Adobe Reader

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Revision as of 22:46, 9 August 2008 by Alice Wyman (talk | contribs) (Intro: Adobe Reader is free. External links: added Adobe Reader Help page at adobe.com)
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Adobe Reader (also known as Adobe Acrobat Reader) is a free application that allows you to view and print PDF files. It includes a browser plugin for viewing PDF files directly in a web browser such as Firefox or Mozilla Suite.

Note: If you see a message, "This object has been blocked" when downloading a PDF file, it is usually caused by Zone Alarm Pro or other security software which can block downloads of certain file types, including PDF files. See the article Object has been blocked for how to fix this problem and read this ZoneLabs forum topic for a more detailed explanation.

Installing Adobe Reader

You can download Adobe Reader from the Adobe Reader product page. If you are using Firefox and are having problems with the Adobe download, even after reading the Adobe Reader Installation instructions for Mozilla Firefox, look for a "click here to download" link to the installer file, under "Download Notes". [1] You can alternately download the Adobe Reader installer from PluginDoc, although it might not be the latest version.

Adobe Reader plugin

If you are having problems with the plugin such as browser hangs or crashes after viewing a PDF file, or if the Adobe Reader plugin loads very slowly, make sure you are using the latest version of Adobe Reader for your operating system and install any available updates.

Enabling the browser plugin

If the Adobe Acrobat plugin is enabled, PDF files should open in the browser window or tab. If that's not happening, make sure that "Display PDF in browser" is selected within your Adobe Reader program preferences, under "Internet". If it is already selected, "toggle" the setting as follows: [2]

  1. In Adobe Reader, choose "Edit -> Preferences -> Internet".
  2. Deselect "Display PDF In Browser" and then click OK.
  3. Choose "Edit -> Preferences -> Internet"
  4. Select "Display PDF In Browser" and then click OK.

To verify that the plugin is enabled, close and reopen Firefox or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey, then go to the about:plugins list of installed plugins and make sure you see an entry listed for Adobe Acrobat (File name: nppdf32.dll).

In Firefox, you must also make sure that the option to use the plugin is selected for PDF files in your Firefox download actions. Go to the Tools -> Options menu and do the following, depending on your version of Firefox:

  • Firefox 2: Go to "Content / File Types" and click the "Manage..." button.
  • Firefox 1.5:: Go to "Downloads / Download Actions" and click the "View & Edit Actions" button.

Select "PDF" from the list of extensions, click the "Change Action" button and select "Use this Plugin:" (Adobe Acrobat).

Note: If the PDF file extension is missing from the Firefox Download Actions window even though about:plugins lists the Adobe Acrobat plugin, exit Firefox completely, open the Firefox profile folder and delete the mimeTypes.rdf file [3] (or rename it XmimeTypes.rdf) . When you restart Firefox, all download actions will be reset and you will be able to use the plugin for PDF file downloads (see File types and download actions for more information).

Disabling the browser plugin

You can disable the Adobe Reader browser plugin and force .PDF links to open the associated program as an external helper application by using one of the methods below:

Method 1:

  1. Open the Adobe Reader program and go to the "Edit -> Preferences" dialog.
  2. Select the "Internet" category and deselect (uncheck) "Display PDF in browser".

After closing Adobe Reader, open your Mozilla application’s installation directory, open the Plugins folder and ensure that the file "nppdf32.dll" is not present. If it is, remove it (or rename "nppdf32.dll" to "Xnppdf32.dll"). Failing to remove or rename this file may cause the browser to hang when attempting to open a PDF file.

Note that Mozilla applications may use plugin scanning to locate the Acrobat Reader plugin. You can prevent this by finding and renaming all instances of "nppdf32.dll" on your computer. Alternately, you can disable the plugin scan via about:config or via the user.js file by modifying the value of the preference plugin.scan.Acrobat from the default 5.0 to a value greater than the version installed, e.g., to 8.0. Advanced users may prefer to open the relevant configuration file and change the preference line
pref("plugin.scan.Acrobat", "5.0");
to
// pref("plugin.scan.Acrobat", "5.0");

Method 2 (Firefox only):

  1. Open the Tools -> Options menu and select the appropriate option for your Firefox version:
    • Firefox 2: Go to "Content / File Types" and click the "Manage..." button.
    • Firefox 1.5:: Go to "Downloads / Download Actions" and click the "View & Edit Actions" button.
  2. Select "PDF" from the list of extensions and click the "Change Action" button
  3. Select "Open them with the Default Application".

Saving PDF files to disk

You can save PDF files to disk and then open them without using the Adobe Acrobat plugin (or other PDF viewer plugin) by right-clicking links to PDF files and choosing "Save Link As".

To make Firefox automatically save all PDF files on which you left-click:

  1. Open the Tools -> Options menu and select the appropriate option for your Firefox version:
    • Firefox 2: Go to "Content / File Types" and click the "Manage..." button.
    • Firefox 1.5:: Go to "Downloads / Download Actions" and click the "View & Edit Actions" button.
  2. Select "PDF" from the list of extensions and click the "Change Action" button
  3. Select ""Save to disk".

PDFs will now be downloaded to a folder for direct opening in Adobe Reader or another PDF viewer.

Speeding up PDF display - Adobe Reader 6

Adobe Reader 6 is the highest version installable on Windows ME and below. Adobe Reader 6 and the browser plugin automatically load a large number of components when they are opened. These are memory hogs and can cause the plugin to load very slowly. Many Adobe Reader 6 issues have been resolved by upgrading to the latest Adobe Reader version, currently 8.0 on Windows and Mac and 7.0.9 on Linux. If upgrading doesn't help or if you don't meet the system requirements for the latest version, try one of these workarounds:

Adobe Reader SpeedUp: The Adobe Reader SpeedUp program disables many of the unnecessary components. If Adobe Reader is not installed in the default location, you will have to change the setting in Adobe Reader Speedup's settings. This is easily done by using the Browse button in the program to point it to the correct location.

Manual method: As an alternative, you can use the following manual procedure: [4]:

  1. Open the Adobe Reader "plug_ins" folder, e.g., C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins
  2. Create a new folder named "optional", e.g., C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\optional
  3. Move all files and folders from the Adobe Reader "plug_ins" folder to the Adobe Reader "optional" folder, except for these files:
    • eBook.api
    • EWH32.api
    • Search.api

Using an alternative PDF viewer

Alternative PDF viewers are available, such as the Foxit Reader (freeware, for Windows, Linux, U3). Other PDF viewers are listed here. It's possible that some PDF files may not work and some functionality may be missing in viewers not made or supported by Adobe. You may wish to keep your Adobe Reader program installed and just disable the Adobe Reader browser plugin (see above) when adding an alternative PDF viewer [5]. That way, if problems arise, you can save the PDF file and open it by right-clicking, selecting "Open with" and choosing your Adobe Reader program.

PDF download - Firefox extension

The PDF Download extension (alternate link) gives Firefox users multiple options for handling PDF files such as viewing as HTML, opening within the browser or opening within the default or preferred PDF viewer.

External links