Acrobat 9 Release Represents Good News, Bad News for Adobe PDF Users

Posted 06/26/2008 at 1:54pm | by Mark Edward Soper

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Hooray! Acrobat 9 Ships

UK's The Register reports that Adobe Acrobat 9 was released Wednesday. As with other recent versions, the new Acrobat release is available in three versions, Standard, Pro, and Extended.

What's New in Acrobat 9 Standard

Acrobat 9 Standard ($299 full, $99 upgrade from Acrobat 6.x, 7.x, or 8.x) includes these new features:

• Easy fillable-form creation, form fill-in, and form tracking
• Software launches in half the time of Acrobat 8 (a much-needed improvement in my view)
• Include Adobe Flash-based audio and video inside PDF documents (can we expect more exciting e-Books now? I hope so!)
• Better OCR and scanner support to make it easier to turn paper into editable text
• Convert web pages, including pages with rich and interactive media, into PDF files
• Search multiple PDF files in the same folder
• Works with Acrobat.com website

For most users, though, Acrobat Standard just doesn't have enough goodies to justify the price. To find out why Acrobat Pro 9 will hit more users' "sweet spot," read page 2.

Kick It Up a Notch with Acrobat 9 Pro

Acrobat Pro ($449 full, $159 upgrade) adds the following new features to those in Acrobat 9 Standard:

• Support for PDF Portfolios, which can contain drawings, documents, emails and spreadsheets that can be configured with a template for easy "touring" of the contents
• Synchronized document views and document comparison
• PDF Standards pane helps assure that your document meets the requirements for new PDF/A (archiving), PDF/X (professional printing), or PDF/E (engineering documents; link opens PDF file) standards
• Improved print workflows and previews for document designers and prepress specialists

Having It All with Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

Acrobat 9 Pro Extended ($699 full, $299 upgrade) adds the following features to Acrobat 9 Pro and Standard's feature lists:

• Add 3D and maps to a PDF Portfolio
• Convert popular video formats to Flash for use in a PDF file
• Includes Adobe Presenter software for interactive presentations
• Includes Adobe 3D Reviewer to combine multiple CAD drawings
• Supports interactive, geospatially enabled PDF maps

Windows Users, Try It Free!

Acrobat 9 has the potential to make the PDF file format go way beyond the "it's just like a book only on your screen" limitations of the past. Whether you work (or play) as a graphic or document designer, you'll want to give it a try. 30-day trial versions (for Windows only, at this point) are available here.

And Now for the Bad News - Reader 9's Not Ready Yet

Want to show off that way-cool video-loaded interactive document you cranked out with a trial of Acrobat 9? Drag along your laptop - at least until Reader 9 hits the street. "Early July" is the word on Reader 9 availability, so you have time to polish your tribute to gaming, your favorite band, or maybe something more substantial. See the Acrobat Pro Extended demo for a taste of the future of PDF.