What is a PDF file

The portable document format (PDF) was developed by Adobe as a means of distributing digital documents for reading and printing without loss of formatting. This site uses the PDF format for a number of documents. All PDF documents within this site are indicated by this symbol. To view these documents you need the Adobe Reader software from Adobe.

Get the software
The Adobe reader software is free and is included in many other software packages. You may find that the reader is already installed on your system. If not, you can download the software by following the link on the page you return to.

Viewing PDF files
having installed the Adobe Reader software, you can download the files and view them from your local disk, or you can view the pages on-line within your browser.