ActEd ebooks FAQs Contents EBOOKS DEVICES AND SOFTWARE Checking you have a compatible computer and device Installing the applications Registering with Adobe Downloading a test ebook Accessing an ebook on an ereader Accessing an ebook on an Apple device Accessing an ebook on another device (eg Android devices) ACTED EBOOKS Downloading an Acted ebook Accessing an ActEd ebook on more than 1 computer/device Printing an ActEd ebook USING EBOOKS Navigating within the ebook Annotating my ebook Accessing ebooks offline TECHNICAL SUPPORT ActEd support Upgrading or changing computers Computer crashes Troubleshooting Other sources of help Version: 4 Date: May 2014 Author: SJJ
EBOOKS DEVICES AND SOFTWARE Checking you have a compatible computer and device In addition to a PC or Mac, the ebooks can be used on a wide range of ereaders, smartphones, tablets and netbooks. To be compatible your device needs to support the free Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) software. To see the list of supported devices, see: http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/supported-devices The ebooks are also readable on ipads, iphones and other Apple devices (ios3.0 or higher) and android-based devices using an ADE compatible app, such as the Bluefire Reader (http://www.bluefirereader.com/bfr-user-guide.html). The instructions below assume you are using Bluefire, but similar apps, eg Copia or Aldiko, are also available and work in a similar way. Unfortunately ActEd ebooks are not compatible with the original Amazon Kindle. It may be possible to use ebooks on the Kindle Fire. Please contact us if you wish to do this. If you are in any doubt about whether an ebook can be used on your device or about how it will appear on the screen (eg font size), then we strongly recommend that you first download a free ebook using Adobe Digital Editions to check that it works correctly on your computer or other device (see Troubleshooting section below). We are unable to offer refunds in the event that you order an ActEd ebook and then find that it is not compatible with your device. Installing the applications ActEd ebooks are read using Adobe Digital Editions. This software is free and can be downloaded here: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/digital-editions.html Most PCs or Macs with a reasonably up-to-date browser should enable you to download and use Adobe Digital Editions. For reading on a portable device, in addition to installing Adobe Digital Editions on the PC or Mac you will use to first access the ebook, you also need to install the free Bluefire Reader (or similar) app on your device using your App store (eg itunes or Google Play).
Registering with Adobe and Authorisation If you do not already have one, you need to register an Adobe ID. This is free and can be done here: https://www.adobe.com/uk/account.html When using Adobe Digital Editions or any compatible reader for the first time, you will be asked to authorise the application. This requires you to enter your Adobe ID and password so that your copy of Adobe/Bluefire is able to read Adobe ebooks and permit transfer between authorised devices. Downloading a test ebook To be sure that you re all set to go before placing your first ebook order with ActEd, we recommend that you download a free ebook using Adobe Digital Editions first to check that it will work correctly on your computer or other device. There is a library of sample free ebooks at: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/digital-editions/ebook.html Choose a title that is in PDF ebook format (rather than EPUB format) as this is the format used by all ActEd ebooks. Select Download Item next to your chosen ebook. As part of the default installation, a folder will be created called My Digital Editions. (This may sit alongside folders such as My Pictures and My Albums or it may be within the My Documents folder). Your ebook should appear here. Accessing the ebook on an ereader After downloading the ebook on your PC or Mac, close Adobe Digital Editions and connect your device to your PC or Mac via USB. Now re-open Adobe Digital Editions. Your device should appear on the left within Adobe Digital Editions. Drag the ebook that you want to transfer to this picture of your device on the left. Accessing an ebook on an Apple device First you need to ensure you have installed Adobe Digital Editions, registered an Adobe ID, and installed and authorised the Bluefire Reader application on the device. Load up itunes on your computer and connect your device. Your device should appear in the menu bar. Sync your device with itunes. After syncing, with your device still connected to your PC or laptop and with itunes still open, select your device from the menu bar. Then click on the Apps button on the menu bar.
Scroll down and below the Apps section you should see the File Sharing panel. Click on Bluefire Reader under the Apps section. Any ebooks that you already have in Bluefire Reader should then appear in the Documents list to the right. Click on the Add button. Browse to the My Digital Editions folder and select the pdf of the ebook that you want to add. itunes should then transfer the ebook to your device and Bluefire Reader will automatically add it to its library on your device. Once the sync has completed, you can eject the device from your computer. Open the Bluefire Reader on the device and the ebook will now be ready to read in Bluefire Reader under the Library section of Bluefire Reader. Accessing ebooks on another device (eg Android devices) The process is similar to that for an Apple device in that you ll first need to download the ebook to a PC or Mac that has Adobe Digital Editions installed and authorised. You then need the Bluefire Reader app downloaded, installed and authorised on the device. Then connect your device to the computer and transfer the ebook file according to the instructions for the specific app and device you are using. The Adobe list of supported devices includes appropriate apps: http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/supported-devices ACTED EBOOKS Downloading an Acted ebook Important: Before attempting to download an ActEd ebook, you must have completed all the above steps first (including authorising your device(s)). After ordering an ebook from ActEd you will receive 2 emails, containing: 1. A confirmation of your order 2. The ActEd ebook token link that you need to download your ActEd ebook. The token is a URL link that you need to click to open in your browser. If you are given the option to Open or Save the file, choose Open. Digital Editions will then verify the token with Adobe and download the ebook to your computer. Ensure you have cut and paste the entire token. You can only use the ebook download token link from ActEd once on only one computer. If you intend to print the ebook, you will only be able to print from the computer on which you first download the token, so please choose your initial computer carefully.
Accessing an ActEd ebook on more than 1 computer/device ActEd ebooks can be accessed on a total of up to 6 computers/devices. Your Adobe ID manages the digital rights to your ebooks and enables you to do this. Each device needs to be authorised. More details on authorisation/de-authorisation and how to make your ebooks portable are provided on the Digital Editions help pages here: http://www.adobe.com/go/digital-editions-2.0-help/ Printing an ActEd ebook You can print your ActEd ebook, however, be aware that there are two restrictions on printing. 1. Printing must be done from the original computer/device Printing has to take place on the first device that the ebook is downloaded to. Even though it can be read from other devices, it will not print from them. 2. You may only print 100% of the pages. This means that for a 100 page ebook, you can print up to 100 pages in total. This may be as a single print, or in increments, or by printing any 10 pages 10 times. You cannot, for example, print the whole course twice. We advise you to check that you have enough paper and toner to complete any printing, to avoid the risk of exceeding the print limit by having to make a second print attempt! Print gradually. Do not send the entire ebook to the printer in one job. Note that if you ve ordered just a CMP ebook (ie as a standalone, rather than in addition to a paper CMP) then you will probably want to print off the X Assignments. If you re submitting the X Assignments for marking then you will at least need to print the cover sheets.
USING EBOOKS Navigating within the ebook If you are looking for a particular word or phrase, you can search for it by entering it in the Find box. In most of the CMP ebooks there are mentions of other chapters that appear as blue links, which you can click on to jump to the reference mentioned. Do be aware though that depending on the reader app there may not be a quick way to jump back! We have found the best way to navigate in either the CMPs or the Flashcards is to use the Table of Contents. This appears on the left of the screen when reading the ebook on a computer or by tapping the screen to make a menu appear if reading the ebook via the Bluefire Reader app. This enables you to move quickly between Chapters and Sections. Annotating an ebook To highlight text in the ebook and/or to add you own comments, use the Create Bookmark icon that appears at the top of the screen (next to the Print icon). Comments and annotations may not be portable between devices. Accessing ebooks offline As ebooks are downloaded and saved to your Digital Editions library on your PC, laptop or device, you no longer need an internet connection to access them once downloaded. TECHNICAL SUPPORT ActEd support ActEd will make sure that the download token that we send you to access your ActEd ebooks is valid. We will try and help with any other queries, possibly by directing you to technical information and instructions pages from Adobe and others. However, we can t offer support for all the possible combinations of computers, operating systems, ereaders, phones, reader apps etc which students may be using to download and access the ebooks.
Upgrading or changing computers So long as you have your Adobe ID information you will always be able to authorise a new version of Adobe Digital Editions on a new PC and download a fresh copy of ActEd s ebooks onto the new PC. As with any other valuable documents, you should backup the ebook pdf files. In addition to transferring across the pdf files, you will to de-authorise the original PC, then start authorisation from the beginning with your new PC. To de-authorise a PC, load Adobe Digital Editions on your old PC while connected to the internet, then press CTL + SHIFT + D if you are using a Windows PC, or APPLE + SHIFT + D if you are on a Mac. Then following the instructions on the Adobe Digital Editions website to de-authorise the PC. Troubleshooting If you have problems installing the software or downloading ebooks, you should first check the following: network connection check you have a connection to the Internet that is not being blocked by a firewall (for example, particular problems are known to exist with Kaspersky). You may need to temporarily suspend your firewall or talk to your company s IT support to check that the network is not blocking the connections. Many unable to contact server issues are resolved by using a home or public wi-fi connection rather than a corporate IT network. system requirements check you meet the system requirements listed at http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/digital-editions/tech-specs.html. There is a known problem with Adobe Digital Editions on Mac OS 10.7 (OS X Lion) that requires a manual installation. If you have problems downloading ebooks after clicking on the token please contact ActEd for a possible solution. up to date software check you have latest operating system updates and version of Adobe Flash. administrator rights if using a company computer, check you have permission to install the required software. tokens the link in the email is to a long URL. Some email applications may show the whole URL, which may wrap over several lines in the email. You may need to cut and paste this the whole token into the address bar of your browser.
unable to open ebooks on multiple devices you must authorise your devices before downloading and opening an ebook. If you are not authorised and subsequently authorise your devices you will be unable to access your ebooks. You will need to contact ActEd for a new token for which we may make a charge. Often, a simple Google search for any unusual error codes or messages will yield helpful tips for solving the problem. Other sources of help Adobe Digital Editions help here: http://www.adobe.com/go/digital-editions-2.0-help/ Adobe Digital Editions system requirements here: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/digital-editions/tech-specs.html Bluefire Reader User Guide here: http://www.bluefirereader.com/bfr-user-guide.html