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Help with PDF Files

UTAS Home ›  › Library › Services › Help with technology  › Help with PDF Files

About PDF files

PDF (Portable Document Format) from Adobe is a way of publishing documents online so that they appear exactly as they did in print with formatting and graphics preserved.
You can view and print PDF files from any computer (for example, Mac or Windows) using the free Acrobat Reader software which must be installed on your computer.

Getting Acrobat Reader software

Acrobat Reader is free software - download for Windows, Mac and Unix/Linux.

How Acrobat operates depends on the version of Acrobat and your browser. Acrobat may download and install as a plug-in to your Web browser. This means that it will open .pdf documents within your Web browser window.

Your Web browser may treat Acrobat as any other "helper" application and require you to configure your browser preferences (or options) so the browser knows to use Acrobat Reader to display the .pdf file.

Contact the ServiceDesk@utas.edu.au or phone 03 6226 1818 for help in configuring your browser to open Adobe Acrobat.

Accessibility

  • Adobe accessibility site
    Information on accessibility features and capabilities. There are also links to resources to help people with disabilities work more effectively with Adobe software.
  • Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents
    This section of the main Adobe website provides tools to help visually disabled users whose screen reader software is not compatible with Adobe Acrobat® Reader® 5.0. These online tools convert Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents into either HTML or ASCII text, which can then be read by a number of common screen reader programs.

More help with using Acrobat Reader

  • use the inbuilt help in your Acrobat Reader software.
  • go to the Adobe company's website
  • If you still have a problem, contact the ServiceDesk by e-mailing ServiceDesk@utas.edu.au or phoning 03 6226 1818.