The images on this page are pretty small. You can download the original HTML version of this page, with larger graphics, by clicking
Working with Acrobat here or below.
When a GIS map opens, you will see the entire map on your screen, but details will be too small to discern. You can zoom in on the map by clicking the "+" sign in the Acrobat toolbar.
OR you can click the little down-arrow at the right of the window, and select your zoom view from the drop-down menu:
OR, just hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while you hit the
+ and
- keys to zoom in and out.
PRINTING JUST PART OF THE MAP
Many of our maps are designed to be printed on large (up to 40 inches wide) sheets of paper. What you'll probably want to do is select a portion of the big map and print it out on standard 8-1/2 x 11 paper. Here's how to get Acrobat to do that.
First, zoom in and move around the map until you have a good view of the area you want. Then click the Snapshot button
in the Acrobat toolbar. (In older versions of Acrobat the button may look like this:
.)
Now move your mouse to the top left corner of the area you want. Hold down the LEFT mouse button, and drag the mouse down and to the right to draw a box around the area. Let go of the button, and wait a few moments until the box shows as a dotted line on your screen. It will look like this (the dotted line goes around the desired area):
Now, click FILE and then PRINT (or hit Control-P on the keyboard) to bring up the Print menu:
(Your own printer name will appear in the NAME box.)
If the shape of your map is horizontal, you'll need to click the PROPERTIES button at the upper right, and change your printer from PORTRAIT to LANDSCAPE. (The exact windows and buttons that show up will depend on your specific printer, but you'll find the Portrait/Landscape choice in there somewhere.)
Now, look closely at the COPIES AND ADJUSTMENTS area at the right. A small image of how the sheet of paper will look appears at the bottom.
If you selected a small area to print, then you'll probably want to check the Expand small pages to paper size box to enlarge the image as much as possible.
On the other hand, if you selected a large area of the map, you will check the Shrink oversized pages to paper size box to make it fit on the letter-size paper.
Your printer may have other capabilities as well, especially controls for quality and color. The kind of paper you use will be important if you want a really high quality image. Experiment to get the best results.
If you need more help (or want to explore Acrobat's capabilities), click the HELP button in Acrobat. For information on this topic, search for Printing/Area on a Page.
