Tips for Using PDF Files from the NTSB Document Library

Please note: Our online library consists of electronic and paper documents that have been converted to Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) files in order to ensure uniform presentation.  Material may originate from different sources and vary in nature.  In general, most items from 1996 and later are published in electronic format.  Whenever possible, scanned items have been made searchable using an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system, that also maintains the appearance of the original paper document.  However, some scanned items may contain no searchable text, or may contain text that was electronically converted in order to provide searchability and keep file sizes small.   Electronically converted text may contain some differences from the original paper copy; in most cases, copies of original documents may be purchased for a fee (see Information Sources).

1) How can I read the document?
You must have the Acrobat Reader from Adobe installed on your machine to view PDF documents. Optionally, you can use some of the accessibility options that they provide to view the document in text format - see #7 for more information.

2) How can I save a copy of the document?
Once the document has been opened, you may click on the diskette icon on the inner menu bar and save the file from Acrobat. Alternatively, before opening the document, right-click on the link and enter a file name in order to save the file to a local disk.

3) Why doesn't the document download or display?
Under certain conditions, large publications may not completely download or may initially display as a blank screen; if that happens, click "Reload"/"Refresh" and see if it will immediately display. If it is still blank, go back and right-click on the link to save the file to your local disk, then open it directly in the Acrobat Reader application. Also, try installing Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later - later versions improve downloading PDF file segments from web servers.  If you are still having trouble, you may order a CD-ROM from the Public Inquiries Branch; compilation CD's of recent publications are issued in the calendar year following publication.

4) Document doesn't print:
Print the document using the printer icon on the inner menu bar (these are PDF-specific commands). If that doesn't work,
see #5.

5) Print operation freezes computer:
Try printing subsections of the document by specifying the page numbers in the print dialog box. If necessary, save the file to your local drive and open it locally, as described in #2.

6) Why are some pages blank?
Documents are designed for duplex printing. In order to maintain proper pagination, some blank pages have been inserted. If you are using the latest version of the Acrobat Reader, you will see the text "this page intentionally left blank"; earlier versions may not display this message.

7) How can PDF documents be converted to text?
Sections of text can be copied from PDF documents and pasted directly into other applications using the Text Select Tool on the Acrobat Reader menu bar.   In addition, Adobe offers several alternate ways to work with PDF documents - see http://access.adobe.com for details. Converting PDF to HTML or ASCII text as described will also allow screen readers to translate text to audio.

8) I don't have a printer - how can I get a hardcopy of the publication?
Printed copies of publications may be obtained from the Public Inquiries Branch free of charge while supplies last, or may be purchased from the National Technical Information Service - please see Sources of Information for details.
 

For questions about publications, please use our on-line correspondence form.

For additional information about Acrobat, please refer to Adobe customer support at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat.


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