Summary: Adobe's latest Acrobat upgrade
makes it easier to edit PDFs, integrates better with Microsoft Office
and cloud storage, and streamlines form creation and electronic
signature management, among other workflow improvements.
Adobe has unveiled its XI family of Acrobat PDF software (Acrobat XI Standard, Acrobat XI Pro and Reader XI), which now integrates with a pair of cloud services: FormsCentral for creating, distributing and analysing PDF and web forms; and EchoSign for managing electronic signatures.
Prominent
features in the new Acrobat are much-improved PDF editing, better
integration with Microsoft Office applications, easier access to
cloud-based repositories such as SharePoint, Office 365 and Acrobat.com,
plus IT-friendly enhancements to security and deployment (including
virtualisation).
Acrobat XI, which will ship within 30 days
according to Adobe, costs £378 (ex. VAT) for the Pro version (£111 to
upgrade) and £255 for Standard (£163 to upgrade). Adobe Creative Cloud
subscribers will get Acrobat Pro XI automatically, but you'll need
additional subscriptions to FormsCentral and EchoSign to access the full
functionality of these services.
PDF editing :
The new Edit Text & Images tool puts all text and images in DTP-style frames that you can click and drag to resize, with automatic text reflow. You can edit text freely, and perform global find-and-replace actions. Images can be added, replaced and resized, with basic transformations available in the Format section, plus links to external editing applications.
The new Edit Text & Images tool puts all text and images in DTP-style frames that you can click and drag to resize, with automatic text reflow. You can edit text freely, and perform global find-and-replace actions. Images can be added, replaced and resized, with basic transformations available in the Format section, plus links to external editing applications.
Export to PowerPoint :
You've been able to save PDFs as Microsoft Word and Excel files for some time, but PowerPoint now joins the roster of exportable Microsoft Office formats. Not only is layout and formatting preserved for editing in PowerPoint if necessary, but Acrobat also makes a stab at converting the PDF's look and feel into PowerPoint templates in case new slides are required.
You've been able to save PDFs as Microsoft Word and Excel files for some time, but PowerPoint now joins the roster of exportable Microsoft Office formats. Not only is layout and formatting preserved for editing in PowerPoint if necessary, but Acrobat also makes a stab at converting the PDF's look and feel into PowerPoint templates in case new slides are required.
Combine multiple documents :
When merging multiple files (the example above uses PowerPoint, Word, Excel and PDF) into a single PDF, you can now drag and drop document thumbnails into the preferred order. You can also expand the thumbnails of multipage documents to select just the parts you want to include (preserving the integrity of the source document). The resulting single PDF should make for a smaller and more readable content package than, for example, multiple email attachments.
When merging multiple files (the example above uses PowerPoint, Word, Excel and PDF) into a single PDF, you can now drag and drop document thumbnails into the preferred order. You can also expand the thumbnails of multipage documents to select just the parts you want to include (preserving the integrity of the source document). The resulting single PDF should make for a smaller and more readable content package than, for example, multiple email attachments.
FormsCentral :
The FormsCentral desktop app, which is included with Acrobat XI Pro, allows you to create PDF forms, either from scratch, from existing PDF forms or from provided templates. To move your forms online to collect and analyse the submitted data, you'll need a FormsCentral subscription: these range from Free (1 form, up to 50 responses per form) to Basic (£11.71/month, 5 forms, up to 500 responses per form) to Plus (£146.37/year, unlimited forms, up to 5,000 responses per form).
The FormsCentral desktop app, which is included with Acrobat XI Pro, allows you to create PDF forms, either from scratch, from existing PDF forms or from provided templates. To move your forms online to collect and analyse the submitted data, you'll need a FormsCentral subscription: these range from Free (1 form, up to 50 responses per form) to Basic (£11.71/month, 5 forms, up to 500 responses per form) to Plus (£146.37/year, unlimited forms, up to 5,000 responses per form).
Basic
and Pro subscriptions also allow you to include skip logic, accept
PayPal payments from your forms, add file attachments to fields, issue
submission receipts for correctly entered forms, redirect respondents on
form completion and receive email notification when forms are
submitted.
EchoSign :
Anyone who has had to print a document, sign it by hand and fax it off knows how anachronistic — and time-consuming — this seems nowadays. Acrobat XI's integration with EchoSign should boost productivity while providing an audit trail when electronic documents need signing.
Anyone who has had to print a document, sign it by hand and fax it off knows how anachronistic — and time-consuming — this seems nowadays. Acrobat XI's integration with EchoSign should boost productivity while providing an audit trail when electronic documents need signing.
The
Sign panel lets you sign documents by typing, drawing on-screen,
selecting a previously saved image or using a digital certificate. The
document is then sent on for further signatures, with the whole process
audited by EchoSign in the cloud. EchoSign subscriptions range from free to Global at $399 a month, with several points (Pro, Team and Enterprise) in between.
PDF protection :
Acrobat XI makes it much simpler to password-protect a PDF, to prevent unauthorised copying, printing and editing. Now, you just select Restrict Editing from the Protection panel, which brings up a Password dialogue complete with a visual strength indicator.
Acrobat XI makes it much simpler to password-protect a PDF, to prevent unauthorised copying, printing and editing. Now, you just select Restrict Editing from the Protection panel, which brings up a Password dialogue complete with a visual strength indicator.
Elsewhere, you'll find it easier to
redact (permanently black out) selected content, and use the Sanitise
Document command to strip out hidden data and metadata that might
compromise a distributed PDF.
