This weekend we unveiled some very exciting changes to our Acrobat.Com services which will enable you to more easily store and share files online, to create and collaborate around documents, tables and presentations, and to meet live over the web. The biggest change you’ll see is in the new file organizer. where now all your Acrobat.Com content is centralized. But there are lots of additional fantastic improvements made to Buzzword, Tables, Presentations, ConnectNow, and more.

The Acrobat.Com Team has shared the details about these changes. And there has already been a lot of good press written about the new offering. However I wanted to specifically highlight how Acrobat users can take advantage of Acrobat.Com.

Right from within Acrobat or Reader, there’s a “Collaborate” button which allows you to work with Acrobat.Com. You can share the PDF file you have open on Acrobat.Com. You can start authoring a Buzzword document. You can even share your screen with others via an Adobe ConnectNow web conference. All of these services are free – you only need to sign up for a free Adobe ID. (If you have Acrobat, you can also enable real-time chat and page synchronization within a PDF file via Send and Collaborate Live.)

However, as an Acrobat user, that’s just the start of how Acrobat.Com can help you be more productive. Acrobat.Com can also act as a central location for your shared Acrobat workflows, like gathering comments on a PDF file or gathering responses to a PDF form. Here’s how it works. In Acrobat, when you’re ready to share your file for commenting or your form for responses, you choose “Send for Shared Review” or “Distribute Form”.

At this point, you can choose Acrobat.Com as your sharing method and specify with whom you would like to share your file or form.

Your file will be uploaded to Acrobat.Com. Your participants will get an email with a link, and they’ll be able to make comments or complete and return the form using only the free Adobe Reader. Their comments or form responses will be stored on Acrobat.Com. And as the initiator of the workflow, you’ll be able to go to a single file to see all of the comments or all of the form responses.

Using Acrobat.Com for reviewing files and completing forms is a huge boost in productivity. For reviews, because the comments are all stored centrally on Acrobat.Com, you and all your reviewers can always see everyone’s comments right on the document itself. No more trying to decipher comments made in e-mail threads or receiving multiple contradictory comments about the same section. For forms, because the responses are all stored centrally and managed electronically, Acrobat can then download all those responses to a single spreadsheet-like document on your computer. You don’t need to clutter your in-box with form responses, nor do you ever need to manually gather form responses by retyping data or cutting and pasting data.

There is a lot more information about both of these workflows. To get you started, some more information about Shared Reviews is here and here, and some more information about Forms is here. If you have any feedback or comments about any of the ways that Acrobat and Acrobat.Com work better together, please let us know!

Dave Stromfeld, Acrobat Product Manager

Over the months, we’ve seen a few questions come in via Twitter and the blogs asking us essentially the same question: “How do I control how my PDFs look when I open them in Reader or Acrobat?”

It’s a simple question that has a slightly complex answer. There are actually two settings that can control how a PDF looks when it is opened. One setting can be set by the PDF author. The other setting can be set by the PDF consumer.

Let’s start with the consumer…

Reader (and Acrobat) has a “Select and Zoom” toolbar which controls the magnification of the PDF you’re viewing.

There are a few tools shown by default. But if you want to display additional Select and Zoom tools, you can right-click on the toolbar and see additional tools.

Similarly, Reader (and Acrobat) as a “Page Display” toolbar which controls how many pages you see on your screen at once and how those pages behave when you scroll. And again, you can right-click on the toolbar to see additional tools.

However, it can get annoying resetting the magnification and page display settings each time you open a PDF file. For that reason, under Preferences (Edit > Preferences > Page Display), we give you the ability to control the default magnification and page display settings for every PDF file you open.

If you prefer that every PDF opens at a zoom level of “100%” or “Fit Width”, set it here. Then, every PDF file you open will open at this zoom level. Even if you open that PDF file in the browser!

More information about Page Display Preferences can be found in the Acrobat Help File here.

However, that takes us to the author…

There are cases where the author of the PDF file feels that his file is best consumed with a certain page layout or magnification. For example, if the file is a 75 inch by 100 inch map of the United States, he may want to make sure that you don’t open it at “100%” (which would likely only show a portion of the map). Instead he’ll want you to open it at “Fit Page” so that you’ll be able to see the entire map by default. An Acrobat user can specify the magnification and page layout for his PDF file by going to Document Properties (File > Properties > Initial View) and setting these properties.

When he saves the file, the file will inherit these properties. Then, when the PDF is opened by someone else, the file will open with the author’s properties. In other words, the author’s properties will override the consumer’s preferences for that particular file.

More information about Initial View properties can be found in the Acrobat Help File here.

There you have it. A complex answer to a simple question. But now you’re better armed (as an Acrobat or Reader user) to control exactly how your PDFs look when you open them.

Let us know what you think. There’s already a discussion on this topic on the Acrobat User Community Forum here. And let us know if there are additional questions which we can help answer for you.

Dave

Though OCR was added in Acrobat a while back, we still see a lot of users who are pleasantly surprised when they get to know that Acrobat could also do OCR. This topic also gets a fair amount of coverage on Twitter and Blogworld. So we thought it might be a good idea to provide a quick overview of OCR in Acrobat 9. Read on, if you are interested in knowing more on how to make a document searchable using Acrobat 9.

Users could make a document searchable using Acrobat in 2 different ways. Subsequent sections provide more details on each of these ways.

1. During Scan process
2. On an already scanned PDF/Image

OCR during Scan process itself

If you have a paper document, that you need to scan and also make searchable, you can use Acrobat to do both in a single step. Go to Taskbar Create >> PDF from Scanner and choose any of the 3 document presets (Black & White Document, Grayscale Document, Color Document). These 3 Presets have OCR option enabled by default so you can get a fully searchable scanned PDF in a single click.

To verify if the OCR option is enabled in the chosen preset, you can click on “Configure Presets” menu option (shown in the screenshot above Create >> PDF from Scanner >> Configure Presets). Choose the appropriate preset in Preset textbox, and verify if Make Searchable (Run OCR) checkbox is on. If it is not checked, check it, save the preset and then press Ok to close the Configure Presets dialog.

Click on Options (next to OCR checkbox) to view and change the OCR settings. Change the Primary OCR Language, if required and then choose the PDF Output Style from the following style options.

• Searchable Image / Searchable Image (Exact): Use this option if you want to keep the scanned image, but still want the text to be searchable. In this case, Acrobat adds a hidden text layer on top of the image. This text is searchable using Acrobat or other desktop search engines.
• ClearScan: This is a new option added in Acrobat 9. Use this option, if you want to keep the look of the document same but still want to convert the scanned image to text so as to reduce the file size. Rick Borstein has more details on Clearscan in his blog posting here.

Once the preset is saved after making changes to OCR option, place the paper in the scanner’s feeder, click on same preset from Create Taskbar (Create >> PDF from Scanner >>…), and you will get a scanned PDF which is fully searchable.

To verify if the OCR is successfully completed, and document is indeed searchable, you can try selecting text using the select tool in Acrobat. If text is selected, then OCR has completed successfully. You can also copy this text and paste it in other applications like Word, Notepad etc.

Tip for improving OCR accuracy during Scanning process

You can improve OCR accuracy while scanning by modifying the compression options under Optimization frame either in Configure Presets dialog or in Custom Scan dialog.

On clicking Options, you will get Optimization Options dialog. Change to Custom Settings, and under compression frame, choose Lossless compression for Color/GrayScale and CCITT Group 4 for Monochrome images. This will ensure that OCR gets to work on highest quality image thereby improving the OCR accuracy. This is especially useful in low resolution scans (<=150DPI).

If you do not want to use presets for scanning, and instead want to use your own scanning settings, you can also use Custom Scan option (Create >> PDF from Scanner >> Custom Scan), which will prompt you to provide all scan related settings and then proceed for scanning. Also note that this is the only option available for Scanning if you are using Acrobat Pro on a Mac (Create >> PDF from Scanner).

Check the OCR option here if you want your scanned PDF to be searchable.

OCR on already scanned PDFs/Images

If you already have a scanned PDF that you received from someone, and you want to make it searchable, you can do so by going to Document >> OCR Text Recognition >> Recognize Text using OCR.

Choose the pages that you want to OCR, click on edit to choose Primary OCR Language, and PDF Output Style, and then click OK and OK again to initiate the OCR process for currently open Scanned PDF.

Another Tip for Improving OCR accuracy if you have a scanned image in TIFF format

If you have a scanned image in an image format like TIFF, you can make this image searchable in Acrobat by first converting it into PDF and then running OCR. Before you convert this image into PDF, you should change the compression options that are used in converting this image to PDF. To do that, go to Edit > Preferences > Convert to PDF, select the image format (e.g. TIFF), click on Edit settings and then change the image compression options here.

• For Monochrome, change the compression to either JBIG2 (Lossless) or CCITT G4
• For Grayscale/Color, change to ZIP which is a lossless compression format.

After changing the compression settings for the image format, you can convert the image to PDF, either by dragging this image and dropping onto Acrobat or using Create PDF from File and then run OCR from Document menu as explained above.

This is a broad overview of how you can make your scanned documents searchable using Acrobat. Let us know if you have any questions.

Aman Deep Nagpal, Acrobat Product Manager

Dave Stromfeld
On Twitter at @acro_dave

News

• 06-26-09 From the blog "Yes Tech!" – How teachers can use #Acrobat to scan those old worksheets and let students “type” on them using Reader (via @shoemap) http://bit.ly/2lnAyj

Tips

• 06-22-09 RT @acrolaw: Added 4 NEW #Acrobat training movies today. Learn how to use Search and Touchup Text: http://bit.ly/vUHLQ
• 06-23-09 Nice summary of using Adobe Captivate to create an eLearning package using #Acrobat and PDF Portfolios: http://bit.ly/o4lsq
• 06-25-09 RT @geetesh: Adding Transitions in Adobe #Acrobat – http://tinyurl.com/mvuvnt
• 06-26-09 Understanding the difference between “Find” and “Search” in #Acrobat: http://bit.ly/4e3uL Thanks, @AcroLaw!

User Feedback

• 06-24-09 RT @idigtype: Acrobat professional does excellent job at combining PDFs even when pages have varying landscape and portrait orientations.
• 06-25-09 RT @Bill_Daniels: Working on better way to manage large batches of records in major personal injury case using #Acrobat. Works like charm!

I’m going to try something new. I’ve been using Twitter quite a bit in order to share Acrobat news and tips with users as well as to listen to what users are saying about Acrobat. So I thought it may be interesting if I summarized for you once a week some of what’s been shared and talked about.

Since this is my first attempt at this, I’d very much appreciate any comments regarding if you find this summary useful.

News

• 06-15-09: Acrobat.Com announces brand new hosted offerings in the areas of presentations, spreadsheets, and subscriptions. [RT @erikdlarson hello (business) world! acrobat.com subscriptions, end of beta, beginning of spreadsheets, more. http://bit.ly/7MWPu]
• 06-18-09: PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) moves closer to becoming an ISO standard. [RT @acroboy: PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) now granted "Approved Work Item" status, one step closer to ISO standard http://bit.ly/CfVns]
• 06-18-09: Adobe does well at Macworld UK awards. [RT @emmawilkinson: woho! Adobe swept floor at Macworld UK Awards! Up for 5, won 3, + won Grand Prix for Photoshop CS4! http://bit.ly/ixeOW]
• 06-19-09: Use Acrobat’s Examine Document to remove metadata. [RT @acrolaw: WV Lawyer Disciplinary Board releases legal ethics opinion on Metadata. Mention of PDF metadata is made. http://snurl.com/kgufb]

Events

• 06-16-09: The Adobe MAX Conference is in early October 2009 in Los Angeles. [RT @acroboy Coming to MAX 2009? Sessions catalog posted, including mine on PDF Files via the Web. http://bit.ly/OIA8B]

Tips

• 06-16-09: Great example of how a customer is using PDF Portfolios. [Excellent video on why Harry Hemus @ Dividi Projects uses PDF Portfolios. Click #Acrobat spotlight on right: http://bit.ly/5zXRn]

Dave Stromfeld
On Twitter at @acro_dave

I thought I’d start by re-posting some interesting Acrobat news from the month of May 2009. Let us know if you find these summaries of Acrobat news useful or interesting.

• May 2009 – Law Technology News- "IT @ YOUNG CONAWAY: Managing Documents" – An attorney at the law firm of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor discusses the firm’s efforts over time to automate document-based processes and their growing use of Acrobat and PDF.
• May 5, 2009 – Software & Information Industry Association – 2009 Codie Awards – As I mentioned back on March 13, Acrobat 9 Pro Extended was a finalist for three categories in the Codie Awards: Best Business Software Solution, Best Multi-Media Solution, and Best Education Technology Solution for Productivity/Creativity. The product won the Best Multi-Media Solution category. Several other Adobe products were honored, as well:
  • Best Document Management Solution – Adobe LiveCycle ES
  • Best Communication Solution – Adobe Acrobat.com
  • Best Corporate Learning Solution – Adobe Captivate 3
  • Best Business Productivity Solution – Adobe Creative Suite 4
• May 10, 2009 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – "Adobe takes Acrobat to new heights" – The Post-Gazette provides a brief overview of Acrobat and PDF, then discussed several features of the latest version, including PDF conversion capabilities, PDF Portfolios and forms support. “With Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Adobe has taken the PDF format to a whole new level, allowing users to create multifunction documents that are rich in media, provide some level of interactivity when used with Adobe Reader, and provide unique collaboration capabilities."
• May 20, 2009 – MyBroadband.Co.za – "Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended" – Acrobat was given 5 out of 5 stars. The review provides a brief overview of PDF, and then focuses on the forms aspects of the software. “Sure, you know all about PDFs and how they’re (mostly) read-only documents that are tiny, offer brilliant compression and work across multiple platforms, but I can almost guarantee that anyone who takes a few days to look at this latest version of Acrobat Pro Extended will find much more than they bargained for.”
• May 30, 2009 – Desktop Engineering – "Teaching a Talented Acrobat New Tricks" – This publication, which focuses on the design engineering space, produced a very comprehensive review of Acrobat 9, mentioning PDF Portfolios, video and presentations, collaboration and forms, mapping and 3D, and much more. " There’s a lot to like about the new release. In addition, long-time users will notice significant performance improvements…While there are lots of other programs out there for publishing PDF files, nothing comes close to Acrobat 9 Pro Extended."

Regarding PDF in particular, Microsoft has mentioned SP2 will support the creation of PDF 1.5 files from some Office applications. The specification for PDF 1.5 was first published by Adobe in 2003 and was supported that same year in Acrobat 6. Acrobat 9, the current release of the product line, supports PDF 1.7 files, which was the version ratified as ISO 32000. [Update: To a point Gray Knowlton at Microsoft made on his blog, I should clarify this is not meant to imply the PDF files output from Office 2007 SP2 applications do not support ISO 32000. Also, I should note that Acrobat 9 outputs PDF files based on earlier versions of the PDF specification, as well, including PDF 1.5. Thanks Gray.] Jim King has an informative blog that, in part, talks about the ISO standardization process of PDF.

In general, through its continuing support of the format, Microsoft is providing further validation that PDF is well established in important processes of users around the world. I know Microsoft has mentioned save as PDF is one of their most frequent customer requests. So what does this mean for Adobe Reader and Acrobat? Well for Reader, there will likely be more PDF files in the world for users to consume using the product. And for Acrobat, the more PDFs that are created the more users will be interested in doing additional things with those documents—which is the strength of Acrobat. We’ve posted a lot on this blog about some of those things, like collaborating on documents, removing sensitive information from documents, making your sets of documents interactive (with Flash and video content), or collecting a set of files together into a PDF Portfolio.

Rock on, PDF.

Dave Stromfeld, Acrobat Product Manager

For Acrobat, we are currently recruiting for two user research sessions, in the areas of Forms and PDF Portfolios.

• Forms – If you need to create and distribute forms or surveys as part of your job (whether you use Acrobat and PDF or whether you use another method), you can apply to participate in our Forms user research by filling in this questionnaire.
• PDF Portfolios – If you’ve used Acrobat 9′s PDF Portfolio feature, you can apply to participate in our PDF Portfolio user research by filling in this questionnaire.

If you’re accepted to participate in either study, you will receive $150 in American Express gift checks.

We really hope you’ll consider sharing your experiences with the Acrobat team so we can continue to make our software as useful as possible.

Thanks!

Dave Stromfeld, Product Manager

Just a quick note to let you know that the Adobe Acrobat Forums have been substantially updated and improved this weekend. Legacy Adobe and Macromedia forums were integrated into a single shiny experience.

Some of the highlights of the new Forums are:

• Integration of Adobe ID for true single sign on to all Forums
• Updated look and feel
• Email participation, including starting a new discussion and alerts
• RSS feeds for many parts of the forum (topics, users, announcements, etc.)
• Rich text options: inline images and videos, file attachments, code samples
• Improved search capabilities including wildcard searches, fuzzy search and more
• Earn points for participation that demonstrates expertise in the community

We look forward to you giving the new forums a try. We think it will be another great way for us all to participate in the Acrobat community.

Some more recent press about Adobe Acrobat which I thought you all may find interesting.

• March 6 – The Paper-less Practice of Law in BC – David Bilinsky has a blog called Thoughtful Legal Management, in addition to being a staff lawyer for the Law Society of British Columbia and the Editor-in-Chief of Law Practice Magazine. He posted about the benefits of transitioning to a “paperless” law practice by replacing paper-based processes with digital ones. And he recommends using Acrobat instead of mailing documents to clients, writing it would “save trees, postage and handling costs.”
• March 14 – Build a Better Portfolio with Adobe Acrobat – Taz Tally of Layers Magazine has a great article on how to build a PDF Portfolio in Acrobat 9.
• March 15 – Software Review: Adobe Master Collection – T. Michael Testi of BlogCritics Magazine has done a thorough review of the software found in the Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4) Master Collection. His series is up to 11 reviews so far. In his Acrobat 9 review, he mentions several key features in Acrobat 9 Pro and Pro Extended, and concludes by stating Acrobat 9 is a “must have upgrade.” “If you need to present information to clients in a way that will wow them, if you want to embed video, audio, and other rich media files into a PDF, then Adobe Acrobat Pro Extended is the only way to go. It takes the PDF to such a new level, that I very highly recommend it as a must have upgrade.”
• March 16 – ESPN’s Ultimate Tourney Guide – Finally, for all you March Madness fans, ESPN and Adobe have created a PDF file that showcases some of the new capabilities of Acrobat 9, including its native support for Flash video. The interactive PDF file will help enable hoops enthusiasts to enhance their experience with a portable copy of their bracket. Through the PDF, they can also learn more via dynamic content from ESPN.com about the tournament teams, the latest news, and ESPN polls. Kurt Foss of AcrobatUsers.Com has written a good summary here. Joel Geraci, Acrobat’s Developer Evangelist, has a detailed 3-part series on how the Guide was constructed. And BrandWeek highlights some of the business and branding aspects of the partnership.

Please let me know if you like these Acrobat press summaries by using the Comments section below. And thanks for reading.