Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island

Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader

Acrobat is software that formats documents so that they can be read on many platforms: Windows, Mac, Palm, Linux, and such. We offer most of our documents in this format so that the widest audience can read them while still preserving the document print formatting. To open and read these files, you will need the free Acrobat Reader™ software.

Complete instructions for obtaining a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader™:

1. Go to the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. Follow the directions on their web site to download the appropriate version of Acrobat Reader™ for your computer. You may need to note where the downloaded file will be stored so that you can find it for step 2 below.

Different operating systems and browsers use different defaults and techniques when downloading files. Some save files in a "Download Folder", while others place files on the desktop. Still others may open a dialog box asking where you want to save it. In this last case, we recommend downloading a file to your desktop because then it is easy to find, but you can put it anywhere on your computer.

The download can take anywhere from a couple of minutes through a high-speed line to 20 minutes or more through a slow modem.

2. After you have downloaded the file, it needs to be installed on your computer. Again, different operating systems and browsers handle this differently. With some computers, you must go find the file and double-click on the icon. With others, the installation begins immediately when the download is complete. Either way, the installation will take only a couple of minutes. You may need to close open programs and/or restart your computer when the installation is complete.

3. After a successful installation, you can delete the original downloaded file if you'd like.

Once Reader is installed, you'll be able to read any .pdf documents on this and other web sites, such as newsletters, government publications, or tax forms. Just click on the .pdf file name and Acrobat Reader will automatically open and read the file.