Adobe® Reader® 8.1.3 for Linux® and UNIX®

Welcome to Adobe Reader 8.1.3 software for Linux and UNIX operating systems. Adobe Reader is the free viewing companion for Adobe applications that produce Adobe Portable Document Format (Adobe PDF) files. To create, enhance, review, edit, and share information in Adobe PDF files, use Adobe Acrobat® 8.0 Professional and Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Standard software. Learn more about Acrobat software by visiting www.adobe.com/products/acrobat.

Click the following links to learn more about Adobe Reader 8.1.3 for Linux and UNIX:

System requirements

Make sure that your system meets the minimum requirements to run Adobe Reader 8.1.3 software, as described in the following sections.

System requirements for Linux

System requirements for Solaris®

Installing and starting Adobe Reader 8.1.3

Installation instructions

You can use any of the following methods to install and uninstall Adobe Reader 8.1.3 software for Linux and UNIX. You must be logged on as the root user (superuser, administrator) to install the software using the RPM or DEB package.

By default, if you install using the RPM or DEB package on Linux, Adobe Reader is installed at /opt/Adobe/Reader8. You can, however, specify a different location.

To install Adobe Reader 8.1.3 using an RPM installer in the GNOME environment

1. Open the RPM package by double clicking on it.

2. When prompted, enter the root password for your system, and click OK.

3. Click Continue in the Complete System Preparation dialog box.

To install Adobe Reader 8.1.3 using an RPM installer in the KDE environment

1. Open the RPM package.

2. Click Install Package With YaST.

3. When prompted, enter the root password for your system, and click OK.

To install Adobe Reader 8.1.3 using the command line

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Change directory (using the cd command) to the directory that contains the RPM package.

3. Run the following command as an administrator or root:

rpm -i AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.i486.rpm

To install adobe Reader 8.1.3 using a tarball installer

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Change directory (using the cd command) to the directory that contains the tarball archive.

3. Run one of the following commands.

tar -zxvf AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.i486.tar.gz (for gzip installer)
tar -jxvf AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.i486.tar.bz2 (for bzip2 installer)
  • On Solaris:
gunzip AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.sparc.tar.gz OR bunzip2 AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.sparc.tar.bz2
tar -xvf AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.sparc.tar

By default, on Linux, Adobe Reader is installed in /opt/Adobe. You can however, specify a different location by using the following command-line option: --install_path= <adobe_install_dir>

4. In the newly created AdobeReader directory, run the INSTALL script.

5. Add <adobe_install_dir> /Adobe/Reader8/bin to the PATH environment variable to allow browsers to launch Adobe Reader, where <adobe_install_dir> is the installation directory of Adobe Reader 8.1.3.

To uninstall Adobe Reader 8.1.3 using the command line

1. Open a terminal window.

2.(a) In case of RPM installer:

Run the following command as an administrator or root:

rpm -e AdobeReader_enu

To uninstall Adobe Reader, you can simply delete the directory where it was installed. You may choose to do this if you installed using a tarball installer.

2.(b) In case of tarball installer:

Run the following command:

<adobe_install_dir>/Adobe/Reader8/bin/UNINSTALL

Starting Adobe Reader and opening Help

To start Adobe Reader

Run the acroread script. This script is in the <adobe_install_dir> /Adobe/Reader8/bin directory, where <adobe_install_dir> is the directory into which Adobe Reader 8.1.3 was installed.

To open Help from the command line

Run the acroread script with -help as a command-line argument. This script is in the <adobe_install_dir> /Adobe/Reader8/bin directory, where <adobe_install_dir> is the directory into which Adobe Reader 8.1.3 was installed.

Web browser support

Adobe Reader 8.1.3 comes with a browser plug-in that allows you to view and use PDF files in a browser window. The plug-in is compliant with all browsers that support Gecko (including Firefox 1.0 and Mozilla1.7.3 and 1.8).

Support of Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, and Vietnamese text

Right-to-left language options are enabled by default under Arabic and Hebrew regional settings (when either the locale or the keyboard layout is set to one of these languages).

This version of Adobe Reader supports the entry and display of Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, and Vietnamese text. This version contains options for controlling the right-to-left languages Arabic and Hebrew in forms and digital signatures:

Enabling right-to-left language options displays the user interface elements for controlling paragraph direction, digit style, and ligature.

Text Field Properties toolbar--When entering text in a Rich Text field or a Drawing Markup text box, you can select paragraph direction, text direction, and digit style from the Text Properties Tool Bar.

To change paragraph direction, use the Paragraph Direction button in the toolbar. Clicking this button displays two options, which apply to all paragraphs in the field: Left To Right Paragraphs and Right To Left Paragraphs. Paragraph alignment automatically changes according to your selection: If paragraphs are left-aligned and you change the paragraph direction to right-to-left, Adobe Reader makes all the paragraphs right-aligned, and vice versa. After changing paragraph direction, you can go back and modify the alignment of paragraphs individually.

To change text direction of selected text and not entire paragraphs, use the Text Direction button to display a pop-up menu with three options: Automatic, Left To Right Text, and Right To Left Text. Automatic lays out the text depending on the paragraph's direction and the type of characters used. Left To Right Text lays out the text according to left-to-right rules, regardless of paragraph direction. Right To Left Text lays out the text according to the right-to-left rules, regardless of paragraph direction. Changing text direction is useful when the default writing direction for text in a paragraph is different for the paragraph's default writing direction or when the text direction cannot be automatically determined. For example, to make sure that phone numbers written with Western digits are displayed correctly in paragraphs of right-to-left Arabic text, select the phone numbers and choose Left To Right from the pop-up menu of the Text Direction button.

To select the digit style of the text you type into a field, use the Arabic-Indic Digits button. This button toggles digit style from Arabic-Indic to Western and applies only to form fields with an Arabic-Indic default digit style. Using this button doesn't change the digits already in the text.

Form Field Text Properties dialog box--In this dialog box, there are two tabs: Font and Paragraph. In the Font tab, you select paragraph direction using the Auto, Left To Right, and Right To Left radio buttons, and you select the digit style using the Digits pop-up menus. Paragraph direction applies to the currently selected text. Digit style applies only to new digits, but not to existing digits. In the Paragraph tab, the paragraph direction radio buttons change the paragraph direction of all the paragraphs in the field and not just the direction of the currently selected text.

Because this dialog box can be invoked only from the Properties bar, it is available only when entering text in a Rich Text field or a Drawing Markup text box.

Context menus--You can use context menus to change paragraph direction and digits. (This context menu option appears only in the Text box and RTF text field.)

Configure Signature Appearance dialog box--This dialog box contains controls for specifying paragraph direction and digit style. Choosing a paragraph direction also changes the signature appearance. For example, if you set paragraph direction to Right To Left, the Name in the signature field is placed in the right half of the field and the text is right-aligned and vice versa.

To enable right-to-left language options in Adobe Reader

1. Choose Edit > Preferences.

2. In the Preferences dialog box, select International Categories and select Enable Right-To-Left Language Options.

3. Click OK.

Read Out Loud

When you use Read Out Loud, Adobe Reader will read text aloud from form fields and other text. See the Reading Preferences in the application for more options.

To read a document out loud

1. Open a PDF document.

2. Navigate to the page that you want to read.

3. Choose one of the following:

  • View > Read Out Loud > Read This Page Only
  • View > Read Out Loud > Read To End of Document

To interrupt Read Out Loud

Do one of the following:

  • View > Read Out Loud > Pause
  • View > Read Out Loud > Stop

3D features

Adobe Reader 8.1.3 for Linux and UNIX has various features for viewing and working with PDF documents that contain 3D models.

Working with 3D files

If your document has additional usage rights, you can interact with 3D models created in professional 3D CAD (computer aided design) or 3D modeling programs. After you click a 3D model to activate it, you use the 3D toolbar to zoom in and out, rotate, and pan across the object. Use the Model Tree to hide or isolate parts, or make parts transparent.

When a PDF document with a 3D model is displayed in a supported web browser, you can interact with 3D model.

To show or hide the 3D toolbar

  • Right-click the 3D model, and choose Show Toolbar or Hide Toolbar.
  • You can also hide the 3D toolbar by disabling the 3D model by right-clicking the 3D model, and then choosing Disable 3D.

To use the 3D navigation tools

When you navigate in 3D, it helps to think that you are viewing the stationary 3D model from a camera's perspective. You can rotate, pan (move up, down, or side-to-side), and zoom in or out. If the 3D toolbar doesn't appear, you may need to enable the 3D content by clicking in the 3D canvas area with the Hand tool.

  • Rotate: Orbits around objects in a scene. You can also rotate an object using the Hand tool if Enable 3D Selection For The Hand Tool is selected in 3D section of the Preferences dialog box.
  • Pan: Moves up, down, or from side to side. When the Hand tool is selected, hold down Ctrl to pan the object.
  • Walk: Lets you go in any direction. It helps to think that you are the camera, and the 3D model is a stationary object in front of you.
  • Zoom: Moves toward, or away from, objects in the scene. When the Hand tool is selected, hold down Shift to zoom in or out.
  • Distance Tool: Measures parts of the 3D model.
  • Default View: Returns to the original appearance of the 3D model. You can also select a view that you've saved from the Views pop-up menu.
  • Pause/Play: Pauses or plays animation enabled by JavaScript.

To change the rendering mode, lighting, and background

The model rendering mode determines the surface appearance of the 3D model.

Do any of the following:

  • To change the rendering style, choose an option from the Model Render Mode pop-up menu. For example, you may want to choose Transparent to see the inside of the 3D model.
  • To view an orthographic projection, click the Use Orthographic Projection button. An orthographic projection effectively removes a dimension, preserving the size ratio between objects but giving the 3D model a less realistic appearance.
  • To turn lighting on or off or to change lighting, choose an option from the Enable Extra Lighting pop-up menu.
  • To change the background color, choose an option from the Background Color pop-up menu. For example, you may want to improve the contrast between the 3D objects and the background.

Using the Model Tree

The Model Tree includes three sections. The top section includes the tree structure of the 3D object. For example, a 3D object depicting a car may have separate groups of objects (called nodes) for the chassis, engine, and wheels. In the top section of the Model Tree, you can move through the hierarchy and select, isolate, or hide various parts. The middle section of the includes a list of views that you can create. For example, after you isolate and rotate a part, you can save that particular view. After making other transformations, you can simply click the view you created to return the 3D model to the saved state. The bottom section of the Model Tree includes metadata information, if any, about the part; the metadata is not editable.

To view or hide the Model Tree

1. Click a 3D object to select it.

2. Click the Toggle Model Tree icon on the 3D Toolbar, or click the Model Tree tab on the left side of the window.

In some instances, the author of the PDF document can set up a 3D model so that clicking it automatically displays the Model Tree.

To manipulate parts

Some 3D models are subdivided into parts. You can use the Model Tree to hide or isolate parts, zoom in to parts, or make parts transparent.

1. In the Model Tree, click the part you want to manipulate.

2. From the Options menu, choose any of the following:

  • Model Render Mode changes the surface appearance of the entire 3D model.
  • Show All Parts displays the entire 3D model.
  • Display Bounding Box displays the box that encloses the 3D model.
  • Set Bounding Box Color changes the color of the bounding box. Choose this option, select a color, and then click OK.
  • Hide removes the selected part from view. You can also click the Eye icon next to the part to hide that part.
  • Isolate displays on the selected part. All other parts are hidden.
  • Zoom To Part changes the center focus from the entire 3D model to an individual part. This is especially useful when rotating the part, allowing it to rotate around its own center focus rather than the entire model's.
  • Transparent lets you see through the selected part.

Commenting on 3D designs

Comments added to a 3D object are associated with a particular view. If the view is changed--for example, if the 3D object is rotated or moved--the comments are no longer visible. If you don't want a comment to be associated with a 3D view, add the comment outside the 3D object area. When the view of a 3D object is changed, any comment associated with that object disappears.

To add comments to a 3D object

1. Select a tool from the Commenting or Drawing Markups toolbar. (The Text Edit tools have no effect on 3D objects.)

2. Add a comment to the 3D object area.

When you add a comment, a new view is created automatically. If your comment disappears, click this view to see the comment again.

To display comments, click the view in the Model Tree that contains the comment you added, or click the comment in the Comments list. The 3D object returns to the view in which the comment was created.

Creating and managing 3D views

Setting a default (initial) view of a 3D design lets you quickly revert to their starting point at any time as you interact with the model. A default view is different from a poster frame, which determines what the 3D model looks like when it's not active. The list of all available views for the 3D design appears in the Views dropdown menu on the 3D toolbar.

You can also create additional views of the 3D model in Acrobat that you can quickly navigate the 3D content based on the views you'd like to see (such as top, bottom, left, right, inside, outside, exploded, or assembled). A view includes lighting, camera position, rendering mode, the Model Tree state, and transparency and cross section settings. When you add a comment or markup to the 3D model, a view is created automatically. You can link views to bookmarks in the Bookmarks tab, or you can use the Go To 3D View action to link views to buttons and links that you create on the page.

To set a default (or new) view

1. Click the 3D model to enable it.

2. Use the tools in the 3D toolbar to navigate to the view you want to save.

3. In the Model Tree, click the New View icon.

4. To rename the new view, click the view name in the Model Tree, click it again, and then type a more descriptive name.

To create and manage views

1. Use the tools in the 3D toolbar to navigate to the location you want.

2. In the 3D toolbar, choose Manage Views from the Views pop-up menu.

3. In the Manage Views dialog box, click New View.

4. Select the view from the list box at the right, and then do any of the following:

  • Click Use As Default to specify the view that will appear when the user enables the 3D content.
  • Rename the selected view by typing a new name in the text-entry field and clicking Rename.
  • Click Move Up or Move Down to move the selected view up or down in the list.
  • Click Delete View to remove the view from the list.

To display a view

Do one of the following:

  • From the 3D Toolbar, select the view from the Views pop-up menu.
  • In the Model Tree, click the view name.
  • To return to the default view, click the Default View icon.

To add a 3D view to a bookmark or link

1. Right-click the bookmark or link, and choose Properties.

2. Click the Actions tab.

3. From the Select Action menu, select Go To A 3D View, and then click Add.

4. In the Select A 3D View dialog box, select the view you want, click OK, and then click Close.

Applying cross sections

Applying a cross section of a 3D model is like cutting it in half and looking inside. Use the Cross Section Controls dialog box to adjust the alignment, offset, and tilt of the cutting plane.

To apply a cross section

1. Click the Toggle Cross Section icon on the 3D Toolbar to turn on or off the cross section.

2. To change cross section properties, choose Cross Section Properties from the Cross Section pop-up menu on the 3D Toolbar.

3. To change the alignment, select whether the cross section applies to the x, y, or z axis. Click Align To Face to align the camera to the selected axis, moving the view perpendicular to the cutting plane.

4. To change the display settings, do the following:

  • Select Show Intersections so that lines indicate where the cutting plane slices the 3D model. Specify a different color, if desired.
  • Select Show Cutting Plane to display the transparent field that cuts the 3D model. Specify a different color and opacity, if desired.
  • Click Align Camera To Cutting Plane to rotate the 3D model so that it's level with the cross section's cutting plane.

5. To change the position and orientation, do the following:

  • Click Flip to reverse the cross section.
  • Drag the Offset to determine how much of the 3D model is sliced.
  • Drag the two Tilt sliders to determine the angle of the cutting plane.

6. (Optional) Click Save View to create a view that you can return to later.

Measuring 3D objects

You can use the Distance tool to measure the distance, angle, and radius of 3D models added to a PDF document. You can also annotate the measurements by adding comments.

To measure 3D objects

1. Click a 3D model in a PDF document to enable it.

2. Click the Distance Tool icon on the 3D toolbar, or choose Tools > Measuring > Distance Tool. The 3D Measurement Tool palette appears when you move the pointer over the 3D model.

3. In the 3D Measurement Tool palette, do any of the following:

  • Choose an option from the 3D Measure Type menu to determine what kind of data is measured in the 3D Measurement Tool palette.
  • To change the scaling ratio (such as 3:2) on the drawing areas, specify the appropriate numbers in the 3D Measurement Tool palette. If desired, change the unit of measurement next to this ratio.
  • Select Measurement Markup in the tool palette if you want the lines you draw to appear as an annotation. If desired, type the text that will appear in the annotation. Unless Measurement Markup is selected, the object you draw will disappear when you measure another object or select another tool.
  • To ensure precise measurement, make sure that Options > Snap To 3D Content is selected.

4. Measure the 3D model:

  • As you drag the pointer over other points and edges, Acrobat 3D displays the measurement between the initial selection and the current position.
  • If Measurement Markup is turned on, the first two clicks determine the measurement, and the third click determines the location of the markup. For example, to measure a radius, move the pointer over a circular shape. When a circle appears, double-click the circle, drag the pointer where you want the markup to appear, and click again. To measure a distance, click the first point, then click the second point, and then move the pointer where you want the markup to appear and click again.
  • If you begin a measurement and change your mind, right-click and choose Cancel Measurement.
  • To delete a measurement markup, select it using the Distance Tool, and then press Delete.

To change 3D preferences

You can determine whether the 3D Toolbar and Model Tree display by default. You can also specify a default renderer and determine whether animations are allowed.

1. Choose Edit > Preferences, and then click 3D.

2. Specify any of the following, and then click OK.

  • Preferred Renderer. The rendering engine affects both performance and quality, so it's important to select the appropriate renderer. Depending on your system, you may want to change your render engine. For Linux/Unix, you can select OpenGL or Software. If you select OpenGL option, all rendering takes place using the graphics chip on the video card. If Software is selected, rendering may take more time, but the performance may be more consistent with the original model's.
  • Open Model Tree On 3D Activation. Determines whether the Model Tree is displayed when the 3D model is activated. Choose Use 3D Content's Setting to use whichever setting the author used when adding the 3D model to the PDF document.
  • Default Toolbar State. Determines whether the 3D toolbar is displayed or hidden when a 3D model is activated.
  • Enable Toggle For 3D Toolbar Control. Displays a button on the 3D model that lets you hide or display the 3D toolbar.
  • Enable Double-Sided Rendering. Some model parts have two sides. To save time and space, you can deselect this option to render only the side facing the user. If the user looks inside a part rendered with only one side, the back side would be invisible.
  • Enable Camera Animations. Some 3D models include animations enabled by JavaScript. Deselect this option to prevent 3D animation.
  • Enable 3D Selection For The Hand Tool. Lets the user select and highlight parts of the 3D model using the Hand Tool. If this option is not selected, use the Object Data Tool (Tools > Object Data > Object Data Tool) to select the object.
  • Consolidate 3D Tools On The 3D Toolbar. Selecting this option places the manipulation and navigation tools under the Rotate Tool, thereby shortening the 3D toolbar.

Troubleshooting

This section includes descriptions of various issues that may arise as you use Adobe Reader 8.1.3 for Linux and UNIX. If you experience problems when running Adobe Reader 8.1.3, this section may help you to determine their cause. For general product information and additional troubleshooting information, visit the Adobe Product Support Knowledgebase at www.adobe.com/support, or choose Help > Online Support in Adobe Reader.

Unable to open documents secured with Policy Server. If the Policy Server certificate is not installed, a message appears indicating that there was a problem communicating with the service. To solve this problem, install the server certificate using the command line as shown on the console: acroread -installCertificate <URL> <PORT>

MIME type registrations and icon associations are not reflected after installation. Restart your desktop session for the changes to take effect. Note that on Linux this feature is only available for installations done using root privileges.

Command-line RPM installation fails on SuSE 9.2. Using the rpm -i AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.i486.rpm command to install Adobe Reader 8.1.3 on SuSE 9.2 does not succeed and reports a failed dependency on libcurl. To solve this problem, install Adobe Reader using rpm -i --nodeps AdobeReader_enu-8.1.3-1.i486.rpm .

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean bold characters appear blurred. If the text was created in an application that used synthetic bolding, white areas or breaks in the text may appear when the text is magnified. To avoid this problem, enable the Smooth Text and Use CoolType options in the Page Display preferences.

The Find command doesn't locate Unicode characters. Before searching for Unicode characters in a PDF file, add \u before the Unicode character in the search dialog box. For example, to search for the Unicode equivalent of the ASCII letter A, type \u0041 in the dialog box. For some CJK characters, such as Unicode 4e01, you can specify \u4e01 .

Unable to create comments or bookmarks using the Hong Kong character set. Because the Hong Kong character set is not part of the standard system fonts, you cannot comment or create bookmarks using those characters. To solve this problem, install the Chinese Traditional Language pack (the Honk Kong character set is an extension of the Chinese Traditional set).

To view embedded html (such as Help, HowTo, ReviewTracker, etc.) within Adobe Reader, you need to add the path to firefox 1.5+ or Mozilla 1.7.3+(compiled with gtk2+) or xulrunner in the "Preferences > Internet > libgtkembedmoz Folder". This path may be present in the following file on your system: /etc/gre.d/gre.conf, in the following form: GRE_PATH=<path_to_be_picked_up>

Adobe Reader doesn't run correctly. Adobe Reader 8.1.3 needs access to the pwd command. As a result, Adobe Reader does not run correctly from a directory where the pwd command fails. To solve this problem, make sure that the pwd command runs in the bin/ directory of the Adobe Reader 8.1.3 installation directory.

Adobe Reader retains the preferences of a previous version. Before you run Adobe Reader 8.1.3 for the first time, you may want to remove the directory $HOME/.adobe, where $HOME is the user's home directory. Removing this directory ensures that Adobe Reader used the default preference settings when you start it for the first time.

Adobe Reader can't open recently viewed files. Opening recently viewed files requires that the files remain in the same location and have the same names. If you open a file in a session using an automounter and the automounter quits unexpectedly, attempting to reopen the file by selecting it in the File menu will display an error message. This error also occurs when the file is moved or renamed, or if Adobe Reader is run from a different computer that does not have the same file system mounted. To solve this problem, either reopen the files using the File > Open command, or make sure that the volumes on which the files reside are mounted and accessible to Adobe Reader.

Temporary files appear in the list of recently viewed files. To prevent temporary files (such as files opened from the web) from appearing in the list of recently viewed files in the File menu, set the mailcap entry as follows: application/pdf;acroread -tempFile %s

Adobe Reader preferences are not saved. If the directory containing Adobe Reader preferences is not writable, the preferences cannot be saved. To solve this problem, make sure that the $HOME/.adobe directory, where $HOME is the user's home directory, is writable.

Password-protected PDF files cannot be printed to PostScript® from the command line. Even though password-protected files can be printed from Adobe Reader, you cannot print the files to PostScript from the command line.

PDF files don't print. When you print a PostScript document using the lp command, a symbolic link is created from the spool file to the file being printed; the link saves space on the file system, but causes a problem when printing from Adobe Reader. To solve this problem, include the -c option (copy) with the lp or lpr command in the Print dialog box. This forces the pd process to copy the file to the spool area instead of making a symbolic link.

Adobe Reader search is slow and doesn't find files. To create full text search indexes that can be reliably used across platforms, you must use the ISO 9660 file naming conventions for the indexed files (8.3 uppercase, restricted character set). Otherwise, Adobe Reader attempts to guess what the UNIX file names are, which causes delays in searching and may result in files not being found.

Unable to submit forms from web browsers. You cannot submit forms on the web if the web browser warns that a lock file has been found, meaning that another instance of the browser is running. To solve this problem, make sure that only one instance of the browser is running. If a lock file is left after a browser crashes, simply delete the file.

PPKLite fails to load. If the message "Error while loading shared libraries: PPKLite.api: cannot restore segment prot after reloc: Permission denied" appears, libraries are being blocked by SELinux because of insufficient permissions. To fix it run the script <adobe_install_dir> /Adobe/Reader8/Reader/Patch/selinux_patch with root permissions to set up the file contexts properly (make sure restorecon and setfiles usually found under /sbin or /usr/sbin exist in the PATH). If the problem persists, turn off SELinux by typing the command setenforce 0 as root.

Third-party applications do not start when Adobe Reader 8.1.3 for is running using 32-bit emulation on a 64-bit machine. When running in 32-bit emulation mode on 64-bit machines, the various applications that Adobe Reader interacts with also need to be 32-bit binaries running in the emulation mode.

SCIM related error messages appear on console or Adobe Reader 8.1.3 crashes during startup on SuSE 10.0 and Asianux 2.0 IA32. This problem exists because of the presence of a conflicting version of libscim (Smart Common Input Method Library). This is a documented issue on Novell's database, https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=85416. The workaround is to run the command export GTK_IM_MODULE=xim before running acroread.

Read Out Loud menu options are disabled. Adobe Reader supports gnome-speech-0.3.1 version and later. For earlier versions, the menu options are disabled (grayed out). Check the version of gnome-speech installed on your machine by running the following command: rpm -qa | grep -i gnome-speech . To test whether the gnome-speech version is compatible with Adobe Reader, run the command test-speech .

Read Out Loud does not work after upgrading gnome-speech. Test using the command test-speech . Link to the installed libraries libORBit-2.so.X, libgnomespeech.so.X, libbonobo-activation.so.X, and libbonobo-2.so.X in <adobe_install_dir> /Reader/intellinux/lib with the names libORBit-2.so , libgnomespeech.so , libbonobo-activation.so and libbonobo-2.so .

If you paste the CJK-A character U+3400, U+3500, U+3600, or U+3700 into the search field and perform a search, the search fails even if the character exists in the PDF document you're searching. Type the character in the search field instead of pasting it.

Adobe Reader fails to start on Red Flag Linux 4.1 because of a problem in GLib. This failure occurs when trying to load accessibility-related modules. This problem can be fixed by either upgrading to a later version of GLib, or by commenting out the line export GTK_MODULES in the acroread script.

Scripting between an HTML page and Adobe Reader does not work when Adobe Reader is running inside the browser. This issue exists because of the limitation of the browser. Upgrade to a browser version that supports scripting from plug-ins to solve the problem.

libldap could not be loaded. PPKLite plugin requires the installation of the OpenLDAP package and some security features willnot work in its absence. If you notice an alert saying that libldap.so was not loaded, you need to install the LDAP libraries (OpenLDAP package). If that doesn't solve the problem, do one of the following:

Some system fonts do not appear correctly in the Document. Adobe Reader, by default, searches for system fonts in its resource folder and also in the directories listed in the PSRESOURCEPATH environment variable. If the required fonts are not embedded in the document, checking the Document > Use Local Fonts option, enables Adobe Reader to pick up the fonts from the system.Note that the fonts provided by fontconfig (via fc-cache) are not cached by the Adobe Reader. In order to enable caching of fonts specified by fontconfig, the user should set the environment variable ACRO_ENABLE_FONT_CONFIG=1 before launching Adobe Reader.

In order to enable the JavaScript console warnings and errors to be sent to stderr, you need to set the environment variable ACRO_JS_CONSOLE to 1. Note that this will work only if in the Edit->Preferences->JavaScript, you have checked "Show console on errors and messages" option.

Stretching or skewing of page text on some systems. This problem can be resolved by going to Edit > Preferences, clicking the Page Display tab, and setting Custom Resolution to the currently displayed System setting.

Search does not complete for socket files. If the specified search path contains a socket file (typical paths are /tmp or $HOME), the search does not complete. Make sure that the specified path contains only regular files and no socket files.

Trouble sending mail using Mutt. If a terminal window flashes and disappears when the selected email client is Mutt, add the line set autoedit=no" to $HOME/.muttrc to enable sending mail using mutt.

Evolution crashes when sending mail. This issue happens with earlier versions of Evolution. If Evolution crashes on sending mail (when Evolution is the selected email client), try keeping Evolution running in the background. If it still crashes, upgrade to Evolution 2.0 or later. You might need to keep it running in the background.

Accessibility is not active. Adobe Reader checks the gconf registry to determine whether accessibility support is enabled on a system. If gconftool-2 is not available on a system, accessibility support is disabled. If your system does not have gconftool-2 and you wish to use the accessibility features of Adobe Reader, change the line ACRO_AT_ACTIVE="false" to ACRO_AT_ACTIVE="true" in the file <adobe_install_dir> /Adobe/Reader8/bin/acroread, in the block if [ "$IS_GCONF_TOOL" = "no" ] near the end of the file.

To enable accessibility, using gconf-editor or gconftool-2, set the key /desktop/gnome/interface/accessibility to true. Then, enable the keyboard selection cursor (F7 toggles the cursor. It can also be enabled by choosing Edit >Preferences, clicking the Accessibility tab and selecting Always Display the Keyboard Selection Cursor. Finally, check the option by choosing Edit > Preferences, clicking the Reading tab and make sure that Enable Document Accessibility is selected.

Printing issues with CUPS. On certain platforms like Solaris, CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) may not be present as default. In that case the user needs to install CUPS on the system and include the "CUPS libraries" in LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Linux and Solaris). If, however, CUPS is not present on the system, Adobe Reader would use the default lp command for printing. This command can be changed inside the Print Dialog Box.

Menus and tabs appear inverted in Arabic and Hebrew locales. In Arabic or Hebrew locales, the menus, tabs and other UI elements appear inverted, displaying right-to-left instead of left-to-right. This issue is due to the design of the UI toolkit.

Not able to view anything in How To pane or Help document by pressing F1. If using the English version of Adobe Reader after any localized version of Adobe Reader, you should remove the file $HOME/.adobe/Acrobat/8.0/preference/reader_prefs, where $HOME is your home directory. A backup of the file may be retained, if required.

Adobe Reader crashes on opening/closing multiple files with 3D contents. This is a known problem with the DRI common code, https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2733. It has been fixed in the newer versions of the library.

On opening a PDF with embedded 3D content, Adobe Reader does not display the 3D textures properly and displays the error message "[driAllocateTexture:577] unable to allocate texture" on the console. The workaround for this is to add the line "Videoram 16386" in the "Device" section of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, hence increasing the memory reserved for texture handling.

The sh shell parser has problems with some characters in some Asian languages that use multibyte characters. If you encounter the error message "invalid multibyte characters" or other problems when running the INSTALL, acroread, or install_browser_plugin scripts, try running the scripts with the ksh or bash shell.

To print pages from the user guide, you can use the 'Print' button on the help viewer which would open the page in your default browser. You can then use the Browser's print menu to print the page.

Ctrl+Insert and Shift+Insert keyboard accelerators can be used as alternatives to Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste operations in the Reader, especially in dialogs.

Keyboard shortcuts

Hot keys / accelerators

Press Alt to access the menu bar, then use any of the following shortcuts:

F - File menu

E - Edit menu

V - View menu

D - Document menu

T - Tools menu

W - Window menu

H - Help menu

Navigation tools

Page Up for previous screen

Page Down for next screen

Left Arrow for previous page

Right Arrow for next page

Up Arrow to scroll up

Down Arrow to scroll down

Ctrl+L to enter or exit full-screen mode

Function keys

F8 to show or hide toolbars

Editing documents

Ctrl+A to select all

Ctrl+C to copy

Ctrl+M to zoom to

Ctrl+O to open

Ctrl+P to print

Ctrl+Q to quit

Ctrl+W to close a document

Ctrl+0 to fit in window

Ctrl+1 to fit actual size

Ctrl+2 to fit width

Ctrl+3 to fit visible

Ctrl+ to zoom in

Ctrl- to zoom out

Shift+Ctrl+A to deselect all

Shift+Ctrl+S for save as

Shift+Ctrl+ + to rotate clockwise

Shift+Ctrl+ - to rotate counterclockwise

Document accessibility

F7 to toggle keyboard caret

Searching

Ctrl+F to open the Find dialog box

Shift+Ctrl+F to open the Search panel

Document information and preferences

Ctrl+D to open the Document Properties dialog box

Ctrl+K to open the Preferences dialog box

Legal notices

© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Adobe, Acrobat, Reader, and PostScript are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Solaris is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Red Hat is a trademark or registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc in the United States and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Mac OS is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Intel and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. HP-UX is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. AIX is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Last updated 5 July 2007.