About PDF Documents

Adobe® Acrobat® Portable Document Format

Several documents on this Website are labelled as PDF followed by a number in this style:

The document's name (PDF - 250k) The document's description.

These elements are described below:

Both the PDF icon* and the document's name link to the actual document (in this example, they simply link back to this page).
The PDF - 250k text links to this page to provide the explanation. When you are done reading this page, your Web browser's back button will return you to the page that brought you here and will have no need to return unless you wish to refresh your memory about this site's procedure for documenting PDF links.
The number in brackets beside PDF documents refers to the size of the document and is provided for your convenience. For example, (PDF - 250k) refers to a PDF document that is 250 kilobytes in size.
The document's description may provide additional information about the document.

Alternatively, a smaller PDF icon may be used if the link is within a paragraph (PDF - 250k) where it is inconvenient to break the structure with the full icon. This may also indicate an external site where either the entire site or the page is in PDF format where you might expect a regular Web page to be linked.

* Note: The use of the PDF icon is restricted by Adobe to PDF documents created with the Adobe® Acrobat® family of products.

Adobe® Reader® Needed

You will need the free Adobe® Reader® to view and print PDF documents. This program is available for most operating systems (platforms).

While it is very common for Adobe® Reader® to be installed on computers, you may wish to update the version you are running or simply appreciate the convenience of having a link to the download site for future reference.

About Adobe® Reader® Versions

Older versions of Adobe® Reader® may not have all the functions that newer versions offer. For instance, Adobe® Reader® version 5 and later will allow you to fill out specially-designed forms within the Reader before printing them out.

Version 6 and later have updates that should be installed; version 7 and later will automatically inform you of the need for these updates.

Document Size

PDF documents can vary greatly in size depending upon a number of factors including how many pages are included, how many images are in the document, whether special fonts are embedded and how the document was created.

As indicated earlier, the number in brackets beside PDF documents refers to the size of the document and is provided for your convenience. For example, (PDF - 250k) refers to a PDF document that is 250 kilobytes in size.

This information is provided primarily for those on dialup and wireless connections that are running more slowly or where you are paying for downloads by the size, such as a WAP connection.

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