu-
sively through X/Open Company, Ltd. Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corpora-
tion. All other products or name brands are trademarks of their respective own-
ers.
This product contains an implementation of the LZW algorithm licensed under
U.S. Patent 4,558,302.

98
This software includes software licensed from Verity, Inc., copyright 1994. All
rights reserved. The address of Verity, Inc., is 894 Ross Drive, Sunnyvale, Cali-
fornia 94089. Verity ® and TOPIC ® are registered trademarks of Verity, Inc. in
the United States and other countries. English Electronic Thesaurus copyright
1993 by INSO Corporation. Adapted from the Oxford Thesaurus copyright 1991
by Oxford University Press and from Roget's II: The New Thesaurus copyright
1980 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction or disas-
sembly of embodied programs and databases prohibited.
1994 This software includes software licensed from RSA Data Security, Inc.
Written and designed at Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Ave., San Jose,
CA 95110-2704.
Adobe Systems Europe Limited, Adobe House, 5 Mid New Cultins, Edinburgh
EH11 4DU, Scotland, United Kingdom
Adobe Systems Co., Ltd., Yebisu Garden Place Tower, 4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 150, Japan
For defense agencies: Restricted Rights Legend. Use, reproduction, or disclosure
is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Tech-
nical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-7013.
For civilian agencies: Restricted Rights Legend. Use, reproduction, or disclosure
is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraphs (a) through (d) of the com-
mercial Computer Software Restricted Rights clause at 52.227-19 and the limi-
tations set forth in Adobe’s standard commercial agreement for this software.
Unpublished rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.
(9/96)

99
How to use this online guide
Page back or page forward.

Undoes a change of page or view, or redoes a

change (Go Back/Go Forward).

Go to the Contents.

Go to the how-to page (this page).

Go to the “parent” of the current topic.

text Go to the indicated topic.

Go to the next page of a continued topic.

End of a continued topic.

For instructions on printing this guide, go to the next page.

100
How to print this online guide
You can print separate topics or the entire guide.
Since the pages of the guide have been made small
for online viewing, Windows and Macintosh users
may prefer to print them two to a page of paper—
”two up.”

To print pages two up:

1 Choose File > Print Setup (Windows) or File > Page
Setup (Macintosh).

2 Follow the instructions for your platform:

• In Windows, click Options, select 2 up on the Paper

tab, click OK to return to the Print Setup dialog box, and
click OK again to close it.

101
• On a Macintosh, choose 2 Up from the Layout menu
and click OK.

Note: If you can’t perform step 2, you may not be

using an Adobe or PostScript printer driver. If you
are and you still can’t perform the step, install the
Adobe printer driver on the Acrobat CD-ROM. See
the Acrobat Getting Started guide for installation
instructions.

3 Choose File > Print.

4 Indicate the page range.

Click OK (Windows) or Print (Macintosh).

102