Answers...

to commonly asked questions.

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Getting Safari to default to Adobe reader for pdfs.

I am working on a government contract and cannot get the below link to download to get to a pdf form you fill out. Tried to do it myself by opening settings in PDF and changing from PDF Expert to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC but I still could not get the link to download. Instead, it refers me to an adobe link to download adobe reader, which will not download since I have a higher grade adobe reader.
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We should be able to take care of this. There are three ways for a browser to handle pdfs on websites.

1. Use the standard pdf viewer which is Safari's version of Preview.
2. Right click to download the file then open it in whatever is your pdf tool of choice. Ie: Preview, Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat.
3. Install Adobe Reader which also installs a plugin into your browser that enables Reader to jump the line to become the default reader.

I would start with 3. first. Go to http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download to download reader. Next go to your downloads folder and double click the AcroRdrDC file you just downloaded. Follow the steps to install Reader back onto your system. You may be asked for your admin password during the process. Quit Safari then try the link again. This time the Adobe plugin should take control and display the pdf page.

The link that you sent to me, I have no issues downloading. The private link I was unable to access. So if reinstalling adobe reader doesn’t resolve it for you, then I may want to remote in and look at what’s going on. I’m not a fan of using Adobe reader either as a stand alone program or as a plugin for Safari, Chrome, etc…. Since Preview does a decent job and is much faster in my experience. Adobe Acrobat Pro is a different story. It’s a professional level tool designed to heavily edit pdf files. Preview can do some editing but it is limited. As you know, Acrobat costs money. But I don’t think it automatically installs the Safari plugin.

Another issue we’d want to consider is to see if the plugin is actually in the correct place. You can visit the hidden library folder by holding down the option key and clicking on the word Go in the menu bar. From there, check the Internet Plug-ins folder. If adobe reader plugin is installed, it would be visible in that folder. If you don’t see it there however, let’s check one more location. Under the word Go in the menu bar, select Computer. From there go to Macintosh HD/Library/Internet Plug-ins/ and you may see the AdobePDFviewer plug in there. Yes, there are two libraries on your Mac. One belongs to your user. One belongs to the Computer. (There is actually another Library inside the system folder but we don’t talk about that).

Check those items out and get back to me.

How do I convert a pdf file to a picture?

I have a PDF of a schematic that I need to convert to an image for uploading. Is there a simple way of doing that? Also, of making it a photo?
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Several ways to accomplish converting a pdf to a jpg or png.

1. Just take a screen shot using command+shift+4 then drag the area you want to select as a screen shot.
This will drop a png file onto your desktop. Keep in mind tis is only for one page at a time.

2. Use preview to export to a jpg. Under file go to Export then select jpg.

Screen Shot 2019-06-27 at 10.08.43 AM

Creating a transparent layer with Preview

Scotty,

I got you name from another client, a new QuickBooks client of mine. I have another client in Greenville, SC who is now on a Mac but needs to load her QuickBooks 2010 for Windows on the Mac (and abandon the old Windows machine). Do you provide services from remote, or is there someone else in the Greenville, SC area that you recommend?


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I do do remote sessions via computer and could assist your client in choosing the correct choice of software to get up and running via virtualization.  ie:  running Windows on their Mac in order to run the Windows version of Quickbooks.  

They can schedule directly online at www.sellsconsulting.com or join us on Mondays at 7pm just to get other simple questions answered for free at www.sellsconsulting.com/townhall.  If you would prefer to have a local consultant then I recommend checking consultants.apple.com and searching by zip code.
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