The question NHF is most often asked regarding PDF files:

Can I copy text and graphics out of a PDF file and use them in other programs?

Yes.  You can easily copy graphics and text from an Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat file and paste them into your own editing program to create customized original documents.  To copy text, click on the "text select" tool on the Reader or Acrobat tool bar.  Then simply mark the text you want with your mouse and use the standard copy and paste commands to transfer the text to your editing program.  

To copy images, click on the text select tool and hold the mouse button down.  A small menu will appear, containing an image select tool.  Click on that, and proceed to select, copy and paste in the usual fashion. 

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Included below is a more detailed overview on using PDF files with either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat, including the copy and paste tasks touched on above.

Using Adobe PDF files:

Why use PDF?

If you want to transfer files by email or the Web to other computer users and to ensure that your files are readable, the safest option is to convert them to PDF. Other computer users will not always have the appropriate software to view your text and graphics files but the software to read PDF files is free and widely installed. PDF is frequently used as a 'print-friendly' format which can be made widely available from the Web.

PDF files will appear exactly the same whatever computer you use, so a PDF file made from a document which was originally formatted in Word will look exactly the same on someone else's machine as it did on yours. This is true even if graphics were embedded in the original file.

PDF is:

• A protected format that cannot be easily altered by visitors to a website, unlike Microsoft Word and other formats.

• Widely used

• A compressed format

• Viewable on any computer - formatted as it left the author

• Able to include any text, tables or graphics as a single file

• Printable

Opening a PDF

The PDF will open within a new browser window once you've clicked on its link. However, for a more trouble-free way of accessing the file, right-click the link to save it to your hard drive. You can then open it again later without going online to find it, and it prints more effectively!

Downloading and saving a PDF document

1. Right-click on the PDF link.

2. Select the 'Save Target As...' in Internet Explorer or select 'Save Link As...' in Netscape Navigator.

3. Select 'Save' and note where you have saved it.
   Note: You may wish to rename the file to better indicate its content.

4. Quit your browser.

5. Open the PDF from your computer.

Converting PDFs to HTML

Some PDF documents can be converted easily into text by Adobe's PDF to HTML conversion tool . This tool allows people without the Adobe Acrobat program to view the document as a web page.

Printing a PDF document

1. Download and Save the PDF file to your hard drive.

2. Quit your browser and double-click the PDF to open it.

3. From the Acrobat Reader toolbar select File > Print.

How to copy and paste from a PDF file into a word processing program

1. Download and Save the PDF file to your computer.

2. Quit your browser and open the PDF from your hard drive.

3. From the Acrobat Reader toolbar select:

   • the Text select tool

   • highlight the text you want to copy (click and drag the mouse over the area)

   • select Edit on the Acrobat toolbar and then Copy from the menu

   • open a Word document (or other word processor program)

   • select the Paste button in that program.

4. To copy the entire PDF to a word processor ensure View > Continuous is checked, then from the Edit menu choose Select All.

Note: The document's formatting may be lost after pasting into a word processor.

Blank pages

Internet Explorer: If you attempt to view a PDF file in your Internet Explorer browser, and the window is blank, it may be because IE's security settings are not allowing Acrobat Reader to open the file. Select 'Internet Options...' from the Tools menu and select the 'Security' tab. If the security level of the 'Internet' content zone is set to 'High', set it to 'Medium' and press OK.

Use the Acrobat Reader support knowledgebase (http://www.adobe.com/support/products/acrreader.html) to troubleshoot any issues arising in the use of this software or in displaying PDFs.