nec PDF and hand book problem - ECN Electrical Forums

I just purchased a mac book pro and am having trouble with the PDF 2011 and handbook 2008.

Have any of you had the same problem and do you know what the fix is?

I did contact NFPA but she wasn't able to help but she did forward my problem to higher authority.

Thanks

Get a non Adobe PDF Viewer. Apple and Adobe are always fighting.

My other pdf file work with the Adobe. But i will try nonadobe viewer.

Have you tried opening it with Preview?

I purchased a copy of the 2011 NEC in PDF format and I was able to get it to open on my Mac. You have to use Adobe Reader and you have to install the FileOpen plugin to Reader first. If you try to use any other PDF viewer or Reader without the plugin it won't work. The NFPA has put a lot of copy protection on this pdf and it makes it difficult to use.

One thing to keep in mind if you are thinking of buying this is that you cannot add comments or bookmarks using Reader, so all you get it a large PDF file with very few built in bookmarks and you spend a lot of time scrolling through pages to get to where you want. You can add comments if you use Acrobat Pro but that is about $400. I would not have bought it if I had known this.

Marvin:

Welcome to ECN forums, from one of the 'Jersey Guys'!!

Stop in, jump into any topics you care to, or post an inquiry/question.

BTW, I received the '11 PDF download 'free' with a 2011 Changes book. I'm not all that fond of it, no Mac, just a plain Toshiba laptop. I sure miss the Handbook CD!

Maybe we should all write to NFPA and complain. The CD can't be that hard to make (the first one is hard, the rest are virtually free) and they got almost $200 for it.

I sent an email to NFPA customer service/member services, along with our Fire Official, and neither one of us received any response!

I use a MBP for the regular code book 2011 and have no problems after you install the "FileOpen Plugin". I downloaded the NEC free with the softbound copy of the book. I use Adobe Acrobat 9 but it should make no difference if you use Acrobat or Reader. It might be a problem if you use Preview, never tried that. Just tried it with Preview and it won't work. Works perfectly with Adobe products.

From NFPA

Quote

Good afternoon

I apologize for this inconvenience, however we will not be offering the CDROM. Once the PDFS are downloaded to your computer, they will have the same functionality where you can search, copy, paste and print.

If you should have any further questions please let me know.
Thank you

Anne Hooper
ahooper@nfpa.org
NFPA

I used to get the CD. I fizzled out once they went to the PDF even though I do have Acrobat Pro, it just wasn't worth it. Paper copy all the way.

NFPA sent out a survey for those of us on subscription (binders 18 total) asking us what format we will switch to when they go electronic. Our answer - get rid of subscription. Just something about being able to quickly find your bookmarks and notes and being able to look at two pages at once.

By the way, Welcome Marvin from a fellow P.E.

Shane

I also purchased the 2011 NEC Handbook PDF.

It does need the FileOpen plugin to open.
It will also work in Acrobat X.

There is a problem that NFPA support knows about.
The problem is that you cannot Highlight or Comment in the file without Acrobat X Pro.

The file crashes and you will not be able to open it again if you make more that a few comments.
They are trying to work to reslove this with the FileOpen vendor.