SAVE TIME WHEN OPENING PDF FILES

While we focus on non-profit issues in our posts, we came upon a very helpful tip in the October 19, 2004 issue of  PC Magazine.  Because we rely on pdf documents in putting our posts together and occasionally link to them, we thought we would pass the tip along.

PDF documents openly slowly because the Acrobat Reader relies on many plug-ins.  You only need three of these plug-ins to open and review the typical pdf document.... 

The Desktop Guide is Quickly Becoming the Must Have Guide for Nonprofit Executives Jack Siegel's new book, A Desktop Guide for Nonprofit Directors, Officers, and Advisors: Avoiding Trouble While Doing Good, has quickly become the go to guide for nonprofit executives and advisors. So what are people saying about the Guide? When our Jack Siegel introduced himself to one of the leading authorities on the law of federal tax exemption after she had made a presentation at a recent conference, the speaker said, "You're the 'Jack' in the Guide!  We are fighting over your Guide in our office."  A second speaker held the book up to two people who were asking questions after her presentation, exclaiming "I love this book.  I tell everyone at conferences to buy it."  One state charity regulator has indicated that the Guide is great and has recommended it to her fellow regulators.  Some of our readers have followed the link to the Amazon.com Web site, but apparently have not bought the Guide.  If they were turned off by the price, they should reconsider.  One prominent attorney in the exempt organization field grabbed a review copy of the Guide and couldn't put it down.  She has instructed a number of her clients to buy it, pointing out to them that for less than 1/2 hour of her billable time, they receive a lesson (and resource) that tells it like she would like it told.  If you are starting a new charity, the Guide could save you thousands of dollars in legal fees by teaching you how to better utilize your legal counsel and framing the issues so you don't spin your wheels at $400 an hour. Buy your copy today at Amazon.com. Barnes & Noble, or John Wiley (the publisher).

 

The PC Magazine article offers the following procedure to eliminate all the extraneous plug-ins:

•  In Windows Explorer, go to Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat6.0\Reader.  •  Rename the “plug_ins” folder “plug_ins_original”

•  Then create a new subfolder in the Reader folder entitled “plug_ins”

•  Copy the following files from the “plug_ins_original” folder to the “plug_ins” folder:

                 EWH32.api
                 Printme.api
                 Search.api.
   
   Do not cut the files from the “plug_ins_original” folder.

You will notice that pdf documents open much faster following the change.

CAVEAT:  Adobe doesn’t put all those other plug-ins in the original plug-ins folder just to annoy you.  If you open a document that relies on one of the plug-ins that you have not copied to the new plug-ins folder, the pdf document may not open or may be missing certain features that the author included.  For example, if the document is encrypted, you may not be able to open it.  In such a case, just change the name of the “plug_ins” folder to a different name, and then change the name of “plug_ins_original” to “plug_ins.”  In other words, return your system to the original Adobe configuration.

If you are on a corporate network, check with your organization's system administrator before implementing the suggested change.

 

THE FOREGOING IS NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS LEGAL ADVICE.  IF LEGAL ADVICE IS REQUIRED, THE NON-PROFIT OR OTHER PARTY IN QUESTION SHOULD SEEK THE ADVICE OF QUALIFIED LEGAL COUNSEL. If you liked this post, please visit http://www.charitygovernance.com for a description of our Guide/Tutorial for non-profit directors and officers entitled “Avoiding Trouble While Doing Good: A Guide for the Non-Profit Director and Officer.” Copyright 2004, Auto Didactix LLC.  All Rights Reserved.   You may not copy any portion of this post to a computer "clipboard" for reposting anywhere or e-mailing, or otherwise reproduce this post.  If you want others to review this post, you may provide them with a link to this web blog.  Any use of the material or ideas in this post by reporters or other publishers shall make reference to Jack Siegel, author of "Avoiding Trouble While Doing Good, A Guide for the Non-Profit Director and Officer" and this web blog.