ECF Manual Section 1.1
Getting Started
Adobe Acrobat –PDF
What is a PDF Document, How to, View, Convert to and Save to PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF)
There are two types of Adobe products referred to in this manual. Adobe Reader,
which allows a user to view a document on the ECF System, and Adobe Acrobat
(Writer/Distiller), which allows a user to convert documents to PDF. (Please note that
Adobe Distiller will create a larger file than Adobe Acrobat. The Court recommends
the use of Adobe Acrobat.)
Each word processing program has a unique method for formatting documents. A
document created with one word processing program may not look the same in, or may
not even be accessible, using different word processing software. Putting documents in
Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) is one way to avoid a potential Tower of Babel.
How to View a PDF File
1. Start the Adobe Acrobat Reader program.
2. Go to the File menu and choose Open.
3. Click on the location and file name of the document to be viewed. If the
designated location is correct, and the file is in PDF format, Acrobat PDF
Reader loads the file and displays it on the screen.
4. If the displayed document is larger than the screen or consists of multiple
pages, use the scroll bars to move through the document.
5. Click on the View menu for other options for viewing the displayed
document.
6. Choose the option that is most appropriate for the document.
How to Convert Documents to Portable Document Format
Other than a Creditor Matrix which must be in .txt format, only documents in
PDF format will be accepted for filing in the ECF System. Documents not in this format
must be converted. Since the Acrobat PDF Writer installs as a printer driver, most
software applications installed on the computer will have the ability to print to PDF. To
convert a word processing document to a PDF file, you need to seemingly print the
document to get the conversion to take place.
The conversion process is relatively simple and can be accomplished in one of two
ways depending on the word processing program you are using.