Qgdbs 009

Ebook Central - how to download e-books
Ebook Central Support Center and Ewan Grant & Rebecca Hankinson, October 2022
QG DBS009 [www.abdn.ac.uk/library/documents/guides/qgdbs009.pdf]
Ebook Central offers an option to download an entire book to your personal computer to read offline. To do
this you need to install a free program called Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). This software provides
temporary access to up to 10 Ebook Central e-books at a time. From ADE you can read, search, highlight
and annotate the text and transfer books to mobile devices.
How do I install Adobe Digital Editions and download a book on my own PC?
1. Go to the Ebook Central website on your computer and, when prompted, login using your University
computer username and password.
2. Find the book you want to download and click the Download button found in the results list, or click on the title
of the book and select the Download Book button from the Table of Contents screen.
3. Ebook Central will recognise the type of computer you are using, i.e. Laptop/Desktop; select I’m using
my own computer, then Continue.
4. If you want to transfer the downloaded book from your personal computer to a mobile device or another
pc/laptop you will need to register a free Adobe ID at this point – click on the link Adobe ID and follow the
instructions.
• Ignore this step if you do not wish to transfer an e-book to another device.
5. Return to the Ebook Central Install screen (Stage 2 in the download process), click on the orange Get
Adobe Digital Editions button and follow the instructions.
6. Once ADE is installed click on the Done with this step link on the Ebook Central Install screen (Stage
2).
7. On the Download window (Stage 3) select the Loan Length, Download Format (EPUB or PDF) and
then click on the blue button to Download.
• The book is downloaded as a .acsm file on your computer.
• Double-click on this file to launch ADE and open the e-book.
8. The e-book is stored in ADE for up to 21 days, after which time it becomes inaccessible. You can renew
the loan by downloading the book again from the Ebook Central website.
Are there any limits on full-document downloading?

Yes - there can be. If you find that you cannot download an Ebook Central e-book to your computer it could be
because:
1. Some publishers prohibit full-document downloading.
2. You have reached the maximum limit of 10 e-books in ADE. In which case you need to return a book in
order to download another.
Can I print the entire book from ADE?

No - there are printing restrictions after downloading an e-book. A portion may be printed from ADE but, for
copyright reasons, never the entire book. The number of pages you can print depends on the publisher.
Can I sync across computers to access a book?

Yes - the first time you open a book, you will be asked to authorize. Do this with your Adobe ID, mentioned
earlier in this guide. This associates the book with your ID. If you later open the book on another computer,
you can simply supply the same ID to open the book.
If you don’t have an Adobe ID, click the Create an Adobe ID link. After creating the ID on the Adobe website,
you can close that browser window, return to ADE, and enter the newly-created Adobe ID.
The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683

How do I transfer a downloaded e-book to a mobile device?
ADE allows you to transfer items to (and from) many e-readers and mobile device. You will need to
download an install the Bluefire Reader App to your Apple or Android device.
FIRST TIME ONLY:

1. Sign in with your Adobe ID, or create one:
• Go to the Sign In page for Adobe ID.
• Either sign in, or click “Get an Adobe ID” and follow the prompts.
2. Install Bluefire on your device.
• On your device, click App Store (for iOS) or Google Play (for Android).
• Search for Bluefire Reader and install it on your device.
START HERE (if you’ve done the above steps before):
3. Download an Ebook Central book to your computer (see here for more information).
4. Connect your mobile device to your computer
5. iOS – to transfer the downloaded e-book to your mobile device:
• Open iTunes, then from within iTunes… Sync your iOS device
• Click on the iPhone (or other) icon in the left pane
• Click on the Apps tab and scroll down to select File Sharing, then click on Add
• Go to your My Digital Editions folder and select the downloaded e-book you’d like to transfer – be
sure to select the .pdf file, not the .acsm file
• Re-sync your iOS device
• Open Bluefire on your device and view the book
6. Android – to transfer the downloaded e-book to your mobile device
• Copy the .acsm file from your computer to the ”Bluefire“, “Imports” folder on your device
• Open Bluefire on your device and view the book
How can I return a book early?

You may need to return a book early if you already have 10 books in your Library in ADE and you want to
borrow another one:
1. Open your Library in ADE and with your mouse right click on the book you want to return.
2. Select Return Borrowed Item from the menu.
3. In the pop-up window select Return.
Can I use screen-readers with Ebook Central and ADE?

Ebook Central
There is a special screen-readable accessibility mode for use with text-to-speech screen readers, such as
JAWS, NVDA, or VoiceOver. To activate this special screen-readable accessibility mode, either:
1. If you are running a text-to-speech screen reader, simply have it ‘read’ the banner at the top of the Ebook
Central page. It will ‘read’ the option of displaying the book’s content in screen-readable-text mode…or
2. Contact the Ebook Central Support Team to have screen-readable-text mode enabled for your Ebook
Central username. Supply your full User ID when you contact the Support Team. To find your username
select Settings then Profile from the top of the screen. It is not the same as your University of Aberdeen
username and will be a long string of letters and numbers.
ADE
Works with JAWS, NVDA, or VoiceOver. ADE v.3.0, and above, are designed with full keyboard support (tab
navigation and shortcuts) and high-contrast support. Read the Getting Started e-book pre-loaded to ADE for
full details.
Help and advice

Access problems: IT Service Desk, T: +44 (0)1224 273636
Accessibility problems: Assistive Technology Team
Library guides: Ebook Central and Ebook Central on you mobile device

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Ebook Central - how to download e-books

Are there any limits on full-document downloading?

Can I print the entire book from ADE?

Can I sync across computers to access a book?

The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683

FIRST TIME ONLY:

How can I return a book early?

Can I use screen-readers with Ebook Central and ADE?

Help and advice

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