Wah Yan College (Hong Kong) Ontario Alumni Association -- Help on Web Browsing

Help on Web Browsing

General Issues
1. Bookmark this site
2. Make this site as your home page
3. Save image on this site
4. Enable javascript
PDF Issues
5. Open a PDF file
6. Save a PDF
7. Install Adobe Acrobat Reader
8. Use Adobe Acrobat Reader
9. (advanced topic) How to tell if Adobe Acrobat Reader has already been installed on your computer?
10. (advanced topic) How to associate PDF type with Adobe Acrobat Reader?

How to add this site to your bookmark/favourite/hotlist?

Press control-D (on Windows) or command-D (on Mac).

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How to make this site as your home page?

(under construction)

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How to save image on this site to your computer?

(under construction)

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How to enable javascript on your computer?

(under construction)

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How to open/display an Adobe Acrobat (or PDF) file?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is a proprietary file format developed by Adobe Systems for viewing electronic copies of paper documents. For instance, some of the douments on this web site are published in PDF. The software required for reading these PDF documents on the Web -- the Adobe Acrobat Reader (or the Reader)-- is freely available for virtually all operating system platform.

If you have the Reader installed on your computer, all you need to view a PDF file is clicking on the link for that PDF file on your browser. Then, one of the following three scenarioes will happen.

A. The Reader is launched by the web browser as a "plug-in" application: the PDF file is displayed within your web browser window. Please click here for the screenshot.

B. The Reader is launched by the web browser as a helper application. The PDF file is displayed with the Reader in a separate window. Please click here for the screenshot.

C. A dialog box pops up providing an option to save the PDF file on your computer, then save it. Please then locate the PDF file in the file manager, then double-click on it to open it. If the Reader is properly installed, the PDF file is recognized graphically by an icon.

If a dialog box titled with "Open with" pops up when you double-click on the PDF file, this suggest that
1, the association that "PDF file is opened up by Adobe Acrobat Reader" is broken on your system. Please click here for instruction on repairing, or
2, the Reader is not installed on your computer. Please click here for instruction on installing the Reader.
Please click here on instruction for determining whether the Reader is installed on your system.

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How to save an Adobe Acrobat (or PDF) file to your computer?

(under construction)

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How to install Adobe Acrobat Reader?

If you do not have the Adobe Arcobat Reader (or the Reader) on your computer, you can easily install the Reader for free by following the simple steps stated below just once. The Reader can then display PDF file on your computer.

A. Click this yellow image.

B. Answer the short questions on the Adobe Acrobat Reader download page. Then click the red "DOWNLOAD" image.

C. A file dialog box window titled with "Save as" will pop up. A file named rs405eng.exe (the name varies depending on the version of the Reader) is automatically selected. Press the "Save" button to start downloading Reader.

D. Locate and double-click rs405eng.exe in the file manager to start installing Reader on your computer.

E. Click the "Next" button on the welcome screen:

Acrobat Reader 4.05 Setup
			Welcome to the Acrobat Reader 4.05 Setup Program. This program will install Acrobat Reader 4.05 on your computer. It is strongly recommended that you exit all Windows programs before running this Setup program. Click Cancel to quit Setup and then close any programs you have running. Click Next to continue with the Setup program. WARNING: this program is protected by copyright law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and cirminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under law.

F. You will then be asked to choose the location where the Reader will be installed. A default location "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0" is provided. Choosing the default location is fine, otherwise click on the "Browse" button to choose another location. Then, click the "Next" button.

Choose Destination Location

Setup will install Acrobat Reader 4.05 in the following folder.

To install to this folder, click Next.

To install to a different folder, click Browse and select another folder.

You can choose not to installl Acrobat Reader 4.05 by clicking Cancel to exit Setup.

Destination Folder
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0

G. A dialog box pops up. Click the "OK" button. The installation is completed.

Information
	Thank you for choosing Acrobat Reader!

The installation is now complete. PDF file is automatically opened by the Reader when you double-click on the file icon. If you are using Netscape Navigator 4.X or Microsoft Internet Explorer, PDF file link on a web page should be opened by the Acrobat plug-in. (i.e. displayed within the browser window) Please click here to learn about navigating through the PDF document.

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How to use Adobe Acrobat Reader?

The Adobe Acorbat Reader toolbar appear as a row of buttons at the top edge of the Reader window, providing functions for viewing, printing, and navigating a PDF file.

A. Viewing the Document

	Page Only View: Causes the current PDF page to fill the entire browser window at actual size.
	Bookmark and Page View: Causes any bookmarks specified by the PDF creator to show in a frame on the lefthand side of the screen, while the actual-size document appears in a frame on the righthand side of the screen. Clicking on a bookmark entry will take you directly to that part of the document (actual size) in the righthand frame. (No bookmarks have been specified for GPO-printed bills or committee reports, so the bookmark frame will be empty.)
	Thumbnail and Page View: Causes thumbnails of the document's pages to appear in a frame on the lefthand side of the screen, while the actual-size document appears in a frame on the righthand side of the screen. Clicking on a thumbnail will take you directly to that page (actual size) in the righthand frame.
	Hand Tool: Moves the current page around. When you press the left mouse button, the hand becomes a fist, grabbing the page. With the mouse button held down you can "drag" or "push" the text or images on the page anywhere on the screen. You can also place your hand tool inside the thumbnail page view and drag it on the thumbnail to reposition the text and/or images on the page in the current actual-size document window.
	Zoom-In Tool (Increase Magnification): Select this button, then click on the document page to double the current magnification. You can also select this zoom tool and drag it to draw a rectangle (a dotted line, called a marquee) around the area of the page you want to magnify. For example, you can use the zoom tool to view hard-to-read text in images on a page. (You can also use the magnification box in the status bar to choose a magnification level.)
	Zoom-Out Tool (Decrease Magnification): Select this button and click on the center of the area for which you want to reduce the current magnification. You can also select this zoom tool and drag it to draw a rectangle ( a dotted line, called a marquee) around the area of the page you want to reduce. (You can also use the magnification box in the status bar to choose a magnification level.)
	Selects a predefined document setting: Fills the window with the page's imaged area only (text and graphics). Magnification will vary by screen size.
	Selects a predefined document setting: Shrinks the document to display the full page.
	Selects a prefined document setting: Scales the page to fit the width of the main window.

B. Navigating the Document

	Beginning of Document Button: Takes you to the first page of the PDF document currently being viewed.
	End of Document Button: Takes you to the last page of the PDF document currently being viewed.
	Next Page Button: Takes you to the next page in the PDF document currently being viewed. If there is no next page (i.e., you are on the last page of the document), the button is greyed out.
	Previous Page Button: Takes you to the previous page in the PDF document currently being viewed. If there is no previous page (i.e., you are on the first page of the document), the button is greyed out.
	Go Back Button: Returns you to the previous page, document, or magnification level. It traces your viewing path not only through the current document, but also through a series of documents. You can go back up to 64 views. Go Back will reopen closed documents if necessary.
	Go Forward Button: Reverses direction and returns you, one view at a time, to the page view where you first used Go Back.

C. Copying Text from the Document

	Select Text: Click, then use your mouse to highlight and select text from the document.
	Copy: Copies the highlighted text to the clipboard. Use the standard Windows "Edit - Paste" menu or CTRl-V to paste the text into your application (e.g., WordPerfect, Word, WordPad, NotePad, etc.)

D. Printing the Document

Print: Brings up a Windows print dialog box, which allows you to select the page(s) to be printed, the number of copies, and the print quality. The Adobe Reader also offers a "shrink-to-fit" print option, which shrinks (and if necessary rotates) oversized pages to fit on the paper size currently loaded in your printer.

E. Searching the Document

Search: Click on the binoculars button. Displays a dialog box. Type your search word or phrase in the search box. The Adobe Reader searches for an exact match of a partial word, whole word or phrase. A search for annual appropriations will not find the phrase annual budget appropriations.

By default, an Adobe Find searches forward from your current position in the document to find all occurrences of the text as either whole or partial words, in either upper- or lower-case letters, and by moving forward through the document. (In the dialog search box, you can alter these options to choose case-sensitivity, match on an entire word only, and a search backwards through the document.) The first occurrence of the text from that position will be highlighted and the Find dialog box will disappear.

Find only works in the currently open PDF file. It will not search across PDF files. In older versions of the Adobe Reader (3.0 and below), the Find capability in the Acrobat Reader is not available when running Adobe Acrobat as a plug-in.

Find Again: Click to find subsequent occurrences of your search term(s). When the last occurrence of the text has been found, you will be asked if you want to continue your search from the top of the document. You may loop back through the document or end the search.

The Adobe Acrobat Reader status bar appears at the bottom of the Netscape window, and allows for quick and easy access to most common Adobe Reader features.

	Clicking on this part of the status bar brings up a dialog box in which you can specify which page you want to go to.
	Clicking on this part of the status bar brings up a dialog box in which you can specify magnification levels of the document: from 50% to 800%, as well as selections for a window view: "Fit Page," "Fit Width," and "Fit Visible."
	This part of the status bar specifies the size and orientation of your page. Clicking on it allows you to select if you want to view the document by Single Page, or scrolling Continuous or Continuous - Facing Pages.

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How to tell if Adobe Acrobat Reader has already been installed on your computer?

(under construction)

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How to associate PDF type with Adobe Acrobat Reader?

PDF is automatically associated with the Reader upon installation. (i.e. double-clicking on a PDF file brings up the Reader) If this is not the case on your computer, you need to repair it manually by following the instructions stated below. If you cannot completely undestand the instructions below, I suggest you to re-install the Reader.

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