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Lesson
3:
FREE E-BOOK READER
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by Candida Martinelli of Candida
Martinelli's Italophile Site:
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SIX
LESSONS 1
HELPFUL
COMPUTER SKILLS 2
FREE
E-TEXTS 3
FREE
E-BOOK READER 4
FREE
E-BOOKS 5
BUYING
E-BOOKS 6
BUILD
A LIBRARY
Notice: These lessons in whole or in part, can be printed, reproduced and distributed, but not for profit! Candida Martinelli
Disclaimer: Please understand that you follow these lessons at your own risk. I am not to be blamed for anything and everything that happens with your computer. If that sounds serious, sorry, but it has to, otherwise its not legal! Having said all that, If you follow these lessons you will no longer be a computer novice, and a whole new, wonderful world of books will be opened up to you, your family and friends. Candida Martinelli
[I update this periodically, but the technology is rushing along, with new readers, new formats, new everything. I try to update things only when they are available worldwide, but I will not feature specific readers. If you own one, it is best to consult their manual to understand which formats you can read, and how to download them from the sites I mention in these lessons. Ciao! Candida 2010]
Thank you to RadSmart.com for their technical assistance. Check out their Auto Trader Program.
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These lessons were designed to be printed out and referred to it as you perform the tasks described. To print this lesson, follow the instructions in the top left corner of this page.
[This is list is about the reader software available at the time I wrote these lessons. These software products still exist and are still valid, but there are many more now, some specific to a stand-alone e-book reader. These reader software products were originally developed for reading e-books on your PC. They have all adapted to the stand-alone readers. Candida 2010] There are 3 major, free e-book readers for your PC: Palm, Microsoft, and Adobe. Later, when you download e-books, either free or purchased, you will notice that you usually have to specify which of these three e-book Readers you are using. (Below I also describe a reader software that lets you read e-texts on your cell phone.) Below are just brief descriptions of each Reader and some basic computer operating system requirements. Don't be scared off by the technical specifications. If you have a PC that is relatively new (5 years old, or so), you will have the proper software installed to use any of these Readers. The only real restriction is the Microsoft Reader, which cannot be used on a Macintosh PC. I've also provided some information, not all, on what each e-book Reader is capable of. Please realize that if you want to learn about all the features of a Reader, you should visit the Reader site. That's why I've provided the appropriate links. In the next section of this lesson, I will have you install the Adobe Reader on your PC. I will explain my reasons for selecting this Reader at that time. Palm - This free Reader can be installed on a Windows or Macintosh PC. It also allows you to copy an e-book to one of the Palm hand-held devices. But you'll need to download extra free software to do this. You'll need Windows 98 / ME / NT 4.0 / 2000 / or XP running on your PC. And for the Macintosh you'll need Mac OS 8.6 or later, using CarbonLib 1.5 or later/Mac OS X 10.1 or later. This is the site link if you are interested in reading more about the Palm Reader and downloading it to your PC. http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/reader/browse/free Microsoft - This free Reader can be installed only on a Windows PC or laptop. It boasts a patented ClearType display that is very clear. You can add electronic bookmarks and margin notes to your e-books, and look for words in the book text and then look them up in a dictionary if necessary. You can get additional free software to use on Windows compatible hand-held devices. This is the Operating System requirement for using the Microsoft Reader: Microsoft Windows® 98 platforms, Microsoft Windows NT4 SP6, Microsoft Windows 2000 platforms, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Windows Me. Microsoft Reader Version 2.1.1 is not compatible with Windows 95 or earlier platforms. This is the site link if you are interested in reading more about the Microsoft Reader and downloading it to your PC. http://www.microsoft.com/reader/default.asp Adobe - This free Reader can run on a Windows and Macintosh PC. The Adobe Reader presents the e-book with full color images, artwork and fonts. You can enter electronic notes and bookmarks, and perform full text searches. You can get additional free software to use for Palm, Windows and Macintosh compatible hand-held devices. This is the Operating System requirement for using the Adobe Reader on a Windows PC: Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows ME, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP 6, Windows 2000 Professional SP2, Windows XP Professional, Home, or Tablet PC edition. This is the Operating System requirement for using the Adobe Reader on a Macintosh PC: Apple Mac OS version 10.2.4 or later. This is the site link if you are interested in reading more about the Adobe Reader and downloading it to your PC. http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html Read Maniac - For those of you with cell phones and a desire to read on them, here is the text from the free software's website. Read Maniac is a book (e-text) reader midlet for mobile phones. With Read Maniac, you can search, download and read books using practically any mobile phone with JAVA support. Midlet comes in two versions: Standalone application (Read Maniac FULL), and midlet with emebedded book (Read Maniac LITE). Standalone application (Read Maniac FULL) is installed to phone once, and than used to search, download from internet and read books without a help of PC. Midlet has dedicated search engine for searching books in several on-line libraries. Read Maniac download these books directly to phone's memory. Once installed, it becomes library in the pocket. Midlet with embedded book (Read Maniac LITE) is built with Read Maniac Building Wizard on PC. Wizard embeds selected book into midlet. Resulting midlet that can be installed to phone and used to read embedded book.
So, why Adobe over the others? This is why.
Are those enough reasons for you? I hope so, because you're now going to download the Adobe Reader to your PC, with my help! Note: I'm assuming you're working on this lesson from a printout and you are not connected to the Internet. If you are connected, and you click on the link I'm about to give you, this lesson may disappear! It's easiest to print out this lesson and start from this point, again. START up your Internet BROWSER and TYPE this location into the ADDRESS line: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html then press ENTER to go to that location.
This is the main information page for the Adobe Reader. If you want to take a moment to read it through, that's fine. When you're ready, CLICK on this IMAGE on the page to begin the download process.
You are presented with the download screen that provides a bit more information about the program you are about to download, and asks for some information from you about your computer system and Internet connection. Step One: Because these lessons are in English, I'm assuming you are going to use the English language option. But you are of course free to download any language version you prefer to use. Just realize that the text on the Adobe program screens that I show later in these lessons are in English. To be able to follow these lessons, I'm assuming you are using a Windows operating system installed on a PC, and that you have an Internet connection. So the first step is to CLICK on the DOWN ARROW on the PLATFORM field to open up the list of possible platforms / operating systems.
If you are unsure which operating system is running on your PC, it is easy enough to find out. Just MINIMIZE your Internet BROWSER, and start up WINDOWS EXPLORER from the Shortcut icon you made on your desktop in our first lesson.
Then CLICK on the HELP pull-down menu to open it up, and then CLICK on the ABOUT WINDOWS item.
A box appears telling you the version of the Windows operating system running on your computer. Make a note of it, then CLOSE the box and CLOSE WINDOWS EXPLORER, and MAXIMIZE your Internet BROWSER. From the pull-down list of operating systems, CLICK on the NAME of your system to enter it in the field. The next field is the CONNECTION SPEED field. CLICK on the DOWN ARROW to show the list of options.
If your computer uses a modem and dials up a telephone number every time you connect to the Internet, you have a DIAL-UP connection. If your system is hard-wired to the Internet, it has a constant connection to the Internet and has no need to use a modem to call your provider. This is a broadband connection. CLICK on the APPROPRIATE ONE for your computer connection to enter it in the field. Step Two - Immediately, a box with Step Two in the download process appears. It explains which version of the Reader will be downloaded. The version you get depends on the version of the Windows operating system running on your PC.
Most of us work with the Windows operating system that was installed when we purchased our computer. The version you have is the one that was the latest at that date. The differences between the latest version of the Reader and the next-to-latest version are slight. However, many of e-book distributors are requiring new PDF e-books be made so they only run in the latest version (6.0). If you have a very old version of Windows running on your PC, you should consider upgrading to a newer version. You don't need to do that now, before you complete these lessons. When you are done with the lessons, and have upgraded your operating system, you can always go back to this site and download a more recent version of the Reader for free. You should be able to use the older versions of the e-book Reader for these lessons without any problems. Just be aware that some of the Reader screens I reproduce later in these lessons may look quite different, even if the functionality remains the same. I will select Windows 98 and show the boxes that appear during the installation process, which will be generally the same for any version of the Reader software you are downloading. You should look over their terms of license agreement, and when you are ready CLICK on DOWNLOAD.
The standard file download box appears:
By now you are familiar with this box and this procedure. CLICK on the SAVE button to continue. The SAVE AS box appears and tells you the NAME of the file that will be downloaded, and that it is an Application, a software program. As usual, you are expected to tell the system where to save the file. It's best to make a directory ADOBE in our PROGRAM FILES folder. Your system will show in the SAVE IN field the folder where you saved the last download. That is most likely our LIBRARY folder. Whether it is or not, is not important. What is required is that you open up the C: drive, locate the folder PROGRAM FILES, create a new folder ADOBE, and then open it up to receive the download. Here's how you do that:
When the download begins, the DOWNLOAD BOX appears letting you see how the download is proceeding.
Please be patient as the program is downloaded to your system. It is larger than a simple e-book, so it will take a little while longer than our previous downloads. And remember, if there are disturbances during the download you may have to repeat this process, but this rarely happens. When the download is complete, the box disappears. Just like when we downloaded the software program WinZip, we have to now locate the file we've downloaded using WINDOWS EXPLORER, and DOUBLE-CLICK on it to begin the installation process. Here's how you do that:
This file is for the second to latest version of the Reader. Remember, if you downloaded the latest version, it will have a different number in the file name. That's okay. The process is the same. You will see a message that says the Adobe Reader files are being UNPACKED. Then the SETUP will begin by presenting you with a SETUP screen and this message:
Again, you may have a different version number in the box, but that does not matter. The process is the same. CLICK on the NEXT button to continue the SETUP procedure. The next box tells you where the Adobe Reader will be installed and asks you to confirm this location. Accept the default location. You will notice that it is a sub-folder in the Adobe folder you created earlier. CLICK on the NEXT button to continue with the installation. If any messages come up stating that files were detected and should they be overwritten, you should agree to this. Sometimes old files remain on your system, or need to be updated for the new software program to function properly. Unless you have been regularly downloading updates from Microsoft, there may be a file or two that is old and in need of update. Adobe will do this for you. When the installation is completed, this box appears.
CLICK on the OK button and you will see in WINDOWS EXPLORER the new sub-folder, with the version number in its name, next to the file you downloaded.
Go ahead and CLOSE the WINDOWS EXPLORER program. You will see that a Shortcut for the Adobe Acrobat Reader has been automatically added to your Desktop. The version number my be 6.0 if you have a newer version of the Windows operating system than the Windows 98 that I selected for this exercise. It makes no great difference at this point.
To take your first look at your e-book Reader, DOUBLE-CLICK on the Shortcut for the Reader on your Desktop. The first thing you will be asked to do is agree to the SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT. CLICK on the ACCEPT button, and this box will close. What you see now is your e-book Reader's main window. It is really a frame for the book's pages. The various menu items and tool-bar icons you see along the top of the screen are so you can:
CLOSE the Reader the same way you always close any Windows compatible program: CLICK on the CLOSE X in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Congratulations! You have just successfully installed your free e-book Reader. If the program did not run properly, you can always repeat the installation procedure. If this fails, perhaps the downloaded file was damaged and you ought to download it again, and make sure you select the Windows operating system that is running on your computer. I'm afraid that from this distance, that's all the help I can offer. You can always go back to the Adobe site and request support. But if everything did go well with the installation, with this Reader you will be able to:
How does all that work? It's simple. No, I mean it. It really is simple! When there is the message on a web-site that says they offer this brochure, or that catalog, or this form as a PDF file, you just CLICK where they say to click to get it. Your computer automatically opens up the Reader you just installed in your Internet Browser's window, and then opens up the brochure, catalog or form in that window. You don't have to do anything! Everything is done for you, automatically! Now do you agree that it's simple? I hope so. You may be wondering exactly how you can:
Let me show you. OPEN you INTERNET BROWSER and TYPE this location in the ADDRESS line: http://www.castellobanfi.com/index.html
This is the web-site of the Castello Banfi Winery in Italy. They offer a PDF brochure and newsletter to visitors to their site. CLICK on the WINE BROCHURE in the left-hand menu. The item tells you how large the PDF file is: 1.3MB.
Your new Adobe Reader will open in your Browser window and show you the first page of the Castello Banfi Wine Brochure. Be patient, sometimes it take a few seconds to open up. Your Reader window may differ slightly from mine if you have a different version, but the buttons will be quite similar. You will want to adjust the magnification of the page. On the Reader tool-bar there are buttons that allow you to do this very easily. They look something like this:
You have several options. You can CLICK on the MINUS and PLUS signs to decrease and increase the page size. I want you to CLICK on the DOWN ARROW to open up this selection box from which you can select with a CLICK a different magnification:
Experiment on your own for a moment to get a feel for the different magnifications. When you are ready, CLICK on the FIT PAGE option. This shows you the entire page in one screen. It is too small to read at this magnification, but your are not going to read it now! I want to show you some other buttons. CLICK on the PAGES TAB that runs up the left-hand side of the Reader window.
This shows you all the pages in the Castello Banfi Brochure lined up one long row. You can scroll up and down this list using the scroll bar to the right of the box.
CLICK on one of the miniature PAGES shown. This opens that page in the Reader window. CLICK on a DIFFERENT PAGE and the page will switch very quickly to the new one. The PAGES TAB is a quick way to move around a PDF document. It is possible to save a copy of this Wine Brochure to your PC, so you can read it later when you are no longer connected to the Internet, using your e-book Reader on its own. Just CLICK on the SAVE A COPY option on the tool-bar.
The SAVE IN box opens and prompts you to indicate where to save the Wine Brochure. Your system automatically opens up the MY DOCUMENTS folder. Just DOUBLE-CLICK on your LIBRARY sub-folder to open it up. The default name for the Wine Brochure is: brochure, as you can see in the FILE NAME field.
This is not very descriptive. CLICK on the FILE NAME field and enter the name: Castello Banfi Wine Brochure. Then CLICK on the SAVE button to save the Wine Brochure to your electronic Library on your PC. If you want to make sure it was saved correctly, just CLICK again on the SAVE A COPY icon on the tool-bar. The SAVE IN box opens and shows you the contents LIBRARY folder.
You may be wondering where your other e-books are, the ones you made during the previous lesson. They are still there, but the system is only showing you the PDF documents that are in your LIBRARY folder. And right now, this Wine Brochure is the first PDF document you have saved to the LIBRARY folder. I think another 'Congratulations' is due! I'm not going to have you do this now, but if you wanted to print a copy of a document that you are viewing in your Reader, you would just CLICK on the PRINT ICON on the tool-bar. It looks something like this:
When you CLICK on the Browser's BACK button, or when you go to another location on the Internet, the Reader closes automatically.
That's it for Lesson 3 so you can CLOSE your Internet Browser, or you can practice some more with the Adobe E-book Reader tool-bar options and the Castello Banfi Wine Brochure. You now have an e-book Reader so you are set to download some e-books. In Lesson 4 I will explain how you can:
Click here to go directly to Lesson 4
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