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About Adobe Acrobat Reader

PDF is an acronym for "Portable Document Format." PDF is a file format created by Adobe that lets you view and print a file exactly as the author designed it, without needing to have the same application or fonts used to create the file. Since its introduction in 1993, PDF has become an Internet standard for electronic distribution that faithfully preserves the look and feel of the original document complete with fonts, colors, images, and layout.

Many documents on the OSBA web site are published using Adobe's® Portable Document Format (PDF). To display or print these documents, you must download the free Acrobat® Reader. The Acrobat® Reader allows you to view, navigate, and print PDF documents. All PDF documents on the OSBA Web site are characterized by one of the following or similar graphic icons:

or .

After installing Acrobat Reader, you have two options for using the PDF file:

Option 1: Click a PDF file link within the browser to start Acrobat Reader and view the file.
Option 2: Download the file to your computer then start Acrobat Reader and choose File > Open to view a PDF file. To download the file to your computer, right click on the link and choose “Save Target/Link As..”

You should be aware that documents in PDF format are typically much larger than simple text files. If you are connected via a slow modem over a telephone line, you should consider the likely download time before attempting to retrieve such documents. In order to help you decide, we often give the size of the PDF file alongside its description, like this: (162k ).

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