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Click a question to see its answer.
The Basics
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What are ebooks?
An ebook is a book in electronic format (usually a PDF file) that can be read on your computer or portable reader. Ebooks can be read directly from your computer screen and most can be printed if you prefer paper. The ability to print individual pages or to print multiple copies makes ebooks very cost efficient compared to using a printed version of the same book. Our ebooks have all the content of their printed counterparts, including graphics and cover images and are reproduced in full color. The text size on ebooks can be adjusted to suit most any need through the Adobe Reader settings.
Our ebooks are generally text searchable, which can drastically reduce research time. You can move your files from one computer to another as well as being able to back them up to CDs, DVDs, or external hard drives. The files are typically small files so they don't take up much room on your computer's hard drive. The ebooks on DriveThruRPG.com are mainly original electronic copies, but some are simply the actual books that we have scanned and put together into PDF format.
While most of our download files are in PDF format (usable by any computer with an updated copy of the free Adobe Reader program, we also have some products which are available in Microsoft Reader LIT format, and Palm's PDB, as well as some video and MP3 audio formats.
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Why should I buy ebooks?
There are many great reasons to buy ebooks. One very attractive feature is that in most cases they're cheaper than their printed counterparts, and in some cases they're much cheaper. When you buy an ebook, you download it immediately -- you don't have to pay shipping and handling costs, and you get it immediately.
With most ebooks, you also have the ability to copy and paste text, and you can instantly search the text to track information that you can't remember. Ebooks are easier to carry around than printed books -- if you have a laptop, or compatible mobile device, you could have hundreds of products at your fingertips wherever you go. Since ebooks aren't printed on paper, you're also saving trees by using them. If you need a certain section of a product printed out for quick reference, you can just print out that specific section. And because ebooks aren't printed, out of print titles can be offered indefinitely in this format, so you don't have to outbid others on an online auction site to get that out of print book that you want.
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What can I do with my ebooks?
First, the one thing you should not do is make a copy of the ebook for another person. Contrary to what many file-sharing sites would have us believe, doing that is a copyright violation and more importantly, it seriously erodes the ability of publishers to continue to offer the best products possible. It's not like our publishers are minting millions as it is, so your support against copyright infringement is always appreciated. You may print your ebooks, and copy as many selections to the clipboard as you wish.
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Do I need to be online to read ebooks?
No, you do not need to be online to read ebooks. After the ebook is downloaded you can disconnect from the network and read it offline.
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Can I put my ebooks on more than one computer/device?
Yes, most of our products are either unencrypted or watermarked and can be used on any computer that has an updated version of the free Adobe Reader program installed.
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Do I have to know a lot about computers?
Not at all. Our system is quite straight forward, and we are willing to lend assistance to any of our customers who have problems with DriveThruRPG.com or our products. You can send an email to us by clicking on the Contact Us button located on the lower left side of the home page. This will take you to a screen that will allow you to put in your name and email address as well as your problem. Once we receive your email we will respond promptly and will try to help you with whatever issue you are experiencing.
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What programs do I need to use the electronic titles from DriveThruRPG.com?
The system requirements vary based upon the type of ebook that you are purchasing. The basic requirements for the various types of ebooks are listed below. We also offer some audio files which are all in MP3 format and can be opened using most any media player.
- PDFs require Adobe Reader 9.0 or greater (computer system requirements for the latest version here).
- Palm Reader ebooks require a device with Palm OS 3.0 or greater, or Windows CE 2.0 or greater.
- Microsoft Reader
- Desktop PC Requirements: Windows® 98, Windows NT4 SP6, Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows Me with MS Internet Explorer 4.0 Servce Pack 1 or higher.
- Pocket PC Requirements: Windows Mobile 2003 or better, 2.22 MB free RAM.
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What do I do if a title I want isn't here?
We are working hard on getting complete libraries from each of our publishers, and we're constantly adding more titles and working on partnering with more publishers to bring you more content. If you have a product that you'd really like to see on here, contact the publisher. Don't be shy, there might be hundreds of other people wanting to see the same product!
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Who sets the prices on your ebooks?
Our publishers choose their own pricing structure. We recommend 30% off normal cover price for new books and 50% off cover price on anything over 6 months old. As you can see, most of our books fall into the 50% off category.
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Can I view PDFs from DriveThruRPG.com on my iPad?
Yes. While the iBooks application that now comes pre-installed on iPads works pretty well for reading PDF files, we have had better luck with the inexpensive GoodReader application for iPad.
From your iPad you can browse to DriveThruRPG.com and make a purchase, or visit the Account page to download a title you have already purchased. When the file downloads, iPad's Safari web browser will ask you if you want to open the PDF file into an application. You can then store the PDF in applications like iBooks and GoodReader.
The GoodReader application also has a built in web browser that you can use within that application. The PDF will download directly to GoodReader and will save them to your iPad for you.
The iPad does have a problem displaying certain images within some PDFs. If you find that a title you purchased displays blank space in place of images in a PDF, please Contact Us and we can get the file corrected.
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Can I view PDFs from DriveThruRPG.com on my Kindle Fire?
Yes. The Kindle Fire is a powerful tool for anyone who is a fan of electronic books like what we carry on this site. However, due to its unique way of handling downloaded content, there is an optimal way for you to manage your downloads from us on your Kindle Fire.
- Download and install the FREE Adobe Reader app (why?). To do this, select APPS, then select STORE (upper right). At the very top, use the Search function and enter "Adobe Reader." Download and install Adobe Reader.
- Use the Web option on your Kindle Fire to navigate to this site.
- Make purchases as normal, and/or go to you MY LIBRARY and find your already-purchased PDFs that you wish to download onto your Kindle Fire.
- Once the download is complete, go to APPS and open Adobe Reader.
- After opening it, touch the area at the top that says DOCUMENTS.
- You will have two lists to peruse - the first one says "/mnt/sdcard/Documents". This lists all of the PDF documents you have on your Kindle Fire from either direct-connect data transfers (plugging your Fire into a laptop or similar device and transferring PDFs onto the Fire) or from emailing PDFs to yourself by using the Kindle Fire special email address you are provided.
- The second list, lower on the screen, says "/mnt/sdcard/Download". This is where any PDFs you download from a source like this site will be found.
- Open your PDF and enjoy!
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Can I view PDFs from DriveThruRPG.com on my Nook Color?
Yes. There are instructions for adding files to your Nook Color in the user manual that involve hooking it up to your computer with a micro-USB cord. You can also download books directly from DriveThruRPG.com to your Nook Color. Here's how.
From the web browser on your Nook Color you can browse DriveThruRPG.com and make a purchase, or visit the My Library page (in Account) to download a title you have already purchased. When you tap to download the file, the web browser will prompt you with a new window telling you the download is being prepared. It may seem to hang for a minute at this point, but as long as your connection is good, the file will download. You'll be able to find the file on your Nook Color in My Files > My Library > My Downloads.
PDF files with a lot of artwork may render slowly, so be patient with those books. If you run into files that will not display at all, you can try to download them on your computer from My Library on DriveThruRPG.com and transfer them to your Nook Color via USB, and if that doesn't work Contact Us to let us know.
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Can I view PDFs from DriveThruRPG.com on my Android Tablet?
Yes. There are actually a number of reader options available in the Android Market. We suggest using the FREE Adobe Reader app or the inexpensive app ezPDF.
- Download and install the FREE Adobe Reader app. To do this, select MARKET. At the very top, use the Search function and enter "Adobe Reader." Download and install Adobe Reader.
- Alternately, you can download the paid app ezPDF following the same steps above, except search for ezPDF. We've discovered that this application provides a much smoother experience, as well as providing additional options you might appreciate having for using your PDFs.
- Use the Web option on your Android Tablet to navigate to this site.
- Make purchases as normal, and/or go to My Library and find your already-purchased PDFs that you wish to download onto your Android Tablet.
- Once the download is complete, you’ll see the file on the bottom right hand corner of your tablet. Click on your download. You’ll be able to select a Reader APP to open it. Select your Adobe Reader App or your ezPDF App.
- After opening Adobe Reader, touch the area at the top that says DOCUMENTS. If using ezPDF, select the "All PDF" option on the top row.
- With both apps, you will have two lists to peruse - the first one says "/mnt/sdcard/Documents". This lists all of the PDF documents you have on your Android Tablet from direct-connect data transfers.
- The second list says "/mnt/sdcard/Download". This is where any PDFs you download from a source like this site will be found.
- Open your PDF and enjoy!
Getting Started
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How do I begin?
We recommend you grab a free download product to try out DriveThruRPG.com. Click here to choose a free title to download.
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How do I put items into my shopping cart?
If you know what product you want, just click on that product to go to its product detail page. You should see a page with a larger image of the book cover as well as a description of the book. If you want to put this product into your virtual shopping cart, just click on the "Add to Cart" button.
All of our products have a download option. Some titles also offer the option to get a printed hardcopy, or a combination of the download and a hardcopy. When printed copies of the book are also available, you will have the chance to select which format you prefer for the book. When you click "Add to Cart" the selected format will be added to your shopping cart.
Once you have pressed the "Add to Cart" button, you will see a page that shows your cart contents and gives you the choice to checkout or to continue browsing for more titles.
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How do I make a purchase?
Once you have added a title to your shopping cart, you can checkout at any time by clicking the "Checkout" button on the shopping cart page or in the My Cart box in the upper right side of your screen.
If you have not already logged in to DriveThruRPG.com, you will then be taken to the Log In page where you can log in or quickly create a new account.
Then you will be taken to the checkout pages where you will confirm your shipping address (if you are buying any printed hardcopy books), then to the payment selection page.
You will then need to check which payment type you would like to use. If using a credit or debit card, click the circle next to "credit card". Proceed to fill in your credit card information. This page is secure, so your credit card information is sent to us through secure encryption.
If you would rather use PayPal or use a store credit, then click to select those options.
Clicking "Continue" at the bottom of the page will take you to the "Order Confirmation" page, which will give you the details of your purchase. If everything on the Order Confirmation page looks correct, just click the "Confirm Order" button at the bottom of the page, and you will be taken to a page that says "Your Order Has Been Processed" at the top.
This page will have a listing of the products you have just purchased. You may download your products from the links on this page. To begin downloading your purchases, just click on the link for the product you want to download and the process of downloading the book will begin. You will be asked if you want to open the file or save the file: please choose to save to your computer.
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How do I use your search function?
We have filtered browsing available in the "Browse" section, at the top of the left column of the homepage. You can make your searches easier by first sorting all products by publisher, price, etc., and then by keyword. Please click on the film icon next to the title of that section for a video tutorial on how the search function works.
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How do I redeem a coupon?
In order to use your coupon, just decide what products you want and proceed to the checkout page. Close to the bottom of the checkout page will be a section for "Credits Available". Where it says "Enter Redeem Code", you should put in the coupon code that you were given in that box and then hit "Redeem" -- this will give you the discount amount off of your purchase. If your purchase was less than the coupon amount then you will be directed straight to the download page. If your purchase exceeds the amount of available credit then you will be asked to enter your credit card or PayPal information to account for the balance.
If you expected your coupon to make your purchase complimentary but you still get an error asking you to enter your credit card information, simply select PayPal as your payment method and then click Continue. The order confirmation screen will then verify for you that your order is complimentary and there will be no charge.
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How do I back up my ebooks?
You can back up ebooks simply by copying them to a secure location, burning them to a disc, or saving to a flash drive or external hard drive. If you lose your ebooks, you can generally download them again from your order history. Just log in and go to Account and click on your order to view the order details and download links. We reserve the right not to replace lost books. So please back up your books!
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How do I read an ebook on a mobile device?
Almost all mobile devices have an application that will read PDFs. For example, Apple mobile device users have had good luck using the GoodReader application. If you are unable to view a PDF on your mobile device, please use the Contact Us page and let us know the order number and title of the product as well as what mobile reader you are using and which application.
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I am a publisher: how do I get my products on DriveThruRPG.com?
We would love to have you join us! Please visit this page for more information.
Problems In Using DriveThruRPG.com Or Our Products
Download Problems
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I am getting a warning from the web browser when trying to download.
Some web browsers are set to block popup windows or any downloads, and you will have to manually override that setting to complete the download. For example, in Internet Explorer you may see a warning bar display as in this image below:
Just click on the warning bar and choose the option to allow the download of the file, then choose to save the file to disc. Once saved to your computer's desktop, you can then open the document by simply double-clicking on the icon on your desktop.
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I am using Internet Explorer and cannot download -- what can I do?
If you are using Internet Explorer, the browser itself may be stopping you from downloading. Please try downloading again, and when the window comes up that says "Preparing your download", watch to see if it stops and asks if you want to continue with the download. If so there should be a box like this at the top of the "preparing your download" box:
Clicking on that box will allow you to continue to download the file to your desktop. This is generally caused when your security settings won't allow a download without your permission.
If you continue to have download problems when using Internet Explorer, you may want to try a different web browser. We suggest you try Firefox. Firefox is free software that does not have any spyware or malicious programming, and it almost always works with DriveThruRPG.com.
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I am using Opera and cannot download -- what can I do?
If you are unable to begin your download and you are using Opera as an internet browser, you can follow the procedure below to access your purchases.
In the Opera browser - Go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads (Mac: Opera) > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads and deselect "Hide file types opened with Opera". If the extension "pdf" is not shown next to "application/octet-stream", you'll need to edit it, type in "pdf" under "File extensions" and click the "OK" button. Be sure that the action is set to "Show download dialog". If you experience problems like this with other file types, like .zip files, please do the same for these files.
If you continue to have download problems when using Opera, you may want to try a different web browser. We suggest you try Firefox. Firefox is free software that does not have any spyware or malicious programming, and it almost always works with DriveThruRPG.com.
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What happens if my download is interrupted?
If your download is interrupted in the middle (for example, if your Internet connection is interrupted), you may restart the download. Just click on the download link again (from your order confirmation email, from your account history in the Account part of the website, or from the Checkout Complete page if you are still on that page). If you have trouble restarting the download, please contact our customer support by clicking on the Contact Us link from the home page so we can help.
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What do I do if I accidentally delete or lose my PDF?
You can usually download your prior purchases from your account history. Just log in and go to Account and then click on the order number to view the order details and download links at the bottom of the page. Just click on a link to begin your download.
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What do I do if my file downloads at 0kb?
Please use the Contact Us link from the home page and let us know the title and order number of the product and we should be able to get it working.
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What do I do if my download won't start?
Please disable any firewall or download accelerator software as well as any popup blockers you may have, and try your downloads again. If that doesn't help, you may want to try a different web browser. We suggest you try Firefox. Firefox is free software that does not have any spyware or malicious programming, and it almost always works with DriveThruRPG.com. If you still can't get them, please let us know using the Contact Us link from the homepage.
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What do I do if I have gone through the FAQ and still can't download?
Just send us an email. You can send an email to us by clicking on the Contact Us button located on the lower left side of the home page. This will take you to a screen that will allow you to put in your name and email address as well as your problem. Once we receive your email we will respond promptly and will try to help you with whatever issue you are experiencing. Please be sure to include what web browser program you are using (for example, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari) as well as the version of Adobe Reader you are using (you can usually find this in the Help menu under "About Adobe Reader") when sending in a request -- this will help us in resolving your issue quickly.
Checkout Problems
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What do I do if I am unable to use a credit card because I am getting an authorization error?
We suggest you contact your credit card company to verify the address you have on file with them. Then log back in and go to Account and then "Change my address" and make sure that your address with us exactly matches what your credit card company has. This should will allow you to complete your transaction. If you continue to run into problems you might want to try paying through PayPal. You can now use your credit card through PayPal without needing to have a PayPal account. PayPal seems to be able to accept a wider variety of cards than we can directly.
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What if I made payment via PayPal but did not get any links to download?
Please send us an email immediately using the Contact Us link available from the bottom left column of the homepage. Sometimes PayPal's server and our server do not communicate correctly and we do not get your payment confirmation correctly from PayPal.
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What if I have some other checkout problem?
For any other problems, please use the Contact Us link available from the bottom left column of the homepage and let us know so that we can look for a solution.
Problems Viewing PDF Files
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What do I do if my file downloaded but cannot be viewed correctly?
Switching to or upgrading your Adobe Reader will fix most problems with viewing PDFs. If you don't yet have Adobe Reader, or you have a version older than 9.0, we suggest you uninstall any older versions and download the newest version (available free of charge).
Printed Products
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What's different about your printed books?
All print books that you order are printed to your order and then shipped to you. The books do not exist until after you order them! Different titles are in softcover or hardcover, black and white or color interior. All books have full color covers. Please check the product's information page for details on the size, cover, and interior of the books you select.
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Why are some products available in print and others are only available as downloads?
We are working daily with our publishers to get more products available in print. Please use the Contact Us page and let us know the title and publisher and we can pass along that information along to the publisher.
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What do I do if my printed product wasn't delivered?
Many of the less expensive shipment methods like USPS Media Mail can take a very, very long time for delivery. You are saving money on freight but these shipping methods can take up to four weeks in some cases. Also, at this time, most shipments to Canada are processed from the UK, and can take two to three weeks for delivery.
Please keep in mind that books are printed when ordered. Printing typically takes two to five days, and then shipment commences once the book is printed.
If you feel your order is truly lost in the mail, then please use the Contact Us page and let us know the title and order number so we can investigate further.
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Why is the shipping cost higher than I expected?
We currently work with Lightning Source, a world leader in print-to-order book manufacturing. Lightning Source has facilities in both the USA and the UK (and soon in Australia) which lets us print your book closer to you to keep the freight cost and delivery time to a minimum.
The amount we charge in shipping is exactly what Lightning Source charges us for the shipment. The shipping total includes a charge by Lightning Source of US$1.50 per order for handling and shipping materials. This charge may make a single book order appear to have higher freight costs than you would expect.
Also, in a few cases, like USPS Media Mail and shipping options to Canada, we are working with Lightning Source to provide better shipping options.
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What's the difference between printed books that come from original electronic format vs. scanned image books?
Most printed books are prepared for print from the publisher's original computer files. This creates a very high quality book. Many older books in our catalog never existed as digital layout files or their files have been lost. We take these titles and do high resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark: pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
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