Various files on this website are 
files to preserve their original layout and style, and to facilitate document printing.
The Portable Document Format (PDF) was created by Adobe as a standard file format for distributing electronic documents while maintaining their original presentation regardless of the computer platform used or the application used to create the original document.
To view PDF files, you need only one application, the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free for Windows, Mac, Unix, Linux, and other Operating Systems.
Downloading Acrobat Reader
Very likely, your computer already has Acrobat Reader installed. If not, you can download Acrobat Reader from one of the following locations:
 | Visit Adobe’s web site for more information and to download the latest version of Acrobat Reader.
If you don’t want to register the product with your name and email, go to the Adobe’s alternate download page and directly download the program appropriate for your computer system. |
 | The Acrobat Reader is also available on the USC Information Services Division (ISD) Distributed Software page. Note: ISD may not have the latest version of the program. Select your operating system under “Software Freely Distributed by ISD”, and find Acrobat Reader for download under the “Viewers and Utilities” section. |
Installing Acrobat Reader
After downloading the Acrobat Reader installation file, open the file to install the program onto your computer. The installer will take you through the installations steps.
Running Acrobat Reader
Once installed, the Reader works as either a stand-alone application or as a plug-in to your browser. In either case, the next time you try accessing a PDF file, Acrobat Reader will open it up automatically.
From Acrobat Reader, you can change the zoom view to read the document, and you can print out the form for use. If the form is a 
PDF electronic form, you can fill out the form before printing it. Just click on the area of the form to fill out, and start typing.
Getting PDF Files
To access the PDF files found on this web site, simply click on the PDF file link. Acrobat will open up so you can view and print the file.
To download the PDF file directly to your computer for later use, right-click on the PDF file link and a popup menu will come up. In NN, select “Save Link As…” and in IE, select “Save Target As…”. You will be prompted with the usual “Save As” Dialog box to download your file.
Using Acrobat Reader
The toolbar icons and functions may vary depending on the version of your Acrobat Reader program and operating system, but the toolbar located at the top of Acrobat Reader application should contain icons similar to these:
If you move your mouse cursor over an icon, a tool tip appears describing the function performed if you click on that icon:
You can go over each icon yourself and see what it does, but you should familiarize yourself the following common icons:
 | Saves the file to your computer. |
 | Prints the file. |
 | Toggles the Acrobat Reader navigation side bar. The navigation side bar includes thumbnails for each page in the file, and any bookmarks, contents listings, and articles if they were added. These navigational tools aid you in finding your place in a PDF file. |
 | Copies the currently selected text. This icon is not active until you make a selection with the Text Selection tool. |
 | If the current page view spans greater than the Acrobat Reader (as evident by horizontal and/or vertical scroll bars) you can use this freehand tool to move the page around. With the freehand tool selected, click the hand cursor onto the page to grab the page, and while still holding down the mouse button, move the page around. |
 | The magnifying glass tool allows you to zoom in and out, making the view larger and smaller. |
 | This is the Text Selection tool. Use it to select blocks of text you want to copy. |
 | This is the Find tool. Use it to search for specific text within the current document. |
Located at the bottom of the Acrobat Reader is a status bar similar to this one:
| Each item serves the following purposes: | |
 | This does the same thing as the navigation side bar icon on the above toolbar. |
 | This shows you the current magnification view of the page. You can change the magnification by using the magnification tool, entering a magnification percentage in this text box, or clicking on the down arrowhead to select a magnification setting. |
 | The textbox tells how many total pages are in the current document and which page you are seeing. The left and right arrowheads are the same as the ones found on the above toolbar. They allow you to move back and forth through the pages. |
 | This displays page size of the document and is only important to note if you are printing the document. |
 | Clicking on this button brings up a popup menu where you select how you want to view the document: “Single Page” displays only one page at a time. “Continuous” displays pages one after another. “Continuous Facing” displays 2 pages side-by-side in continuous mode. |
If you need further assistance with Acrobat, refer to your Acrobat Reader Help files, or go to the Adobe Acrobat Support Page.