My Files Aren't Working… HELP!

I have a lot of hats at the BIP Office, and one of them is Technical Support. When your system is going kerflunky I’m the one you talk to. Not because I’m a wiz or anything, just because I have a calm, encouraging phone voice that reminds you not to panic. OK I do know my way around computers too, but really, that’s just a side bonus. While most people don’t have trouble with our software, we do have some FAQ for the few who do.

The #1 problem people have when using our digital materials (Illuminations and WonderMaps especially) is that they don’t have a recent version of Adobe Reader. You need to have version 9.1 or higher. The easy way to check is to open up your version of Reader and under “Help” click “Check for updates.” This little feature can save you so much pain and heartache. A lot of people still have version 8, which I’m convinced is steal-your-soul-and-rent-it-back-to-you Evil. Nothing works on it. Nothing old, nothing new. In fact, you should upgrade now. It’s free. www.Adobe.com. Install it, reboot, and try again. 9 times out of 10 this works. Mac users often find that PDF files default to opening in a program called “Preview” – this is fine for simple image files, but our PDF files are complex and Preview can’t handle them. If Adobe Reader is installed on your Mac, control+click the file you’re trying to open and select “Open With“—>”Adobe Reader.”  If Adobe Reader isn’t an option, you need to download it from the above link and install it.

The #2 question I hear about is expired download links. That’s an easy fix. Our links expire 3 days after they’ve been sent. So, if your link expired, call us or email TechSupport (at) BrightIdeasPress.com and we’ll re-set it for you! It’s easy for us to do – in fact we can usually do it while we’re still on the phone with you.

The #3 conversation I have is when people are trying to view samples on our website. Most of our samples require that you have Adobe Reader 9.1, and that you download them – don’t try to view them in your browser. Most browsers can’t handle the nifty things we put in our samples like forms and schedule grids, etc. So, download them and open them up instead. I promise they’re virus-free 😉

Another question I get regularly is “What if I’m on a Mac?” I’m pleased to say that all the software we publish is Mac compatible. You just need Adobe Reader. In fact, 90% of it was made on a Mac, and much of it I formatted myself  so if it didn’t work, I would be pretty upset because I use our software, too.

If you’ve updated your software, can’t download or open anything, or are otherwise just confused, give me a call. That’s what I’m here for . 877.492.8081

Hope that helps,