PDF Pages Appear Blank Inside Web Browser Window

Issue
Your Adobe Acrobat viewer (i.e., Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Exchange) doesn't display PDF files inside your Web browser window.

Solutions
Do one or more of the following:
A. Make sure Acrobat can read the PDF file by downloading it to your hard drive and then viewing it in the Web browser:

In Netscape Navigator 3.x or later:
1. Right-click (Windows) or hold down the mouse button (Mac OS) on the link to the PDF file, then choose Save Link As from the pop-up menu.
2. In the Save As dialog box, specify a name and location for the PDF file, then click Save.
3. Choose one of the following options to open the PDF file:
- In Navigator 3.x for Windows or Mac OS, choose File > Open File.
- In Navigator 4.x for Windows, choose File > Open Page, then click Choose File.
- In Navigator 4.x for Mac OS, choose File > Open > Page in Navigator.
4. If you're using Navigator for Windows, choose either All Files or Acrobat files from the Files Of Type pop-up menu.
5. Select the PDF file you saved in step 2, then click Open. Acrobat should open the PDF file inside the browser window.

In Internet Explorer 3.0 or later:
1. Right-click (Windows) or hold down the mouse button (Mac OS) on the link to the PDF file, then choose Save Target As from the pop-up menu.
2. In the Save As dialog box, specify a name and location for the PDF file, then click Save.
3. Choose File > Open, then click Browse.
4. Choose All Files from the Files Of Type pop-up menu.
5. Select the PDF file you saved in step 2, then click Open. Acrobat should open the PDF file inside the browser window.

NOTE: If the viewer displays only a blank screen or returns an error after you've downloaded a PDF file to your hard drive, the viewer or the PDF file may be damaged. Exit the Web browser, then start the viewer and try to open an Acrobat Online Guide from the viewer's Help menu. If the viewer can't display an online guide, the viewer itself may be damaged and you should contact Acrobat Technical Support. If the viewer can display the online guide correctly, try opening the PDF file you downloaded. If the viewer can display the downloaded PDF file, then the PDF file isn't damaged and your Web browser isn't working with the Acrobat plug-in. If the viewer still displays only a blank screen or returns an error, the PDF file is probably damaged.

B. Make sure the browser is configured to work with the Acrobat plug-in by doing one or more of the following:
a. Make sure your browser is configured to use the Acrobat plug-in. For instructions on configuring Navigator for Mac OS, see document 731008. For instructions on configuring Navigator for Windows, see document 731007. For instructions on configuring Internet Explorer for Mac OS, see document 231201. For instructions on configuring Internet Explorer for Windows, see document 731006.

b. If you're using a browser in Windows NT 3.51, specify the temp folder as a folder on the startup drive (i.e., the hard drive from which Windows NT loads):
1. Open the System Control Panel.
2. In the User Environment Variables section, select the current temp folder (e.g., "temp=c:\temp"), then click Delete.
3. In the Variable text box, type "temp."
4. In the Value text box, type the path to a folder on a drive with plenty of free space (e.g., 100 MB or more).
5. Click Set, then click OK.
6. Log out of Windows NT, then log back in.

c. If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0, make sure the ratings security setting is disabled:

In Internet Explorer for Windows:
1. Choose View > Options, then click the Security tab.
2. In the Options dialog box, do one of the following:
- If the Enable Ratings button is available, click Cancel. The Enable Ratings button is only available when ratings are disabled.
- If the Disable Ratings button is available, click it, enter your supervisor password when prompted, then click OK.

In Internet Explorer for Mac OS:
1. Choose Edit > Preferences.
2. Click Ratings, then click Options.
3. Select the option labeled "User Can See Sites That Have No Rating," then click OK. Contact Microsoft for more information on which security settings affect Internet Explorer's ability to download files.

d. If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0, clear its cache. The cache may contain an old or damaged copy of the PDF file you're trying to view:

In Internet Explorer for Windows:
1. Choose View > Options, then click the Advanced tab.
2. Click Settings, click Empty Folder.
3. When the message, "Delete all files in the Temporary Internet Files folder?" appears, click Yes.
4. Click OK to close the Settings dialog box, then click OK to close the Options dialog box.
5. Choose View > Refresh to redraw Internet Explorer's window.

In Internet Explorer for Mac OS:
1. Choose Edit > Options, then click Advanced.
2. Click Empty, then click OK.
3. Choose View > Refresh to redraw Internet Explorer's window.

e. Make sure you're looking at the browser window and not the Acrobat viewer window. The viewer runs in the background when you're viewing a PDF file in a browser window, and the viewer's window may not display the PDF file. If the browser window is inactive, activate it to view the PDF file.

C. Try viewing a PDF file from a different Web server. To determine if there's problem with the server to which you're connecting, try to open a PDF file from Adobe's Web site (http://www.adobe.com). Adobe's Web server is configured to let your browser connect to PDF files correctly. If the Acrobat viewer can display PDF files from Adobe's Web site, but not from another site, the other site's server may not be configured correctly (e.g., uses server software that doesn't support byteserving). Contact that server's Webmaster for assistance.

D. If you're using Acrobat Exchange 3.0x, optimize the PDF file:
1. Open the file in Acrobat Exchange.
2. Choose File > Save As.
3. Select Optimize, then click OK.
4. Click Yes when Exchange asks if you want to replace the existing file.

Additional Information
An Acrobat viewer may be unable to display PDF files inside a browser window when it can't read the PDF file, when the browser isn't working correctly with the Acrobat plug-in, or when the Web server on which the PDF file is stored can't download the PDF file.

If the server to which you're connecting uses Apache server software, Adobe recommends the server's Webmaster use Apache 1.2.1 or later, since previous versions didn't support byteserving of PDF files. Byteserving is the process of downloading a file a page at a time, so you can view the beginning of a file while the rest of it downloads in the background. If the server uses a version of Apache server software earlier than 1.2.1 and the Webmaster doesn't want to update, the Webmaster can run a CGI script to enable byteserving. Contact Apache for more information about CGI scripting. For more information about byteserving, visit Adobe's Web site (http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/byteserve.html or http://www.adobe.com/special/acrobat/moreinfo/).

If the server to which you're connecting uses Microsoft Information Internet Server, contact Microsoft for information on which versions support byteserving.

If the PDF file was uploaded to the server using Fetch 3.0.1 FTP software, the PDF file may be damaged and Acrobat viewer may be unable to display it. To avoid this problem, the Webmaster should upload PDF files to the server manually.

If the PDF file has a large file size (i.e., 4 MB or larger), your viewer may be unable to display it, or the Web browser will time out before it finishes downloading the file. To reduce the PDF file's size, you can optimize it in Acrobat Exchange. For more information on file optimization, refer to page 3 of the Exchange Online Guide.

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