CGS Help/FAQ

PDF files

In order to view or download a PDF file, Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader must be installed on your computer. You can get Acrobat Reader here or by clicking on the icon

Viewing a PDF file:
Click on file name on the web page, and it will open in Acrobat Reader.

Downloading a PDF file:
PDF files may be downloaded one of two ways:
1. Right-click on the file name on the web page and select "save target as" to save the file to your hard drive.
2. With file open file in Acrobat Reader, click on the disk icon and a "save a copy" dialog box will open. You can then save the file to your hard drive.

Printing a PDF file:
Many of the PDF files available on the CGS website are large maps, which must be printed on large-format plotters. If you do not have a plotter, many reproduction firms do, and can print the file for you.

If you try to print a large-sized file that you have open in Acrobat, you'll find that Acrobat Reader will simply print the entire map at your printer’s default page size. The resulting print isn't very useful if you only have an 8 ½ x 11 inch printer. [Note: Select "Shrink to Fit as a printing option to get an 8 ½ x 11 inch version of the entire map.]

To print portions of maps at scale (the original scale of the maps) you'll need  a graphics program such as Microsoft Paint, Paint Shop Pro, Corel Draw, or Mac Paint. Armed with these tools, do the following:

• Use Adobe Acrobat Reader to open map file.

• Find the area of map you want to print and zoom in to 100%.

• In Acrobat Reader 3.x, click on the Tools pull-down menu and choose Select Graphics. In Acrobat Reader 4.x, click on Select Text and hold the mouse button down until a new panel with three boxes appear; move the mouse to the rightmost box (the one with the shapes) to select the Select Graphics tool mode. [Note: This command is missing from some early Adobe Reader 4.x versions.]

• Click on one corner of the area of interest and, holding down the mouse button, drag the selection tool to the opposite corner of the rectangle. You should now see a box around the area of the map you wish to print.

• Click on the Edit pull-down menu and select Copy. This places a copy of the selected area onto your computer’s clipboard. At this point, you can close Adobe Acrobat if your paint program requires the memory to run. If not, you can leave it open.

• Open your paint program. In Microsoft Paint, make sure that the image area is at least as wide or as tall as the map area that you've selected. Choose the Edit pull-down menu, and click on Paste. In Paint Shop Pro, select Paste as New Image. The selected map area will be pasted into the view, and can be printed. This "bitmap" image may appear "pixilated" or have jagged lines.

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