If you routinely make PDF files for onscreen viewing or presentations, it's important to put your best face forward. And that means controlling how your readers view the document when it first opens.

You can set parameters such as whether or not toolbars show or if the file opens in full-screen mode. You can decide if the window opens to spreads or single pages. And you can adjust the magnification so that the page appears at a larger size automatically.

In this PDF tip learn how to set the initial document view in Acrobat 6. After reading it, see if you can retrace what the settings were for the file you've just opened! (Kind of a Zen exercise, admittedly.)

We've posted this excerpt as a PDF file. All you do is click this link "Deciding What Your Reader Sees First" to open the PDF file in your Web browser. You can also download the PDF to your machine for later viewing.

To open the PDF, you'll need a full version of Adobe Acrobat (5 or higher) or the Adobe Reader, which you can download here:

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To learn how to configure your browser for viewing PDF files, see the Adobe Reader tech support page.

Excerpted from " The 100 Best Adobe Acrobat Tips & Tricks" © 2004 Donna Baker. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Peachpit Press. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.