Everyone seems to be using pdf files these days. pdf or “portable document format” is a file type designed by Adobe Corporation so that documents can be distributed electronically in such a way that printed versions of the document will appear similar when printed on virtually any kind of computer.
To make this possible, Adobe has created, and makes available for free, a program called the “Acrobat Reader.” The program, which you can download from the Adobe WWW site, works as both a free-standing program and as a WWW browser plugin. When you click on a link to a pdf file on a WWW page, the file will open in the Acrobat Reader inside your browser.
Unfortunately, the Acrobat Reader, now in version 6.0, has gotten more and more complicated as Adobe has added features to the pdf format. The latest version seems to take forever to start because it loads all the add-on features, most of which are rarely needed. You can get around this problem by installing a free program called “Adobe Reader Speed-Up.” Once installed, this program will keep the extra features of the Reader from loading unless you need them. The improvement in start time is remarkable.
If you occasionally need to create simple pdf files, but don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for the very capable “Adobe Acrobat” program, try the free program, “pdf995.” Once you install this program, it will show up as an extra “printer” in all of your programs' printer dialog boxes. When you print to this printer instead of your usual printer, pdf995 will save the output as a pdf file under any name that you want.
Free Adobe Reader
Adobe Reader Speed-Up v1.30
pdf995
Paul W. Mosher, M.D., is a councilor-at-large of APsaA, a founding board member of Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing, and a long time computer hobbyist.