Tips for Using Adobe PDF Files

Many of our online forms, reports, regulations and publications are only in Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF files can be viewed using Adobe's free Reader software.

Download free Adobe Reader

Problems With Our PDF Files?

There are several reasons why you may not be able to open or print CDSS online PDF files, especially if it is a large PDF file, and/or if you use slower, dial-up Internet access or you are using an older version of Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

Steps to help you view or print online PDF files:

A. Do you have a working copy of the latest version of Adobe Reader on your computer?
You can check this by clicking on the above link to visit the Adobe Reader download site. You can also try to open other PDF files (either online or stored on your computer) to verify that your Reader software is working correctly.

B. If you still cannot open or print a PDF file, you can usually work around the problem by downloading the file to your computer before opening it . Here is how you do that:

  1. Right click on the link to the PDF file. Do NOT open it at this time.
  2. Choose "Save Target As..." from the pull-down menu. (Note: if you are using a Mac instead of a PC, choose "download to disk") The "Save As" window will appear. Note: It may take the "Save As" window awhile to appear if you are downloading a large PDF file or are using dial-up Internet access.
  3. In the "Save In" box at the top, select a location to save the file on your computer that will be easy for you to remember. Your desktop or My Documents are the two most common locations. Click on "Save".
  4. The PDF file will now download to your computer. After the download process is finished, navigate to the location where you saved the file and double click on it to open it. You should be able to open and print the file from this location without any problem.

Microsoft Excel File Format

The Microsoft Excel format (.xls) is the file format to use to download data for data calculations. You must have Microsoft Excel or the free installed Microsoft Excel Viewer on your computer before you download data. The Microsoft Excel Viewer offers the limited ability to manipulate data, and can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.

Contact Us

For additional assistance viewing forms and documents Contact CDSS.