1. Using Adobe Reader You must ensure that you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your device to be able to open the Faculty’s PDF forms. You can download and install a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader from here, if you don’t already have a PDF reader software installed on your computer. Please note that the “Save” feature in the free versions of the Adobe Acrobat Reader such as the DC version is not capable of overriding the existing files. Instead, when you are filling in an interactive PDF file and you want to subsequently save the entered information, you will be displayed with a “Save As” pop‐up window (Figure 1) in which you can either override the document by keeping the original name, or have a different version of the PDF by typing in a different file name prior to clicking on the Save button.
Figure 1. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Save As Window
Please inform the Faculty (
[email protected]), if you found that you are unable to save the information you entered in any of the Faculty’s interactive PDF forms (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Unable to Save
2. Using Web Browsers Default PDF plugins integrated to most web browsers are incapable of displaying interactive PDF forms. You will be displayed with an error message (Figure 3), if you try to open an interactive PDF file within a web browser without having the proper PDF plugin.
Figure 3. Web Browser Error Message when Opening Interactive PDF Forms
The solution to open the PDF forms via web browsers is to set the Adobe Acrobat Reader to be the default plugin as per Adobe’s instructions. You can download the Adobe Acrobat Reader plugin from here, if you do not already have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Please refer to the sub‐sections below and choose the sub‐section that contains the necessary information relevant to your web browser for changing the default plugin to Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2.1. Firefox on Windows 1. Choose Firefox > Options > Applications. 2. Select a relevant content type from the Content Type column. 3. In the Action column, select an application to open the PDF. For example, to use the Acrobat plug‐in within the browser, choose Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox).
OR: at the top of the page it will provide you with an option to Open With Different Viewer. Then select Open with Adobe Acrobat (default) and then tick box for ‘do this automatically for files like this from now on’ then click OK. The form will then open.
2.2. Firefox on Mac OS 1. 2. 3. 4.
Select Firefox. Choose Preferences > Applications. Select a relevant content type from the Content Type column. Associate the content type with the application to open the PDF. For example, to use the Acrobat plug‐in within the browser, choose Use Adobe Acrobat NPAPI Plug‐in.
2.3. Chrome Note: Google Chrome and Acrobat DC is not a supported combination. Therefore, it is easier if another web browser is chosen to view interactive PDF forms, if you could not locate the Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader plug‐in within the list of plugins in Chrome. 1. In the Chrome address bar, type chrome://plugins.Disable the Chrome PDF Viewer. 2. Enable the Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader plug‐in. 3. Close the Plug‐ins tab and restart Chrome.
OR: Save document to your machine and open, if Adobe Reader plugin is not listed under the plugins.
2.4. Safari on Mac OS 1. In the Finder, select a PDF, and choose File > Get Info. 2. Click the arrow next to Open With to expose the product menu. 3. Choose either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader from the application menu.
Choose Acrobat or Reader from the application menu. 4. Click the Change All button.
Select Change All in the Open With panel. 5. When asked if you want to change all similar documents, click Continue.
2.5. Safari browser preferences 1. Launch Safari and go to 'Preferences’
2. In the Preferences window, click Security, then click Website Settings under Internet plug‐ins.
3. Select Adobe Reader in the list of plug‐ins. Under When Visiting Other Websites, in the drop‐ down list select Allow Always and click Done.
2.6. Internet Explorer Note: Internet Explorer is automatically set to use the Adobe Acrobat Reader as its default plugin to view PDF files. Therefore, you should be able to view the Faculty’s interactive forms without altering Internet Explorer’s settings.