Okay, okay, we get it: you’ve learned the concept that makes Adobe SendNow so great. Choose a file, choose a recipient, send the file—all done, it was easy, never worked better or more quickly. It doesn’t take a super smartypants to master SendNow’s simple (and simply beautiful) interface, and it’s not exactly rocket science to see that it’s probably the smoothest and easiest way to send huge files from one place to another. But wait: SendNow’s behavior is more than interface-deep. Here, check out how to use SendNow to present your material (including all those audio and video files) to clients and colleagues, even when you’ve got multiple files to share or have to control the mode of presentation.
Let’s take the example of an architectural photographer of our acquaintance—we’ll call him Julius, after the late great photographer Julius Shulman—who zips around the world to take beautiful pictures (always high-resolution) of beautiful buildings (sometimes high-rise). Julius uses Adobe Lightroom to edit and refine his images, as well as to organize and archive them. Once he’s finished his editing process and is ready to bundle the photos off to a client or submit them to a publication, he realizes not only that these photo files are quite large, but also that he wants them to be viewed in an optimal setting. How can he ensure that each of these pictures gets seen by his clients in exactly the way he intends it to be viewed? There’s a definite sequence in which Julius wants to present his pictures; if he sends them all individually, the sequence will be destroyed.
It’s a good thing there’s a easy solution to this conundrum: just work with Adobe Acrobat X and Adobe SendNow! Using Acrobat X, it’s possible to insert individual files—of many different types and sizes—to a PDF portfolio. Now, perhaps most obvious bit here that’ll help our friend Julius is the fact that he’ll be presenting his photographs as part of a PDF layout; this will give him total control not only of the sequence in which these files are viewed, but also exactly what their environments will be in the greater document within the portfolio. Acrobat X gives him the power to create a polished and easy-to-navigate collection of documents and files. Furthermore, since a PDF portfolio will allow him to include not only photos, but also videos, audio files, and Flash files (and more!), Julius can add supplementary information for his clients to consider when viewing his photographs. (NB: He could also zip up all his files—photos, videos, and PDF or text documents—into one ZIP file and then send that to his clients with SendNow, but he’d rather control presentation more carefully with a PDF portfolio. Both ZIP files and PDF portfolios are acceptable for use on Adobe SendNow.)
Now that Julius has successfully solved his first problem—presentation—by creating his PDF portfolio, he’s ready to ship it out. The portfolio, however, being so packed, presents the second problem—it’s far too big to simply send as an email attachment. Here is where Adobe SendNow comes to the rescue! Julius need only upload his PDF portfolio to SendNow and enter the email addresses of his clients; the PDF portfolio is easily made available to those specific clients, who are then notified by email that the file is ready to be downloaded and viewed. If Julius wants to send the file to anyone else, he can simply forward the same invitation—without having to go through the upload process again. It couldn’t be simpler for Julius, who’s assured that his photos will be seen exactly as he expects them to be (thanks to Acrobat’s PDF portfolios) and will be a cinch to send to whomever he wants to see them.
Curious about making your own PDF portfolios to send to clients or colleagues with Adobe SendNow? Here’s a link to the Acrobat User Community, where you can watch tutorials or read articles about creating and using portfolios: http://acrobatusers.com/topics/pdf-portfolios Any other questions or remarks about using SendNow? Just comment below.
Comments