PDF Help

Not sure what PDF means or how to make it work for you? You've come to the right place to find some answers.

     PDF stands for portable document format, a technology developed by Adobe and based on a language called Postscript. There are two big advantages to using PDF. First, PDF preserves the original look of the document almost exactly: Fonts, photos, graphics and layout all appear as they do in the original. For the Los Angeles Times, this means we can provide you a version of the paper that looks just like the one that lands on your doorstep, a crossword puzzle that prints out easily and graphics that show more detail than those in the paper.

     The second advantage is that documents described in Postscript are device-independent. This means that anyone with the right software using Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows and Sun workstations can view a PDF document. Files that are described in Postscript can be printed on any printer that understands the Postscript language, regardless of what kind of computer is connected to the printer. Likewise, regardless of what type of computer creates a PDF file, it can be viewed on any computer with Adobe Acrobat software.

     In order to view PDF files, you must use PDF-reading software. Fortunately, the PDF reader software is free.

     Acrobat Reader is available for many platforms. The full documentation is available at the Adobe Web site.

     Acrobat Reader displays any PDF document, not just those served up by a Web browser. Once the program is installed, it works seamlessly with your browser--in other words, there's no jumping back and forth between programs. In addition, the software will allow you to begin viewing the document before it has finished downloading.

     Since it takes a lot of computer memory to run Acrobat Reader at the same time as a Web browser, you may want to download the PDF file and view it offline. This is the best approach if you use a computer that's short of memory.