• Apply Now
• Schedule of Classes

• Future Students
• Current Students

• Business and Industry
• Employees

DL Faculty

• Procedures & Guidelines
• Course Development
• Teaching with Blackboard 9
• Training Schedule
• DL Course Request
• Additional Resources
• News

File Viewers and Converters

Let your students know about free viewers for file types used in your course so they can access course content easily. There are also a number of converters available, which can be useful for you and for students to save assignments in the desired file type.

Tools to View, Convert and Edit Files

• Adobe Flash Player : Download the newest free Flash player, which is required to view much online content.
• Adobe Reader: Download the latest Adobe Reader to view pdf files.
• Microsoft Office Viewers and Online File Convertors: These tools will ensure that your students can view presentations and documents created in Microsoft Office, even if they do not have the software. For instance, if you created a PowerPoint in Office 2007 format, students can download the PowerPoint 2007 viewer to see the presentation. Select this link to install the full compatibility pack for Office 2007.
• Pic Resize: Use this web-based tool to easily resize your images for use in Blackboard. This comes in handy when requiring students to include a graphic in their discussion posts since the built-in tools do not allow for easy scaling. Just browse for the image, select the parameters, and choose to save the edited graphic to your computer.
• PDF: Microsoft Save as PDF: This add-in for Microsoft Office 2007 allows you to export and save to PDF format from Microsoft Office programs. This will be helpful in providing a format that all students can view (with free Adobe Reader).
• PDF Printers: If you do not have another method to save files as PDF files, there are a few free options that will provide you with a free PDF printer, meaning when you “print”, you can select the PDF printer so create a pdf file. CutePDF Writer and Primo PDF are two options.
• ZamZar: Convert files to proper formats. Select original file; choose format to which the file will be converted; enter email address and wait for converted file to be delivered. This is helpful to ensure that students have files submitted in a proper format.

Movie Viewers

• Apple QuickTime: View .MOV movie files with this free viewer from Apple.
• Windows Media Component for MAC: View WMV files using a MAC with QuickTime Player or over the Internet.

Return to Course Development Page.