 |
 |
|
|
|
||
| EXPLAINING PDF FILES AND WHY WE ARE USING THEM IN SOME INSTANCES One of the files commonly used on the Internet (and also in many business graphics situations) is referred to as a PDF file. The initials correspond with the last 3 letters in the name of the file. For example, a file could be named monthly report.pdf and so you see how the name of the file looks. The 3 letters stand for portable document format, and in fact it is used most often to tie graphics (that is, pictures of things) together with text (words, letters, numbers) in a single file that can be easily printed. At first, there was just a single program that could print these files, because the creator of the format and of the idea owned it. Today there are many programs that can read and even create their own PDF files. Why do we use them? Because they make it possible, without a tremendous amount of work, to take our newsletters, and other large documents (like the Annual Report, for example) and bring them to our website for you to see. What we had previously done was to copy, piece by piece, and with an infinite number of problems and special handling, each sentence and paragraph and graphic design (like the logos you see above) ... and even then, while we could make it attractive and easy to look at, it was still not appropriate for printing because a page on the Web is not the same as a page on your printer, either in length or in width. How can you read PDF files? If you're running Windows the chances are very good you'll already have the needed program. If you do already have the program, when you click on a file designated as being a PDF file it will start to load automatically (if you are using dial-up this will probably take 4-5 minutes for the full newsletter). The program you are most likely to have on your computer is called Adobe Reader (which can be downloaded freely from the Adobe company's Web site) and it will not only read PDF files, but will also allow you to easily print them. There are also other programs that can do this. Today I (your webmaster) use a program called Foxit Reader; it also is free, and is much smaller and faster than Adobe Reader. If you know how to download a file (it's really pretty easy if you stay alert) you can get either of these files by clicking on one of the links shown just below and following the directions you will read there. For Adobe Reader go to - http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/ For Foxit Reader go to - http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ If you have any difficulties, give me a call or click on "webspirit" below, and send me an email. |
||
|
|
||
