Acrobat Reader Help

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We recommend at least Acrobat version 4.0 for reading PDF documents on the Ramblers website.

Installing Acrobat Reader

(Note: For Acrobat Reader to work properly with your browser, install the Reader after you have installed your browser.)

Go to the Adobe website
Select an Acrobat Reader version:

Language: normally choose the default ‘English’
Platform: choose your system software (Windows, Macintosh, etc.)
Connection speed: dial-up or broadband
Various Options: the Rambler site requires only basic Reader functions

Click the download button.
Follow the instructions on the Download Manager. Generally use the suggested default options to any questions.

Acrobat Reader should automatically run when your browser reads a PDF web page. The document will be displayed in your browser window along with the Acrobat Reader toolbar. Your browser needs to be Netscape Navigator 3.0 (or later) or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 (or later). If your browser does not support Acrobat Reader, try saving the document locally to your hard disk, and running Acrobat Reader on its own to view the document.

Zoom Control

There are several ways to control how much of a document is viewed at a time in your browser’s window, and how large the magnification is.

Preset Zoom Levels
The Acrobat toolbar has buttons that represent three preset zoom levels:

Actual Size: The document page retains its original size (i.e. 8.5 x 11 inches) irrespective of the size of the browser window; only part of the document may show in the window.
Fit in Window: The document page resizes so the whole page is viewable in the browser window.
Fit Width: The document page resizes so that it’s width fills the browser window.

There is also a zoom indicator

along the lower left of the document window that allows you to choose from several preset magnification levels.

Zoom Tool
The Acrobat toolbar zoom tool allows you to zoom in and zoom out of a document.

To zoom in: Select the zoom tool, and click on the document. Repeat for more magnification.
To zoom out: Same as to zoom in, only press the Control key (Windows) or the Option key (Macintosh) as you click. The ‘+’ sign in the zoom tool changes to a ‘-‘ sign.
To zoom a particular area: Drag the zoom tool with the left mouse button down to form a marquee (a rectangular dashed line) around the area to zoom, then release the mouse button.

Page Layout

Click the Page Layout button

along the lower left of the document window and choose:

Single Page: Displays one page in the document pane at a time.
Continuous: Arranges the pages in a continuous vertical column.
Continuous - Facing: Arranges the pages in a two page side-by-side display. To use this display efficiently choose the ‘Fit in Window’ preset zoom level.

Navigating a Document

Vertical and horizontal scroll bars work as you would expect, as do the Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Up Arrow, and Down Arrow keyboard keys. Acrobat also provides the following methods to navigate a document:

Hand Tool: The Hand tool on the Acrobat toolbar allows you to move within a page freely. Select the tool, click on the page, and while keeping the mouse button down drag to reposition the page.
Page Selectors: You can move to the first, previous, next, or last page using the selector buttons on the Acrobat toolbar or along the lower left of the document window.
Previous View, Next View: A pair of arrow buttons on the Acrobat toolbar act like the ‘Back’ and ‘Forward’ buttons on the browser toolbar.

Printing a Document

Choose ‘Print’ from your browser ‘File’ menu, or select the Print tool

on the Acrobat toolbar. The paper size required is displayed along the lower left of the document window.

Searching A Document

If you selected the searching option when you downloaded Acrobat Reader then you can search the document for words or phrases. Select the Find tool

on the Acrobat toolbar and type in the word or phase you are looking for. There is a similar Find Again tool to repeat the search for the next instance of the word or phrase.

When You Are Done

To return to the regular HTML pages of the website select the 'Back' button on your browser toolbar.

About HTML and PDF

HTML and Browsers

The standard language for authoring web pages is HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), which is read and interpreted by your browser software to display page content on your screen. HTML is a developing standard with two versions in common use today: HTML 3.2 and HTML 4.01. Two popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, each having versions optimized to a particular HTML standard, and often with proprietary extensions. There is a great variety of display devices in use: graphical, text only, hand-held, devices optimized for the blind, etc.; all with varying sizes, resolutions and unique features. In this varied and changing webscape HTML is used to define the structure and general appearance of documents so they may be delivered quickly and easily to a user on a variety of display devices. HTML only suggests how documents should be formatted - content is paramount; appearance is secondary. A page may look somewhat different when viewed or printed with different browsers on different devices.

PDF and Acrobat Reader

PDF (Portable Document Format) has its roots in the Postscript page-description language that is used to render accurate copies of documents, however complex, to laser printers and image-setters. Adobe Systems, the company that developed Postscript, extended their software to the Internet with a suite of programs called Acrobat. PDF assures authors of documents created with a variety of popular software tools (word processors, spreadsheets, graphics and publishing programs, etc.) that their format and appearance, no matter how complex, is rendered accurately on a variety of display and print devices. Acrobat Reader is software that allows anyone to view and print PDF documents. The Reader is free, and can be used on almost any current system software (Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, OS/2, etc.) and with most popular browsers (Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.).

Rambler Website

This website is designed to be functional and efficient for a majority of users, hence it’s simplicity in page layout and use of standard HTML 3.2 code. Proprietary browser extensions are avoided. PDF pages are offered in cases where a set appearance or format may be important:

for viewing the Packrat newsletter, or
as an alternate format for printing selected HTML pages such as forms.

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