Product manuals are frustrating. For, as my dad puts it, they are usually written in a language tantalizingly close to English. Just as irritating, manuals are often printed in tiny font sizes, making them very inaccessible.
A few years ago, I was looking for a misplaced manual in vain. So I went on the web to see if I could find a copy online. I struck gold. Most manufacturers offer manuals on their web sites for current and recently discontinued products. For those not offered by the manufacturer, there are a grassroots efforts to scan and upload lost manuals. The internet has become, in part, a product manual archive.
Why is this accessible? As annoying as PDFs can be for the visually impaired, they are far more accessible that their hard copy counterparts (especially the misplaces ones). First of all, PDFs can be zoomed. If created correctly, the color scheme can be inverted and the text can be read aloud. If they are simply a scan, most can be successfully run through OCR and turned into a text document (however mangled). There is not much to be done with the reliance of manuals on diagrams.
What is the best way to find that manual online? The first step is to google the model number. Adding the brand or name of the product should wait for a second search if the first is unsuccessful. Using the model number alone should reduce the amount of unrelated results, so your manual should be fairly close to the top of the results. Once I have the manual, I usually save a copy on my computer in case I need it later.
One last tip: change the manual’s file name if you save a copy. These files are inevitable poorly named. File names that make sense for the manufacturer are unlikely to help you or me identify the file on our computers.
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I’ve made peace with PDF, and product manuals are one reason why. I can never find where I put the print copies, but I always know where to look on my computer. I like your product# search tip. Thanks!
Thanks, Mark. As annoying as PDF can be, there is no viable alternative right now.