about Adobe Acrobat

Adobe is a software company which produces some of the world’s finest graphics software.  Adobe Acrobat is a program which converts and compresses a word processing document into a “portable document format” and gives it a .PDF (caps don't matter)  file extension.  A .PDF file preserves the exact page properties that the originating program created, just as it would look if printed on a color printer.  Adobe Acrobat Reader is a companion program which can read .PDF files and display them on a computer screen.

A publisher who uses Adobe Acrobat to convert text to portable document format is then permitted to offer the Reader as a free supplement to the .PDF files.  Therefore, you are invited to obtain the Reader directly from Adobe’s web site by clicking the yellow button at the left.  Your computer may already have it. It is sometimes packaged with other software whose documentation may be stored as an Acrobat .PDF file.  To see whether you have it, in Windows  click Start, Programs and look for a program group that starts with “Adobe.”  Follow through the menus to see whether Acrobat Reader is listed.  As an alternative, find any file that has a .PDF extension and double click it.  If you have the Reader, the file will open in it.

Once you download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader, it remains available to use whenever you want to read any .PDF file.  It has many useful features.  Depending on the version, you may be able to zoom in on a page, set bookmarks and return to them, go to a specific page, search for a word or phrase, and print all or sections of a document.  The original text and graphics look just as if they had been scanned and printed.

DamnYankee.com has selected Adobe Acrobat portable document format as one standard for all our publications because nearly everyone can obtain the Reader and use the same .PDF files.  (For an alternative, click about Glassbook.)

If you’re not sure whether you want to use Acrobat Reader or how to go about it, you can give it a try. There is no cost besides what we ask for one of our books.

When you are ready to get Acrobat Reader, click the yellow button at left or wherever else it appears throughout this web site. That will take you to Adobe’s web site, where you can download the program directly from the source. Adobe will walk you through the steps to install it.

After you’ve installed Acrobat Reader, you start it and open files in it much as you would with any word processing program except that you can only read files; you cannot create or edit .PDF files with it. That is the function of Adobe Acrobat itself.

other PDF program - This is not an endorsed link, however we are aware of a program from AmicUtilities called PDF Writer Pro which installs itself as a Windows printer driver and gives Windows applications the ability to create PDFs from any documents without using Acrobat.

Available at http://www.amicutilities.com/pdf-writer 

a non-PDF alternative - For those less adventurous about the mysteries of computers or otherwise daunted by the idea of using the Acrobat Reader, there is rich text, (with the file extension .RTF).  This format runs in virtually any word processor and is a further refinement of the old, standard, ASCII text format, (with the file extension .TXT).

ASCII text is just that.  Text.  Any computer program can display it.  Page formatting, fonts, character enhancements, colors, and images are not preserved.  But the words are all there.

Rich text takes this a lot further and a file saved as .RTF may, in most instances, preserve everything, including images.  A significant problem, though, is file size, especially in book-length documents containing even the smallest images (a logo, a page of cover art).  It may not be feasible to include images in books offered in rich text format.  The files would be from six to ten times larger.  

DamnYankee.com offers its titles in rich text format, and other formats as well, by special request.  Please contact us with your needs.  Page formatting and fonts may be preserved, and .RTF documents can be read on practically any word processor.

Once you have obtained either a .PDF file or a .RTF file, you must locate the folder that holds the file and double click on its name.  Usually this will launch Acrobat Reader or your computer's default word processor and take you to the first page.  

After it is on your computer, though, the file you obtained from DamnYankee.com is for your personal use in accordance with the generous terms of the copyright statement found inside the file.

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