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Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| About PDFs |
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The National Academies Press is now offering many of its titles in digital PDF format. Hundreds of these books can be downloaded for free by the chapter or by the entire book, while others are available for purchase. The following FAQ is designed to answer your questions about our PDFs. If you have additional questions, please send an e-mail message to Customer Service or call our Customer Service Department between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST Monday through Friday at (888) 624-8373 or (202) 334-3313. |
| Technical Issues: |
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| About the PDF Files Offered at NAP: |
| Obtaining Free PDFs: |
| Ordering PDFs: |
| Downloading Purchased PDFs: |
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| Sharing National Academies Press PDF files: |
| Technical Issues | ||||||||||||||||||||
What is a PDF file?PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format. The PDF file format created by Adobe Systems, Inc. is a self-contained cross-platform document. In plain language, it is a file that will look the same on the screen and in print, regardless of what kind of computer or printer someone is using and regardless of what software package was originally used to create it. Although they contain the complete formatting of the original document, including fonts and images, PDF files are highly compressed, allowing complex information to be downloaded efficiently. What software do I need to read a PDF?Each PDF book or chapter on our Web site may be downloaded to your computer, viewed, and/or printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader from within a browser or as its own application. What hardware is necessary for reading PDFs?Almost any Internet-connected computer that has a hard drive can be used. Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and most other operating systems have means of reading Adobe Acrobat PDF files. What browser should I use?You may use the Adobe Acrobat Reader as a standalone program to read these books or chapters. However, most people will likely use the built-in Adobe Acrobat viewer within Internet Explorer, Netscape, or other popular Internet browsers. How long will it take for me to download a PDF file from your Web site?The time it will take you to download our PDF files depends on the type of connection you have and the size of the book. The following table provides estimated times.
What's the best strategy if I'm on a very slow, bad line?In that case, try downloading individual chapters (instead of the entire book), or start the whole-book download at the end of the day, before you go to sleep, and let it download overnight. Where should I download these files?We recommend creating a special folder just for your books, and downloading to that folder. We do not recommend downloading to a floppy drive. How do I view or print my downloaded files?To view or print your downloaded files, you must have Adobe Acrobat loaded on your computer. In Windows Explorer or other file management program, locate the drive and folder where you downloaded your files and double click on the filename. At that point, Acrobat will open and display your PDF file for viewing. To print the file, use the printing function in Acrobat. Why are some PDF files on your site searchable and others are not?The majority of the PDF files on our site are fully searchable. They are called "native" PDF files and are created from source files. A few of the PDF files are created from pictures of the pages, and are called "scanned image" PDF files. These are very large and are not searchable. We create this type of PDF when no source files are available. |
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| About the PDF Files Offered at NAP | ||||||||||||||||||||
Why are some PDFs free and you charge for others?The National Academies Press is proud to be one of the only online bookstores that provides anyone in the connected world with free page-by-page access to all of our books. We began doing this in 1996. We were pleased to be able to expand this effort recently by providing many of our books in a downloadable format. However, our ability to continue to offer free content depends on a stream of revenue to offset the cost of doing so. Therefore, we continue to charge for some of our books in PDF format. Are all books available in PDF format?No. As new books are published we will post the majority of them in native
PDF format. Many older books will never have a PDF posted because we do
not have the electronic files for them. |
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| Obtaining Free PDFs | ||||||||||||||||||||
How do I download free PDF files?Hundreds of our books can be downloaded for free by the chapter or by
the entire book. Free PDF books will have a "sign in" link in the "purchase
options" box. Click on the link, complete a short survey, and you'll be
able to download the book. |
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| Ordering PDFs | ||||||||||||||||||||
How do I order a PDF file?There are links for ordering PDFs on the home page for the individual book, and as you are browsing pages of the book on line. If you have any trouble locating the links, please call our Customer Service Department between the hours of 8:30 a.m. ET and 5:00 p.m. ET Monday through Friday at (888) 624-8373 or (202) 334-3313. PDF BOOKS, PDF BUNDLES, and PDF CHAPTERS may only be ordered online. What are my options for purchasing PDF files?You may order a PDF file of the full text of the book, individual chapter files, or a combination of the printed book and the full text PDF file. The combination of the PDF and the printed book is our best value. When you purchase the printed book via the Web, you pay only 20% more for the PDF. Will the purchased chapters come with any additional information?Along with the chapters that you purchase, you will be offered the full book table of contents and other front matter, bibliography, references, and/or the index, if applicable, at no additional cost. Can I order over the phone or with a purchase order?No. In order to purchase PDFs, you must use the Web site and pay with a valid credit card. We cannot take orders over the phone, fax, or via the mail or e-mail. Other methods of payment (check or purchase order) cannot be processed. Will I be taxed on my PDF purchase?No. Online PDF purchases are currently not subject to sales tax in most
states, although state tax requirements are subject to change. However,
you will be taxed according to your state's requirements on purchases
of printed books. |
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| Downloading Purchased PDFs | ||||||||||||||||||||
If I purchase a PDF, when can I have access to the files?Immediately. How do I download purchased PDF files?It's easy to download and view the PDF files you purchase from the National Academies Press. After your order is processed, we provide you with a table of contents for the files you have purchased that you click on to save the file to a local drive on your computer. How long do I have access to the PDF files that I purchase?You must download your files within seven days of purchase. After that time period, you will no longer have access to your files on the NAP Web site. But, once you download the files, you may keep them for your personal use as long as you wish. Please see Terms of Use for the National Academies Press Electronic Publications for details. Do I have to download the entire purchased PDF file at once?If you decide to purchase the full book in PDF format, you will be offered the content both as one file and broken into chapters. You may choose to download all of the content at once or a chapter at a time. If you decide to purchase only chapters, you will be able to download those individually. What if there's a communication hiccup when I'm downloading a large file?Most browsers will endeavor to "start back up" on their own, but this may corrupt the resulting PDF file. If you try to open a file and you get an error message indicating file damage, simply re-download the book or chapters. What if I change computers?You may download your purchased files from any computer. If you use a
different computer to download your files than the one you used to order
the files, you will need to use your e-mail address as your username and
your order confirmation number as your login ID. The confirmation number
is on your order receipt. If you use the same computer to order and download
you don't need a username or login ID. If you need to download after the
initial seven day access period, please contact customer service for assistance.
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| Sharing National Academies Press PDF files | ||||||||||||||||||||
May I share my PDF with others?We have two distinct classes of PDFs, each with its own copyright statement and sharing restrictions, free PDFs and purchased PDFs. Always consult the copyright statement in the PDF you download to determine if you can share it. For all of our PDFs, substantial or systematic reproduction is not permitted. Distributing or posting the PDF files is strictly prohibited without written permission of the NAP. Purchased PDFs Free PDFs Spread the word! Please tell your friends and colleagues about these free resources and encourage them to download their own copies. Please see our terms of use statement for additional information |
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