Your Internet WWW browser can be configured so that you can automatically view formatted versions of documents in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format with an appropriate external reader (e.g., by defining a "helper" application). Because the browsers are now fairly memory-intensive, if you do not have at least 16MB RAM, you may wish to download the PDF file first, quit your browser, and then view the document with the Adobe Acrobat Reader for your platform. However, this is completely your option. There are two steps to the configuration process.
Step 1:
Download a copy of the reader for your platform. Both Windows and Macintosh readers are available for Adobe Acrobat PDF files. You can download the latest freely-distributed Adobe Acrobat Reader at:
Configure your WWW Internet browser to add the Adobe Acrobat PDF document type to your browser's "preferences" file. The instructions below will describe how to configure your browser to automatically launch an external reader to view Adobe Acrobat PDF files. You can also configure your browser to download the file, rather than to launch the external reader. Consult your browser's user manual or contact the browser's technical support group for additional configuration instructions.
Configuration Instructions For Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.x or later:
From the "Edit" menu, choose "Preferences".
Scroll down the list on the left until you see "Receiving Files." Under this category, select "File Helpers."
Scroll down the list on the right to see if "PDF files" has already been pre-defined. If you do not see "PDF files" in the list, click the "Add..." button.
In the "Description" box, you can type whatever you want (e.g., something like "Acrobat PDF files" or, you can just leave it blank).
In the "Extension" box, type ".pdf" for Acrobat.
In the "MIME type" box, type "application/pdf"
In the "File type" box, type "PDF"
Click the "Browse..." button.
Locate the appropriate Reader on your hard drive through the dialog box. Select it and click "Open."
Click the radio button beside "Binary data"
In the section titled "How to Handle", select "View with Application" from the pop-up menu.
Click the "Browse..." button.
Locate the appropriate Reader on your hard drive through the dialog box. Select it and click "Open."
Click "OK."
Configuration Instructions For Netscape Navigator, version 3.x or later:
From the "Options" menu, choose "General Preferences."
Click the "Helpers" tab.
Click the "New..." button (under the lower right-hand corner of the
scrolling list)
In the "Description" box, you can type whatever you want (e.g., something like "Acrobat PDF files" or, you can just leave it blank and the browser will fill in "application/pdf").
In the "MIME type" box, type "application/pdf"
In the "Suffixes" box, type "pdf"
Click the radio button "Application" in the "Handled by:" box.
Click the "Browse..." button.
Locate the Adobe Acrobat Reader application on your hard drive through the dialog box. Select it and then click "OK".
From the "File Type:" popup menu in the same box choose "Text."
Click "OK."
Scroll the list of helper definitions until you see the new entry. In the column labelled "Handled By," it should say "Acrobat Reader."
NOTE: If you are using a browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, consult your browser's user manual or contact the browser's technical support group for configuration instructions.
