Print Your Own Manual

Submitted by HelpMeRick.com on December 30, 2005 - 12:36pm.

To save on printing, shipping and packaging costs, many software and hardware companies no longer provide printed manuals. One of the top complaints I here from computer users is; "I wish there was a manual". Instead of printed manuals, many manufacturers use 'online' manuals or Adobe Acrobat files on the CD to house their manuals.

Often times these manuals contain great information, but can be hard to 'thumb' through on your computer. My Olympus camera came with a 175 page manual in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format on the CD. Instead of battling with the online version, I took the CD down to a local printer and had them print and bind it in small format. The total cost was under $25 and now I have a wonderful easy to use manual at my side.

To print a manual of your favorite software or hardware, find the file on your computer (often times a PDF document), copy it to a CD or bring the original CD to your printer and have them print and bind it for you. I chose to print the manual in a one-half sheet size to make it easier to handle and carry. You may choose to print it on full sheets of paper or even double-sided depending on your preference. You will be pleased with this inexpensive and effective solution to having a printed reference.

After you have your printed manual, don't stop using the Adobe version on your computer. One great function of an online manual is its search ability. For example, if you are looking for how to use the self-timer function on your camera. Just open the digital manual and click Edit --> Find (or click on the little binoculars) and type your search word. Acrobat Reader will instantly take you to the first occurrence of the term and highlight it. Click find next to find the next occurrence. In recent versions of Adobe Reader, you may see the option referred to as Search vs. Find.

The next time you buy a new computer hardware peripheral or piece of software don't panic if you it doesn't come with a manual. Instead, create your own. I know it isn't free, but if the manufacturer packaged the manual with the camera, scanner or software, the price of it would rise to cover the expense. So, either way we pay. One other way you could use the 'digital manual' is just to print the pages you want to print. With Acrobat Reader, you can choose to print just certain pages. You don't have to print the entire document.

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