Skip to primary navigation | Skip to secondary navigation | Skip to content | Skip to footer |
Problems viewing this site
Home > Help > Downloading and printing files

Downloading and printing files

This page provides information for users needing assistance to display, download, save or print documents linked to this website. This website may contain some or all of the following types of documents:

Portable Document Format files (.pdf)

This website uses Adobe Acrobat PDF files as a means to distribute publications and other information. To view and print a PDF file, you will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed.

Acrobat Reader is available free from Adobe.

Throughout this website, all Adobe Acrobat documents are marked with (PDF). The file sizes are shown next to the titles to help you estimate download time. Unless you have a very fast connection, you should assume approximately one KB per second download time.

If your PDF file is displaying incorrectly, try upgrading your version of Acrobat Reader by downloading it again from the Adobe website (see above).

Opening a PDF

The PDF file will open within a new browser window once you've clicked on its link. However, for a more trouble-free way of accessing the file, right-click the link to save it to your hard drive. You can then open it again later without going online to find it, and it prints more effectively!

Downloading and saving a PDF document

To download and save a PDF file:

  1. Right-click on the PDF link
  2. Select the Save Target As... in Internet Explorer or select Save Link As... in Mozilla Firefox
  3. Select Save and note where you are saving the file
    Note: You may wish to rename the file to better indicate its content
  4. Open the PDF from your computer

Printing a PDF document

To print a PDF document on your local printer:

  1. Download and Save the PDF file to your hard drive
  2. From the Acrobat Reader toolbar select File > Print
    Note: Do not 'Print' our PDFs from the right click option within Microsoft Internet Explorer

Copy and paste

If you wish to copy information from a PDF into another document:

  1. Download and Save the PDF file to your computer
  2. From the Acrobat Reader toolbar select the Text select tool
  3. Highlight the text you want to copy (click and drag the mouse over the area)
  4. Select Edit on the Acrobat toolbar and then Copy from the menu
  5. Open a Word document (or other word processor program) and select the Paste button in that program
  6. To copy the entire PDF to a word processor ensure View > Continuous is checked, then from the Edit menu choose Select All.
    Note: The document's formatting may be lost after pasting into a word processor.

Blank pages

Internet Explorer: If you attempt to view a PDF file in your Internet Explorer browser, and the window is blank, it may be because IE's security settings are not allowing Acrobat Reader to open the file. Select 'Internet Options' from the Tools menu and select the 'Security' tab. If the security level of the 'Internet' content zone is set to 'High', set it to 'Medium' and press OK.

Use the Acrobat Reader support knowledgebase to troubleshoot any issues arising in the use of this software or in displaying PDFs.

Microsoft Word files (.doc)

Throughout this website, all Microsoft Word files are marked with (Word). The file sizes are shown next to the titles to help you estimate download time. Unless you have a very fast connection, you should assume approximately one kb per second download time.

To download Word documents so they can be edited:

  1. Right-click the link for the item you want
  2. Select the Save Target As... in Internet Explorer or select Save Link As... in Mozilla Firefox
  3. Select Save (make sure you note where you have saved it)
    Note: You may wish to rename the file to better indicate its content
  4. Use Microsoft Word to open, edit and print the file

If you do not have Microsoft Word installed on your computer, you can download the free Word 97/2000 Viewer from Microsoft.

Microsoft PowerPoint files (.ppt)

Throughout this website, all Microsoft Powerpoint files are marked with (Powerpoint). The file sizes are shown next to the titles to help you estimate download time. Unless you have a very fast connection, you should assume approximately one kb per second download time.

To download PowerPoint documents so they can be edited:

  1. Right-click the link for the item you want
  2. Select the Save Target As... in Internet Explorer or select Save Link As... in Mozilla Firefox
  3. Select Save (make sure you note where you have saved it)
  4. Use Microsoft Powerpoint to open, edit and print the file

PowerPoint presentations can be used electronically or printed out as overhead transparencies.

If you do not have Microsoft Powerpoint installed on your computer, you can download the free Powerpoint 97/2000/2002 Viewer from Microsoft.

Microsoft Excel files (.xls)

Throughout this website, all Microsoft Excel files are marked with (Excel). The file sizes are shown next to the titles to help you estimate download time. Unless you have a very fast connection, you should assume approximately one kb per second download time.

To download Excel documents so they can be edited:

  1. Right-click the link for the item you want
  2. Select the Save Target As... in Internet Explorer or select Save Link As... in Mozilla Firefox
  3. Select Save (make sure you note where you have saved it)
  4. Use Microsoft Excel to open, edit and print the file

If you do not have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, you can download the free Excel Viewer 2003 from Microsoft.

Image files (.jpg or .gif)

Throughout this website, downloadable image files (for example, posters and stickers) are marked with (JPG, GIF and so on). The file sizes are shown next to the titles to help you estimate download time. Unless you have a very fast connection, you should assume approximately one kb per second download time.

To download image files for later printing or use:

  1. Right-click the link for the item you want
  2. Select the Save Target As... in Internet Explorer or select Save Link As... in Mozilla Firefox
  3. Select Save (make sure you note where you have saved it)
  4. Use an image editor program to open, edit and print the file

Audio files (MP3)

The Office for Women website contains on-demand audio in MP3 format. This has been tested with a variety of users, browsers and computers.

For most users, these audio files will work right away once they've been downloaded. Your web browser should know which application to use when you click on a link to a media file and will launch it automatically.

Users connecting from behind a firewall (eg inside a corporate or educational institution), may find they are unable to download the media files. Contact your computer system administrator or IT department to see if you are permitted to download media files and if any changes are needed to the settings in your player or computer.

Many internet service providers (ISPs) set download limits in their customer agreements. If you're not sure if you have a download limit, you may like to contact your ISP.

Playing and saving audio files

To play an audio file:

  1. Click on the link and your media player will open and play the file
  2. You can then preview the content and see that it is useful, interesting or relevant

The above steps may save the file to a 'Temp' folder, which will make it hard to find to play again in the future, so if you want to keep it for later use, do the following:

To save an audio file:

  1. right click (if you have a PC), or command click (on a Mac) on the link,
  2. then choose Save As and save the file to a suitable folder on your hard drive. You can then play it from that location in the future.

If you are using another browser the key point is to save the MP3 files in the same way that you save other files, such as PDFs and images, via your browser.

NB the saved MP3 files can be played back on most computers via either standard media players like Windows Media Player or QuickTime. The files can also be copied to a portable MP3 player for listening on the move.

Windows Media Player is available free from Microsoft.

QuickTime player is available free from the Apple website.

File size and download time

Audio files are large. For listeners accessing the web with a modem, the download time is significant. A 10 Mb file downloading with a 56 Kb modem may take about 30 minutes.

Last updated: 8 April 2008