Reference: Internet-Acrobat Reader

Many corporate based web site efforts have a desire or a requirement to distribute information via the Web in very precise formats. While there are many things wonderful about the universal access and display characteristics of the World Wide Web and HTML in general, printing things in a very precise format is not one of them.

For our clients that seek to distribute forms, applications, reports, and other paper based items via their Site we recommend the investigation and use of Adobe's Acrobat and accompanying Acrobat Reader program.

The concept is pretty darn simple. You generate the document you would like to distribute using a suitable program (Microsoft Word, etc.). The document is then run through a "conversion" process managed by Acrobat that produces a file (typically, a file extension of PDF) that can be posted on a Site. The document can then be referenced on your Site and "downloaded" by the Site Visitor and viewed using a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader. The Visitor can simply look at it, save it on the local system's disk, or print a copy of it AND it will look exactly as you designed it.

As an example, the RidgeStar Service Agreement is a PDF file that is stored on the RidgeStar web site. Click on the PDF symbol to open the document and determine if your system is already equipped with Acrobat Reader. If your system is not equipped with the Acrobat Reader, you can obtain a copy of it directly from Adobe by clicking on Get Acrobat Reader.

PDF Online

As an alternative to Acrobat, it is also possible to format source documents into the popular Adobe PDF format via a unique service offered at PDFOnline.com by BCL Technologies.