Every now and again when browsing the web, you might see a message similar to the one below:

This is an "Adobe Acrobat" web site.  To retrieve documents which are available on this site only in the Adobe PDF format, make sure you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader ® Installed.  

If you do see that message or similar, you will need to download the latest version of a free software tool known as Adobe Acrobat® Reader

How to download and install the latest version of
Adobe Acrobat Reader

You can download the software for FREE from the Adobe web site by using the step by step instructions provided here.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN . . . . PRINT THIS PAGE!!

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE 
ADOBE ACROBAT READER VERSION 8.0

1. First:.  If you currently have an earlier version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you MUST UNINSTALL THE EARLIER VERSION BEFORE INSTALLING VERSION 8.0
2. After uninstalling, reboot your system to get a clean start.
3. Connect to the Adobe Web Site by clicking on the following link: http://www.adobe.com
4. The Adobe web site will need to come up in FULL GRAPHICS MODE so you can see all of the pictures on the screen in order for this to work. (Note:  If you have your web browser set to "text only", you will need to temporarily reset it to support "full graphics capability".)  
5. Near the bottom of the page is an icon that says "Get Acrobat Reader".  CLICK ON THE ICON.  This will take you to the "Download Acrobat Reader" page.
6. STEP #1 - Use the menu selections on the page to choose your language, operating system, and location
7. STEP #2 - UNCHECK any other boxes such as the Google Toolbar as you do not necessarily need to download these items as well.
8. STEP #3 Click on the Download button. (Note the size of the file you are downloading below the button BEFORE you click the button.  A 6MB file takes about 30 minutes to download on a 28.8 - 33.3 line connection. The faster your connection, not your modem, the faster the download)
9. The "Thank You . . . . you are now downloading Adobe Acrobat Reader" screen will appear. WAIT FOR THE NEW WINDOW TO OPEN 
10. When the window opens, make sure the "Save this program to disk" bullet is checked and Click OK
11. A window will open where you can determine the location on your hard disk where you would like to save this file. If you do not have a specific folder named "Download"  or something similar where you save all of your downloaded files, put this one on your desktop of wherever else you want to save it. But . . .VERY IMPORTANT . . . . REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT IT SO YOU CAN FIND IT LATER!!!
12. After completion of the download, locate the file on your hard disk
13. Double click on the file to open and install the program.  Follow the instructions as they appear on your screen.
14. After the program is installed, I recommend that you reboot your system to insure that the registry entries are properly indexed

How to Open Adobe "PDF" Documents

WINDOWS 95 / 98 USERS

1. To open Adobe PDF documents within a web browser page:  Place your cursor on the file you wish to open and double-click.  Then, you will need to wait for the file to open.  Depending on the size of the file, the speed of your modem and the speed of your connection, your wait could be short or it could be long.  When the "download" begins you will not see any kind of an indicator.  However, once it has proceeded to a certain point, a new web page will open (it will be blank to start with), the Adobe Acrobat Reader main screen will appear, and then a progress bar will show up in your web browser.  Once it is complete, the document will "appear" on your web page.  You can now print the document.  Very Important Printing Notation: DO NOT use the print icon on the menu bar of your web browser.  If you use this icon, you will not get a correct printout AND, it could cause your computer to freeze, requiring a reboot.  When Printing from your Web Browser, be sure to use the PRINT ICON ON THE FAR LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE ADOBE MENU BAR.  This will allow you to print the document in its "original" format.  NOTE: If after opening the document within your web browser page, you have "garbage" or a blank page, you should use the back arrow on your web browser to return to the page with the document (s) and then do the following instead.

2. To download an Adobe PDF document to your hard disk:  First, place your cursor on the file you wish to download and click the RIGHT mouse button.  A window will open.  Select "Save target as . . ." and another window will open telling you that it is "getting the file information".  Depending upon the size of the file, this could take a minute or two or it could take several minutes. What is happening during this time period is the file is being temporarily downloaded to your Windows/Temp directory.  Once it is fully downloaded to the "Windows/Temp" directory, another window will open.  This window will allow you to select the actual location on your hard disk where you would like to store the file.  Once you have located the place where the file will be stored, you can either keep the original file name or rename it.  Once it has a name you can identify with, click on "Save" to save the file in this location.  Another window will appear immediately telling you that the "Download is Complete".  At this point you can either download another file, or you can open the file you just downloaded.

3. Open the File With Adobe Acrobat Reader:  With the file saved to your hard disk, click "Start / Programs / Adobe Acrobat" and launch the Adobe Acrobat Reader.  Once the Reader is open, select "File / Open" and using the window that appears, navigate to the place on your hard disk where you saved the downloaded file.  Once you've located it, double-click on it and it will automatically be opened by the Reader.

4. You can now read and print the file(s) which you opened depending on your need.  To print the file at this point, select "File - Print" from the top menu bar and print as you would any other document.

MAC USERS (Information provided by Sam Frear) from District 5110.

1. Opening POSTA "PDF" Document Deliveries:When an E-Mail is received from Rotary advising there is a document to be downloaded from the WEB, highlight the address given.  Then go to Edit menu and choose "copy".

2. Quit your E-mail program.  If you have system 8 or higher, select the "connect to" site on your Apple menu and going back to the Edit menu, select 'paste. (If you have an older operating system, go directly to your Internet program, in the File menu of that select "open" and then "location in Navigator" and paste to that.)

3. Once you are connected to the Rotary site a menu will appear after you twice click the title of the document to be downloaded. This menu has four choices. Select "Save". When you do this, another menu will appear asking where you want to save this. On that menu select the hard disc and scroll to the program of your choice.

4. Select Adobe Acrobat since this is the program to open the document. And always after that, Adobe Acrobat will appear as your preferred choice. Anytime thereafter you can open the Adobe Acrobat, go to its Open file and select the article you downloaded. In a minute or two it will appear and you can print it.

5. Follow printing instructions as indicated in the Windows 95 / 98 instructions above.

AOL USERS

1. Be sure you are using the latest version of AOL's software / operating system (Currently Version 6.0)  If you aren't you could have difficulty with Adobe Acrobat documents.

2. It is recommended that you also use the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by AOL as your web browser.  It is not recommended that you use the standard AOL web browser.

3. Follow instructions for opening documents based on the instructions above for your specific operating system.

Instructions prepared by Harriett Schloer - Webmaster for RI President Frank Devlyn