Many web browsers have their own built-in PDF viewers, but they tend to be buggy. To get the most out of our printables, we recommend opening them with Adobe Acrobat Reader, instead of opening them in your web browser’s built-in PDF viewer. This will ensure that they print as intended and that you’re able to edit and save your changes to any of our editable printables (note that not all of our printables are editable).

If you choose to open one of our printables with Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, etc., and you run into problems with printing, editing or saving the file, try another browser, or follow the instructions outlined below to disable your web browser’s built-in PDF viewer, and open the printable with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Google Chrome

When using the Google Chrome web browser, print output may not be as intended for our PDF printables. This is due to a bug in Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer. Follow these steps to disable Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer, and open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader:

  • Step 1: Open a new Chrome browser window or tab and type chrome://plugins/ in the address bar. Then, hit ENTER on your keyboard.
  • Step 2: Scroll down and find Chrome PDF Viewer, and click the “Disable” link.
  • Step 3: Close the chrome://plugins window. The next time you click on a PDF link, the file should download to your ‘downloads’ folder, instead of automatically opening in Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer.
  • Step 4: Right-click on the file in your downloads folder, and select Open with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

    If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download it for free here.

    NOTE: If you don’t want to install the optional offer(s) at the same time, uncheck the box(es), before clicking the “Install now” button.

  • Internet Explorer

    You may also encounter print output problems using Internet Explorer, if PDFs are set to automatically open in your web browser. If so, follow these steps to set PDFs to open in Adobe Acrobat Reader instead:

    • Step 1: Open a new Internet Explorer broswer window, and choose Tools > Manage Add-ons
    • Step 2: Under Add-on Types, select Toolbars and Extensions
    • Step 3: In the Show menu, select All Add-ons
    • Step 4: In the list of add-ons, select Adobe PDF Reader
    • If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you can download it for free here.

      NOTE: If you don’t want to install the optional offer(s) at the same time, uncheck the box(es), before clicking the “Install now” button.

    • Step 5: Click the Disable button (Enable sets the Adobe PDF Reader add-on to open PDFs in the browser, while Disable turns off the add-on so it does not open PDFs in the browser.)
    • Step 6: Close the Manage Add-ons window. The next time you click on a PDF link, the file should download to your ‘downloads’ folder, instead of automatically opening in Internet Explorer’s built-in PDF viewer.
    • Step 7: Right-click on the file in your downloads folder, and select Open with Adobe Acrobat Reader.