All about Ebooks

This page explains the layout of the ebooks from Books for Learning and how to make use of them, including instructions for downloading, printing and viewing on screen.

(To view the ebooks currently for sale, please visit the Classics page.)

Layout

Our ebooks can be viewed on computers and hand-held devices, and can also be printed via your desktop printer. Pages are designed to fit nicely on both US Letter and A4 page sizes.

Security

Unlike many ebooks that can be purchased online, our ebooks are free from annoying restrictions. For example, they do not require you to enter a password to open them, and their usage is not restricted to a single device. Δ

What is an ebook?

Ebooks from Books for Learning come as digital files in Adobe PDF format. The initialism PDF stands for 'Portable Document Format'. A PDF is a digital document that can be viewed on any computer without the content or layout being changed—unless you want it to be, as explained below. (Documents in other formats, such as Microsoft Word, can change considerably as they move from one computer to another, depending on each computer's settings, etc.)

You can learn more about Adobe's PDF format by visiting the Adobe Website. Δ

Getting Adobe Reader

If you are using a Windows-based computer, chances are (unless your computer is very old) that you already have Adobe Reader on your computer. If not, however, you can download it for free from the Adobe website.

To determine whether or not you have Adobe Reader already, CLICK HERE to open a one-page test ebook. If the ebook does not open on your screen, or if your computer seems confused about what program you want to use, you probably need to download Adobe Reader. (Note: at time of writing, Google's Chrome browser has poor support for PDF viewing. Ideally, do this test with Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer.)

Even if you already have Adobe Reader, you may like to get a newer copy from the Adobe website. All versions are completely free.

If you are using a Macintosh computer, you can also view PDFs with a program called Preview, which now-a-days comes with every computer from Apple. Preview does not have all the functionality of Adobe Reader, but it is quite good, all the same.

To download Adobe Reader, click the link below. Δ

Downloading to your computer

After purchasing an ebook from Books for Learning, you will be provided with a link (both on this website and via email) so that you can download it.

When you click on this link, your computer will either open the ebook on your screen or present you with the option to download the ebook to your computer.

If the ebook opens on your screen, go to File > Save As at the top left of your screen, and choose where on your computer you want to store your ebook. If you are presented with the download option, your browser will save the ebook in your designated downloads folder. Go to that folder to retrieve the ebook, and move it to another location if you prefer. Δ

Printing your ebook

Ebooks from Books for Learning are designed to fit nicely on both Letter and A4 paper sizes, so no resizing should be necessary.

To print an entire ebook, simply open it up and press File > Print at the top left of your screen.

If you only want to print a selection of pages, you can indicate a page range in the printer dialog box. Each ebook is divided into two sections: the preliminary pages (cover, title page, copyright page and contents) and the actual text. So for a 40-page ebook, your printer dialog box may present the ebook's page range like this: 1–Sec1:36. In such a case, the ebook will be made up of 4 un-numbered pages (1–4) and 36 numbered pages (Sec1:1–Sec1:36). To print just the numbered pages (that is, the actual text), type Sec1:1–Sec1:36 as your page range. To print the entire ebook except for the colored cover page, set the page range to 2–Sec1:36. And so on...

If you are printing from Apple's Preview, you will simply be presented with a page range like 1–40. So if you wanted to print all pages except for the cover, type 2–40 as your page range, etc. Δ

Modes of screen viewing

There are tools in Adobe Reader that allow for various viewing modes.

With Adobe Reader open, clicking View > Page Display (top left) offers four viewing modes: Single page, Single Page Continuous, Two-Up, and Two-Up Continuous. The two modes most appropriate for Books for Learning ebooks are Single page and Single Page Continuous. Single Page displays one page at a time, allowing readers to advance pages with a simple click. Single Page Continuous allows pages to be viewed in a continuous series for easy scrolling.

In the middle of the toolbar at the top of screen there are the options of Fit Page (which fits a single page on screen) and Fit Width (which expands the document to fill the screen from left to right.)

If you would like a little more space on your screen to view your ebook, you can press F8 on your keyboard to hide the toolbars at the top of Adobe Reader. (Simply press F8 again to get the toolbars back.) Δ

Bookmark and page tabs

Down the left side of the Adobe Reader window (and down the right side of Apple's Preview) are various tabs, two of which are of particular use. Click Bookmarks to find a list of specific sections within the document, such as the Introduction, specific chapters and comprehension pages. Clicking these allows you to jump easily to key places in the document. Click Pages to view thumbnails of all pages in the document. Click on any thumbnail to go directly to that page. Δ

Resizing text and text Reflow

You can easily enlarge or reduce the size of the page by clicking the minus and plus symbols at the top of Adobe Reader, or by choosing a screen magnification. You can also click View > Zoom To... to select a percentage of magnification.

To make the text really large without having to scroll sideways, you can also override document formatting to 'reflow' the document's text. At the top of the page, click View > Zoom > Reflow. Then click the - / + buttons on the toolbar at the top of the page. The text will enlarge without the document spreading off the screen.

NOTE: you cannot save or print these reflow changes. Δ

PDA viewing

PDAs (or 'personal digital assistants') are handheld devices on which you can view your ebook. The 'Reflow' option mentioned above allows for easy reading on these small devices. For more information about viewing PDFs on a particular device, consult that device's user manual. Δ

Opening where you left off

You can set Adobe Reader to open documents where you left off, instead of at the first page. To choose this setting, do the following:

Edit (Windows) or Adobe Reader (Macintosh) > Preferences > Documents and check the 'Restore last view settings when reopening documents' option. Δ