The Reader is a utility program that works inside your browser, but it can also be used independently offline.  If you do not already have it, you should install Acrobat Reader software before you attempt to download or view PDF files. Click on the button below to download the application from the Adobe web site.

Viewing and Printing Files.  Once Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on your computer, you are ready to view PDF files. Simply click on the hyperlink to a PDF file to view it.  Depending on your web browser, you may need to save the PDF file on your hard drive and open it with the Acrobat Reader offline.  However, most web browsers will automatically start Adobe Acrobat Reader and display PDF files in the browser window (called "in-line" viewing).  In this mode, the Acrobat toolbar appears on your screen below the web browser toolbar. When in-line viewing is used, you must use the Acrobat toolbar to zoom, print, or find text.  For example, to print a PDF document while viewing it "in-line," use the printer icon from the Adobe toolbar, not the browser's printer icon or menu choice. 

Saving Documents.   On some browsers, when you click on a link to a PDF file you are offered the choice to either "open" or "save" a PDF file. The "Save" choice opens up a "Save as" dialog box. If your browser does not present this option, try right-clicking on the link. With some browsers and operating systems the right mouse click on a link opens a menu which includes the option to "Save link as" or "Save target as".  Saving the PDF file on your hard drive (as a ".pdf" file) and opening it independently with Acrobat Reader is probably the best way of viewing, searching, and printing the large amount of GCBS data in the PDF files on this web site.  When you run Adobe Acrobat Reader as a separate program, you also have the benefit of seeing a more complete menu of Acrobat commands and toolbar icons.

Searching Documents.  You can search or find text within a PDF document by clicking on the binoculars on the toolbar (or, choose "Find" from the "Tools" menu).

Changing Documents.  The free Acrobat Reader cannot be used to edit or create (write) files in PDF format.  Adobe sells a separate program, Adobe Acrobat, that creates files for the Reader.   However, you can easily copy PDF graphics and text using Acrobat Reader and paste them into another program to create customized documents.  The original PDF document creator can employ security settings that do not allow you to copy, change, or even print the PDF document -- the GCBS Archives files do not have any password-protected security settings.

Copying Portions of Documents.  To copy text, click on the "text select" tool on the Acrobat Reader tool bar.  Then simply mark the text that you want with your mouse and use the standard copy (CRTL "C") and paste (CTRL "V") commands to transfer the text to another software application on your computer.  To copy images, click on the text select tool and hold the mouse button down.  A small menu will appear, containing an image select tool.  Click on that, and proceed to select, copy and paste in the usual fashion.  Text selected with the image select tool will be converted to an image once it's pasted into the other application.

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