These short movies play back via Adobe Flash and are only one to five minutes in length.

Today, I posted four new training movies:

• Find and Search: Understanding the differences
  Simple Find commands and full Search offer different capabilities. See how to search multiple PDF files
  
• Creating a Full-Text Index for faster searching
  Learn how to create a ful-text index to search across many PDFs in multiple directories
  
• Accelerating Search in a PDF Portfolio for faster searching
  Create a full-text index which "lives" inside a PDF Portfolio to accelerate search
• Making Edits to PDFs with the Touchup Text Tool
  Change text on both PDF Normal (e.g. converted from an electronic source) and Scanned PDF document

If you are interested, you can learn a bit about my process for creating the movies using Adobe Captivate in my full article.

I use Adobe Captivate to record and edit the movies. Adobe Captivate is a screen capture and simulation tool which allows you to edit the demonstration movie, add captions, etc.

Adobe Captivate outputs Flash files which can be hosted anywhere. Follow this link to learn more and to download a free trial of Adobe Captivate.

Settings

The first thing I do is to set my screen to 1024 by 768. Almost everybody has a monitor that offers higher resolution than this, so my recording window will display nicely for the majority of folks.

Next, I open up Acrobat and practice my demo. I don't create a script for these short movies, but occasionally I will make a few notes to follow.

You do need a microphone to record audio. I use a Plantronics USB headset, but just about any computer headset will work fine.

Captivate Records Differently

Compared to a tool like Camtasia, Captivate works quite a bit differently. Captivate captures differences between "slides" to keep file size small. When needed, Captivate enters full-motion recording mode. For some actions, you may want to manually force full-motion recording.

Before starting, I change some of Captivates default preferences. In particular, I change the standard Full Motion start/stop keys from F9 and F10 to Shift-F9 and Shift-F10. These Fkeys are already used by Acrobat.

Recording

In Captivate, I start a new project and choose the Software Simulation style. I tend to record very short segments of about 30 seconds each that naturally segment the demo.

Editing

After recording, I go into each "slide" and edit the audio. I use the Insert Silence command to remove noticeable breath intakes and lip smacking (gross!). I also delete unnecessary "ramp" where no audio occurs. I adjust the slide length as needed if I delete any audio.

Publishing

I publish the project to Flash 10 format in full screen mode. I host my movies on my Acrobat Connect account, but you can simply output to a folder which will contain your Flash movie, an HTML page and a JavaScript file and place that on your web server and link to it.

If someone else hosts your site for you, you can output a ZIP file and send that to them.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice new bonus in Captivate 4 . . . the ability to output a Flash Embedded PDF file. I tried it and it works great!

This is perfect for when you want to email someone a screen recording instead of a link.

Last week, I got this e-mail message from a paralegal:

I don't like Adobe's mandatory 6 digit bate stamp. Why did they do that? I like to bate stamp with just single digits. It is more simple that way.

You might be aware that the custom is to Bates stamp discovery documents using six digits including leading zeros. However, that might not meet the needs of everyone. Some folks like to use four digits and others, like my most recent emailer above, wanted to use just one.

You might assume that Acrobat requires you to use a minimum of six digits for Bates numbering.

In fact, if when you Bates stamp (Advanced—> Document Processing Bates Numbering—> Add . . . ) and insert a Bates stamp you cannot change the number of leading digits through the standard dialog:

Actually, let me take that back. You can try, but Acrobat will give you an error:

Fortunately, there is an easy workaround that allows you to Bates Number with only one digit. Read on to learn how. Along the way, you will also learn all you need to use Bates Numbering in Acrobat..

Here's how to Bates Number using less than six digits using Acrobat Pro:

1. Advanced—> Document Processing Bates Numbering—> Add...
2. Click the Add Files button at the top of the window. Locate the files you wish to Bates number to load them into the window.
   
   
3. Rearrange the files in the order required. Select a file(s) from the list and drag to change the order, or use the Move Up or Move Down buttons:
   
   
   

   Bates Options Check out the Output Options button at the bottom of the Bates Numbering window. This button allows you to choose an output folder, add a prefix/suffix and rename to the Bates range.

   
   
4. Click the OK button. Next, the Add Header/Footer window appears:
   
   
   A) Set the font
   B) Set the font size, color, style
   C) Set the margin values to choose the location of the number
   D) Click to reduce pages to prevent overlapping the number
   E) Click to Insert a Bates stamp
5. Insert your cursor in entry fields for the header (left, center, right) or footer (left, center, right), then click the Insert Bates Number button
   
   
6. The Add Bates Number Options window appears. Here, you can set a starting number and a prefix or suffix. Click OK.
   
   
7. Notice that Acrobat has added some text to the header field:
   
   
   Next, we will edit this text to use less than six digits.
8. Insert your cursor in the header field. Change the #6 to #1:
   
   
9. The preview section at the bottom of the Bates window will update with the new numbering set-up.
10. Click OK to begin numbering your documents.
    
    

]]> 2009-06-05T19:56:28Z 2009-06-06T07:44:45Z tag:blogs.adobe.com,2009:/acrolaw//32.10980 2009-06-06T07:44:45Z

That was the case a few months ago when a Fujitsu fi-6140 scanner arrived. My test of this scanner was delayed as I waited for my new laptop to arrive . . . apologies!

Fujitsu fi-6140 scanner on my messy desk.

Fujitsu offers an entire line of scanners from inexpensive personal scanners to heavy-duty departmental scanners. Many of their scanner offerings include Adobe Acrobat, too!

The Fujitsu fi-6140 is department-level scanner that is rated to scan 60, double-sided black and white pages per minute at 200 dpi and 40, double-sided color pages at 300 dpi. This kind of performance is about three times what you'll find in a personal scanner.

The price is also about three times more:

• The Fujitsu fi-6140 is about $1580 (CDW)
• ScanSnap S1500 is a bit under $500 (CDW)

For a small firm that doesn't do a lot of scanning, the Fujitsu fi-6140 might be overkill. However, if you have a lot of documents to scan, or difficult document types, this scanner has many benefits:

1. TWAIN Interface
   Unlike the ScanSnap personal scanners, Fujitsu's business scanners can interface to any software such as Acrobat. (You can't scan inside of Acrobat using the ScanSnap, which is an annoyance).
2. Scanning Options
   The fi-6140 TWAIN driver offers sophisticated imaging tools such as edge cleanup, hole removal, document numbering, etc. You can even have the scanner automatically scan the front of pages at one resolution and the back in another.
3. Paper Handling
   The fi-6140 capably handles thick card stock and other tough to scan documents. I scanned a stack of credit cards and it worked fine!
4. Speed
   The fi-6140 is fast, really fast. If you scan large stacks of paper frequently, you will benefit the most.
5. Software Bundle
   In addition to Acrobat, the fi-6140 includes full versions of professional-level software such as Kofax VRS Professional and Fujitsu ScandAll Pro.
6. Long Duty Cycle

In the rest of the article, you can read more about my overall impression of the Fujitsu fi-6140. In this review, I'll cover how to use this scanner with Acrobat and access some extended functions.

Spoiler alert: I liked it! Read on . . .

Set-up

I was able to unpack and install the Fujitsu fi-6140 in under thirty minutes on my laptop. Basically, you unpack the scanner and remove several strips of tape securing moving elements of the device. The only thing left to do is to click the page feeder into place and you're done.

Software installation takes some time, but is straightforward. Insert the installer CD into your PC and choose which software products you need to install. I installed just the ISIS and Scanner drivers. When you do this, you must also install the small program that stays resident in your system tray called the Fujitsu Error Recovery Guide. If the scanner were to malfunction, an alert pops up on the PC.

After a reboot, I plugged in the scanner which Windows Vista recognized right away.

Initial Impressions

I scanned a variety of types of documents including old typewritten pages on yellowed paper, card stock, magazine pages, etc.

Paper handling is strength of the Fujitsu fi-6140. I have had only one paper jam, and that might have been because I didn't seat the paper properly.

Like the other scanners I've used, there is a lag between the moment that you press the Scan button in Acrobat and when the scan actually starts. On my machine, this is always about five to six seconds.

I ran several tests on the Fujitsu fi-6140. All tests were run on my Lenovo ThinkPad W500 with no other applications open. I tried to test the types of documents that legal professionals might use regularly.

Performance Tests

My tests included an old, ten-page typewritten document, a 78-page computer-generated document, and a 4-page color card stock file.

To perform the scanning, I chose File—> Create PDF—> From Scanner—> Custom Scan and set the page size to letter. Other choices such as resolution and color mode were set in Acrobat.

In my 2007 blog article Using Acrobat with the Fujitsu fi-5110C Scanner, I did some time comparisons between a few scanner models. The Fujitsu fi-6140 is clearly faster than the aforementioned scanner, and about on par with the Canon DR-2580C I reviewed about three years ago.

In the Canon article, I mentioned that I had to manually change the defaults for the scanner driver as the initial settings yielded slow scans. I did try quite a few options, but changes I made did not impact scan speed more than a second or two.

Quality

All the scans that I observed were very good quality, and gave good results when used for OCR.

I also scanned a color photo and compared the results to those obtained using my Brother MFC-6490CW. While nobody should mistake the fi-6140 for a standalone photo scanner, the results were certainly good enough for most legal professionals.

Adjusting TWAIN Driver Settings

Most often, I let Acrobat control the scanner. Acrobat's interface is easier to use and frankly, a lot prettier!

For example, you can control many image processing aspects directly via Acrobat such as background removal, deskewing, noise reduction, etc. These options are pretty confusing to work with in the native TWAIN driver.

Still, there are occasions when you may wish to dive into the native driver to take advantage of features that aren't available in Acrobat. For example, do you have to scan a whole stack of documents with hole punches? The native TWAIN driver can eliminate these during scanning. Below, I'll discuss one example of functionality you can take advantage of in the TWAIN driver.

Follow these steps to explore some features of the Fujitsu fi-6140 TWAIN driver.

Getting to the Fujitsu TWAIN Driver

1. In Acrobat, choose File—> Create PDF—> From Scanner—> Custom Scan
2. Click the Options button
   
3. The Scanner Options window opens. Change the User Interface option to Show Scanner's Native Interface:
   
   
4. Click OK.
5. Load a piece of paper in the scanner.
6. Click the Scan button

Making Change in the Native Driver

The Fujitsu Twain Driver window will appear:

Clicking the Options button reveals several interesting features.

Let's look at a couple of useful options.

Hole Punch Removal

If you have originals with hole punches, you'll often see black circles on scans. By changing a setting in the driver, you can eliminate these.

Here's how to remove hole punches . . .

In the Rotation tab, set the following:

1. Adjust the menu for "Automatic Size and Skew Detection" to Set to Black Background.
2. Adjust the "Hole Removal" menu to Fill with White
   
3. Click OK

Further Exploration in the TWAIN Driver

There are other functions in the TWAIN driver that are interesting. I've found that you need to play with these functions to figure out what they do. The function labels and accompanying help can be a little cryptic.

Here are some other areas of interest in the Options area:

Cache Tab: Blank Page Skip

You can set the threshold for any dirt or noise which will tell the driver to skip the page.

Filter Tab: Border and Endorser

If you regularly see edge shadows around pages, you can have the driver fill in the area with white. Another option is the digital endorser which allows you to stamp the document during scanning. Both of these options slow down scanning somewhat.

Final Thoughts

The more I used the Fujitsu fi-6140 the more I like it. This scanner is flexible (handles many types of paper) and reliable (doesn't jam). Those are two critical elements for me.

Pros

• Paper Handling
  This scanner can handle various thicknesses of paper and other materials better than any other scanner I have tried.
• 300 dpi Scan Speed
  Speed is very good at the resolution I most typically use.
• Desktop Footprint
  The fi-6140 doesn't take up a lot of room on my desk. When the paper shoots are closed, it is about the size of shoebox.
• Unobtrusive Software
  Some scanners have a lot of software overhead including startup files and memory resident apps. These issues are minimal with the fi-6140.

Cons

• The TWAIN driver window is straight out of Windows 95. While it is functional, I would appreciate a modern, fluid interface with less cryptic labels and functions.
• 600 dpi Scan Speed
  The scanner seems a bit slow at 600 dpi to me. I wish it were faster. I'm starting to scan more at higher resolutions to take advantage of better results and file size reduction using Acrobat 9's ClearScan technology.

I think any law office would be well served by the Fujitsu fi-6140. I'm not giving up mine any time soon!

Exhibits generally are numbered (1, 2, 3) or lettered (A, B, C) consecutively in the order they are first encountered in the body of the referencing document (brief, contract, etc.).

In order to easily tell one exhibit from another, case documents are often stamped with an easy-to-see exhibit stamp:
.

Since PDF is the defacto (or often mandated) eFiling standard, it didn't come as a surprise that I've received a few emails on this exhibit stamping PDFs over the last couple of years.

I've written previously about creating custom stamps, but an Exhibit Stamp has both a static graphic element and a changing numeric or alphabetic element. I have proposed a workaround using watermarks and the typewriter tool to some firms, but that still was a lot of work.

Only recently have I come across an elegant solution that can accomplish both steps with a click! When you stamp the document, Acrobat will ask you for the exhibit number, then stamp it on the document:

Read the full article to download a special stamp set that does the work for you.

Acrobat organizes sets of stamps into a single PDF file with a stamp on each page. The stamps are stored in a specific file location and are loaded dynamically when you start Acrobat.

Once loaded, the stamps appear in the Stamp button in the Comment and Markup Toolbar:

My stamp set includes both a rectangular stamp and a rounded exhibit stamp.

Eureka! A Smarter Stamp

I was surfing through the Acrobat User Community website, and came across an article called Dynamic Stamp Secrets by Tom Parker. Tom Parker is the owner of Windjack Solutions, a development firm that does custom JavaScript solutions for Acrobat, and is an expert on automating Acrobat.

The article discussed how to create stamps that could accept user input. "Wow," I thought, "this might work for exhibit stamps!"

Using Tom's example, I created a sample stamp set that interacts with the user. When you click to place the stamp on the document, a dialog window appears:

Once you enter the exhibit number, the stamp appears containing the exhibit number:

If you use the stamp flyout menu, the stamp "remembers" the last exhibit number. This makes it easy to increment the exhibit number on the next document:

Download the Dynamic Exhibit Stamp Set

I've placed the stamp on my Acrobat.com account. You can download it by clicking here or preview and download it using the acrobat.com widget below.

Installation

1. Quit Acrobat if it is open
2. Place the file "Exhibit Stamps.pdf" in the Acrobat Stamps Folder. The location will vary by the platform. Below are the file locations for Acrobat 9:
   
   Mac OSX
   /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/9.0_x86/Stamps
   
   WinXP
   C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\9.0\Stamps
   
   Win Vista or Win7
   C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\ Acrobat\9.0\Stamps
   
3. Restart Acrobat
   
   

Using the Dynamic Exhibit Stamp

1. Choose View—> Toolbars—> Comment and Markup
2. Locate the the Stamp Tool and click the flyout menu on it:
   
3. Choose the Exhibit Stamp Category
4. Choose either the Rectangular or Rounded exhibit stamp and click to place it on the document
5. Enter the Exhibit Number
6. The stamp will be placed on the document.
7. Repeat as needed

Some Important Details

Here are a couple of things you should know about the dynamic stamps.

1. Type in Anything
   You can type just about anything into the dialog window. You are not limited to letters and numbers:
   
   
2. Transparent Backgrounds
   These stamps have transparent backgrounds. Just like a real rubber stamp, the document will show through them.
3. Size and Scale Well
   The stamps are built from vector elements which scale and print perfectly.
   
   You can scale (size) the stamps and after you place them on the document by dragging a corner handle with the cursor.
   
4. Document Metadata
   When you stamp the document with the Exhibit Stamp, it places the stamp number in the document metadata. If you delete the stamp and re-stamp it, the new number is written to document metadata. To see the document metadata for the stamp, choose File—> Properties and click on the Custom tab:
   
   
   The reason I chose to write this to the document metadata is that you can pull this data from the document into a PDF Portfolio for easier management. If, for example, you had a complex case, you could manage all the exhibits in a single searchable PDF Portfolio and take it to court with you. To pull the Exhibit metadata to the Portfolio, you will need the free Joel's Portfolio Utilities. Joel is Adobe's Technical Evangelist for Acrobat.
   
   If you want to remove the metadata, either delete it using the Properties panel or choose Document—> Examine Document.
5. Preventing Changes
   The stamps are live and may be moved or deleted.
   
   If you want to lock down the stamps, you'll need to flatten the document.
   
   In Acrobat Pro 9, choose Advanced—> Preflight and navigate to the PDF Fixups section. Choose "Flatten Annotations and Form Fields" and click the Analyze and Fix button.
   
   If you have Acrobat Standard, you'll need to "refry" the document by printing it to the AdobePDF print driver.

Modifying the Exhibit Stamp

This next two sections are for the advanced user. You will need a good understanding of form fields to modify the stamps.

The stamp file is an editable PDF document. Form fields with a JavaScript calculation element are used to place the dynamic exhibit number on the stamp.

The rectangular stamp is build entirely using form fields. To create a rounded stamp, I created the background elements using Adobe Illustrator.

You could change the font and color of any of the form fields on the stamps or add new form fields. For example, you could add a form field with your firm name on it to one of the existing stamps.

Adding new stamps to the file requires some planning and the willingness to edit JavaScript code. The steps are:

1. Create the artwork for the new stamp at the size needed and save it as a PDF. Open the PDF and use the Crop tool to crop it tightly.
2. Create a new stamp from your artwork and add it to the Exhibit Stamp set. You'll need to have Exhibit Stamp set installed to do so.
3. Open the Exhibit Stamp.pdf (see file locations above) in Acrobat. Choose Advanced—> Page Templates. Each stamp will have its own, randomly generated ID number:
   
   
   The two above are from the stamps I included. Your new stamp will have a different number. Copy the text from your new stamp from the Name field at the top of the window and paste it into an email or a text document so you can reference it later. Close the Page Template window.
4. Choose Forms—> Add or Edit Fields. On page three, copy the UserData2 field to the clipboard.
5. Go to page 4 of the document (your stamp). Paste the UserData2 field onto your stamp. Size and format as needed. Rename it to UserData3.
6. Double-click the field and click on the Calculate tab. Click the Edit button to open the Custom Calculation script.
7. Find the Stamp ID number in the window. Replace it with the Stamp ID you copied out earlier. Make sure you only include the stamp ID and pound sign. For example, only take the portion in italics below:
   #XYZBRZM098JKY = My Cool Stamp
8. Save and restart Acrobat.
   

While OCR accuracy and language support have improved over the years, the  default OCR "flavor"— Searchable Image— was the only useful choice.

Searchable Image retains the underlying scanned image and adds an invisible layer of text on top which may be selected:

Searchable Image OCR has some shortcomings:

1. File Size
   For 300 dpi black and white scans, a typical file size is 15-40K per page. Scanning at higher resolutions (600 dpi Vs. 300 dpi) increases file size about three to four times.
2. Print Speed
   Because of the image-heavy content, searchable image PDFs can take a long time to print.
3. Visual Quality
   At 300 dpi, scanned documents are easily distinguishable in quality from computer-generated files.

In Acrobat 9, Adobe engineers added a new flavor of OCR called ClearScan. ClearScan offers improved text quality with a decrease in file size:

I've recently completed some benchmarking which shows dramatic file size decreases and quality gains. Read on to learn about size comparisons, how to use ClearScan OCR and a bit more about how it all works.

I created two test documents:

• 78-page image-only PDF document scanned at 300 dpi
• 78-page image-only PDF document scanned at 600 dpi

I ran OCR and compared file sizes on my ThinkPad W500. The test machine ran Vista Enterprise in 32-bit mode and has 4GB of RAM. In addition to Acrobat, I also had Excel running. The W500 is a current model laptop which runs an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU at 2.8 GHz.  The test machine has an IBM standard 320GB laptop hard drive running at 7200 rpm.

Visual Results and Total File Size

Timing and File Sizes

Note: Numbers rounded.

At 300 dpi, ClearScan offered improved visual quality at about one-third the total file size. At 600 dpi, the ClearScan file was seven times smaller and looked better.

How does ClearScan work?

ClearScan works by turning the images which represent text characters on the page into smoothed vector outlines. Each character on the page is compared and all matching characters are replaced with a an outline character:

Original	ClearScan
800% View in Acrobat 300 dpi scan

ClearScan does not replace the font with your system fonts. Rather, a custom font it is created to match the visual appearance of the pixels.

In fact, if you run ClearScan OCR and choose File—> Document Properties and click on the Fonts tab, you'll see that custom fonts are created:

Besides better visual appearance, print time is reduced. Instead of sending large images to the printer, Acrobat can send the compact font information instead.

How can I try ClearScan OCR?

ClearScan OCR is not the default in Acrobat 9, so you'll need to change a setting to use it. Here's how.

1. Choose: Document—> OCR Text Recognition—> Recognize Text using OCR . . .
2. Click the Edit  . . . button in the OCR window:
   
   
3. Change the PDF Output Style to ClearScan.
   
   
4. Click OK twice to OCR the document.

ClearScan Q&A

Here are a few answers to the most common questions about ClearScan OCR.

1. Is OCR accuracy any different between ClearScan and Searchable Image styles?
   No. The accuracy will be identical for input files of the same dpi. However, since a ClearScan files are so much smaller, you might consider using a 600 dpi input file as a starting point since there is little downside other than processing time.
2. Can I make changes to the text in a ClearScan file?
   No. The Touchup Text Tool does not currently work on ClearScan files.
3. Are ClearScan files admissible in court?
   To our knowledge, there has never been a challenge. ClearScan files are generally an accurate representation of the original document.
4. What fonts does ClearScan use?
   ClearScan creates a custom font to match the character shape. It does not rely on system fonts or any other font that may be installed on your system.
5. Are ClearScan files always smaller?
   For single page typical legal documents, you may not see much difference in file size. Multiple page documents will show the greatest file size reduction. Documents which vary greatly in the type and number of fonts will show less return on file size.
6. Is ClearScan slower than Searchable Image OCR?
   No. The speed is virtually identical.
7. What is the benefit of scanning at 600 dpi then using ClearScan?
   Since ClearScan bases its shapes on the original image, a 600 dpi input file yields better looking text than one scanned at 300 dpi:
   

   300 dpi input file ClearScan 800% view	600 dpi input file ClearScan 800% view

8. Can I re-OCR a Searchable Image file to turn it into a ClearScan file?
   Yes.
9. Can I turn a ClearScan file into a Searchable Image file?
   No. This will trigger a "renderable text" error. You could export it to TIFF, reassemble and then OCR or print it to an image file.

Help! An attorney has asked me to convert PDFs we received in discovery to Excel. The PDFs are tabular in nature (probably originated in Excel). Some are scanned in from paper and others appear to be converted electronically. How do I do this?

Fortunately, Acrobat 9.1 offers a couple of different ways to export to Excel.

1. Select table and open in Excel
   This allows you to select a portion of a page and open it in Excel.
   - Works best when you only need small part of the table
   - Better results if the file didn't originate from a spreadsheet
2. Export as Tables in Excel
   This method uses some artificial intelligence to convert multiple page PDF documents to multiple worksheets in an XML-based spreadsheet file. It works best on files which were converted directly from Excel to PDF.

Acrobat generally will usually do a pretty good job converting the text, but formatting and column widths will look different than the original. Acrobat only copies over the text. Formulas will not convert. Do not expect 100% fidelity.

In the full article, you'll receive my usual step-by-step instructions.

I've had better luck using this method for scanned documents and documents which were not originally spreadsheets.

How to use it:

1. Open a PDF and OCR if it was originally scanned
   Document—> OCR Text Recognition
2. Select the Select Text tool (cursor)
   
3. Hold down the ALT (CMD on the Mac) key to make a rectangular selection over a table in the document.
   Your cursor will change shape to:
   
   
4. With the text still selected, right-click and choose “Open Table in Spreadsheet”
   
5. The table data will open in Excel
   
   

Converting to Excel from PDF: Save As Tables in Excel Spreadsheet

This method allows you export a multiple page PDF to multiple Tables in an Excel file. It seems to work best on documents which were:

1. Converted directly to PDF from Excel
2. Converted using Acrobat (rather than a clone)

How to use it:

1. Open the PDF you want to convert
2. OCR the document if it was originally scanned.
   Choose Document—> OCR Text Recognition
3. Choose File—> Save As
4. From the Type list at the bottom of the window, choose Tables in Excel Spreadsheet
   
5. Click Save
   
   

Batch Converting PDF to Excel

Have a lot of PDFs you want to convert to Excel? No problem! This works in any version of Acrobat 9.

1. Choose File—> Export—> Export Multiple Files
2. Click the Add Files button at the top of the window and locate your source PDFs
   
   
3. The Output Options window appears:
   
   A) Click Browse to select a folder for the Excel output
   B) If desired, add a prefix or suffix to the filename
   C) Change Export to “Tables in Excel”
4. Click OK

I think all of them came up to me afterwards and asked for a copy of my slides!

To stay ahead of the game, I'm posting them here, in advance.

The slides include some tips for getting to many Acrobat features including Bates Numbering, Redaction, etc.

And, for everyone, I posted three new movies on my all new Movie Page:

• Creating a Custom Stamp
• Understanding and Working with Comments
• Exporting a PDF to Excel

The link to the slides is in the full article.

Enjoy!

The slides are available in the acrobat.com widget below. Wait for a bit as it sometimes takes a minute or so to appear.

To download the slides, click the Menu button at the top of the widget.

Once in a while, I hear from a customer who can't download the slides from the widget. Make sure that your browser does not disable pop-up menus from acrobat.com, or you can try this direct link.

I have several hundred Excel files to convert to PDF as part of a case. Is there a way to do this in Acrobat? A lot of the files have multiple worksheets, too. Do I have to convert each worksheet separately?

So Yes and No. Yes, Acrobat can convert multiple Excel files to PDF. And, No, you don't have to convert each worksheet separately!

Converting Multiple Worksheets

Fortunately, Acrobat 9 can easily convert all of the worksheets in your Excel files to PDF:

When you use the PDF Maker in Acrobat 9, you have some additional options to select just the worksheets needed:

A) Choose options to convert all worksheets, the currently selected worksheet or a subset of the worksheets.

B) To choose some worksheets, but not others, select from the list on the left and use the Add or Remove buttons to move them to the list on the right.

C) Click the Convert to PDF button to complete the process

The result is a nicely bookmarked PDF that looks like this:

What about batch conversion?

If you want to convert many Excel documents in batch to PDF, there are a few additional tricks involved. Read on learn how in the rest of the article.

Acrobat makes a distinction between the settings you employ inside an application like Excel to convert to PDF (the Excel PDF Maker) and settings you use to convert in bulk via Acrobat.

Acrobat generally ignores some of the personal settings you've made in the PDF Maker. Instead, you'll need to set Acrobat application preferences to get Excel file conversion to work the way you want. Here's how:

1. Choose Edit—> Preferences
   
   
2. The Preferences window appears:
   
   
   A) Select Convert to PDF
   B) Choose Microsoft Excel
   C) Click the Edit Settings button
   
   
3. The Edit Settings window opens:
   
   
   A) Choose the PDF conversion setting needed. I chose a custom setting I created.
   B) Enable "Convert entire Excel workbook"
   
   
4. Click OK twice to exit Preferences

Converting Multiple Excel Files to PDF: Not Batch

If you have Acrobat Standard, you can convert multiple Excel files to PDF. The limitation is that they all need to be in the same folder.

1. Quit Excel if it is already open
2. Choose File—> Create PDF from File and open the folder containing the Excel documents. Select them all and click OK.

Acrobat will convert each Excel document to PDF and open it. You will need to individually save each PDF docuemnt at the end of the process.

True Batch Conversion of Excel to PDF

If you have Acrobat Pro (or Pro Extended) you can take advantage of batch sequences to automate the conversion process.

An Acrobat Batch Sequence allows you to specify a number of operations to be made to a file. The following section describes how to build a very simple sequence.

To create a Batch Process to convert many text files, follow these steps:

1. Choose Advanced—>Document Processing—>Batch Processing
2. Click the New Sequence button. Name the sequence and click OK.
3. The Edit Batch Sequence window will appear:
   
   
   

   (A) Set Run Commands on "Selected Folder" . Then click the Browse button and locate the folder containing your source Excel files

   (B) Click the Source File Options button. This window allows you to choose which types of files will be converted.

By default, any of the types of files listed will be converted to PDF. If you only wanted to convert the Excel files found in the source folder, only select Microsoft Excel.

(C) Select the output location for the resulting PDFs. Choose Specific Folder from the list and click the Browse button to locate an output folder

(D) Click the Output Options button. This window allows you to rename the file after conversion to PDF. In the example below, I added a suffix to the file name.

Click OK twice.

Running the Batch Excel Conversion Sequence

To run the batch sequence, follow the steps below.

1. Choose Advanced—>Document Processing—>Batch Processing
2. The Batch Sequence Window appears:
   
   
   

A) Choose a sequence from the list on the right

B) Click the Run Sequence Button

Further Considerations

Batch Sequences may also be used to create Headers and Footers that number pages, add watermarks and much more.

After creating a batch sequence, click the Select Commands button.

You can then choose from many different commands (on the left) and add them to the list on the right.

Converting Multiple Excel Files to a Single PDF

This is easy to do in both Acrobat 8 and 9, Standard or Pro!

Choose File—>Combine—> Merge Files into a Single PDF

The window allows you to select many types of files and even select a set of worksheets from individual documents.

]]> 2009-03-25T15:08:22Z 2009-03-26T03:47:59Z tag:blogs.adobe.com,2009:/acrolaw//32.9878 2009-03-26T03:47:59Z

If you are using Acrobat or Reader 9, I recommend that you upgrade. The 9.1 update includes performance fixes, stability improvements and also addresses security vulnerabilities.

To update, choose Help> Check for Updates or download the patch  and apply separately.

The links:

Acrobat Standard and Pro 9.1 Update (Windows)

Acrobat Pro Extended 9.1 Update (Windows)

Acrobat 9 Pro 9.1 Update (Macintosh):

Acrobat 9.1 Release Notes (All platforms)

Read on for my evaluation of the improvements and fixes for he legal market.

New Portfolio Layouts

Acrobat 9.1 includes additional portfolio layouts for Pro and Pro Extended users. These layouts were available as a separate download previously, but are included in the update.

Portfolios offer useful document review capabilities. Above is the Grid with File Preview option. It's easy to jump from page to page or document to document.

Bates Numbering in Portfolios

As detailed in my article on Portfolio Bates Numbering, the original release of Acrobat 9 had some unreliable behavior

1. Rename to while Bates Numbering in a Portfolio
   You can now Bates Number and rename to the Bates Range within a PDF Portfolio. e.g. 000001-000015.pdf.  Once you do so, you can then sort the portfolio by the filename (Bates Number).
2. Bates Numbering an Email Portfolio now properly numbers by Date, rather than file name
3. Acrobat auto-previews the first document in a Portfolio while in list view. Previously, you might have to click twice in List View to preview a file.
4. Full screen mode now works for PDF portfolios. It may be possible to use Portfolios for courtroom or mediation presentations. I'm still exploring this.
5. Acrobat now properly converts and numbers non-PDFs (Word, Excel, etc.) in a non-email Portfolio. Portfolios are still Bates numbered by filename only in this order:
   1. Files at the root level, alphabetically
   2. First folder (alphabetically, by name)
      1. Files in the folder, alphabetically, by file name
   3. Second folder (alphabetically, by file name)
      1. Files in the folder, alphabetically, by file name

Sub-folders and other folders follow the same conventions.

NOTE: If you choose to rename to the Bates Range, Acrobat will flatten the folder structure of your Portfolio.

Fixing Existing Portfolios

Some of the enhancements are part of the Portfolio layout itself. The portfolio layout is the Flash-based shell which "runs" the portfolio experience.

If you already have an existing email portfolio, you'll need to update it to get the fixes. To do so:

1. Open Outlook or Lotus Notes
2. Select a single message (you can delete it later)
3. Choose AdobePDF—>Convert Selected Messages—>Append to Existing PDF . . .
4. Locate the email portfolio you wish to update and click the Open button

Still missing . . .

While Bates Numbering is better in the 9.1 update, but there are some missing features in Portfolios which would make it easier to use in that context. There still is no easy way to control document ordering in a Portfolio in an ad hoc fashion. You can still use the workaround I detailed in this article, PDF Portfolio Conversion and Reordering.

The event (s) is named Acrobat 9: Save Time, Meet Deadlines, although the slides title is a bit different.

The slides do have some useful information including our speaker notes and include:

• Top new features of Acrobat 9
• Pricing
• Differences between the various versions of Acrobat such as Reader, Standard, Pro and Pro Extended

Enjoy!

Click the full story to get them. If you're receiving my blog via email, then make sure to click the story title to launch the article in your browser.

I've placed the slides on my Acrobat.com account.

A widget will load below (be patient, can take a bit of time) which allows you to preview the slides. Click the menu in the upper right corner of the widget to download them.

If you can't get to acrobat.com to download the slides, you may need to ask your IT department to unblock Acrobat.com for you.

Traditionally, at the end of a transaction such as a real estate closing, we would present our client with a binder stuffed full of all of the documents associated with the deal. These “old school” binders were time-consuming to create and costly to distribute. Creating an electronic closing binder in PDF is a far “greener” alternative that saves time and enhances client satisfaction.

You can download my complete guide and a set of slides in the complete article.

I created a 36-page guide Creating Electronic Closing Binders using Acrobat 9. This document should give you everything you need to create great closing binders.

I've placed the files on my Acrobat.com file share.

You can preview the file below using the Acrobat.com widget. Be patient as it sometimes takes a while for the widget to load.

To download the file, click the Menu at the top of the widget.

36-page guide Creating Electronic Closing Binders using Acrobat 9

Presentation Slides

Reuse Policy

You are welcome to redistribute the document in its entirety, so go nuts! If you do, I ask that you provide the following attribution:

Creating PDF Electronic Closing Binders with Adobe Acrobat 9 is from the Acrobat for Legal Professionals (Acrolaw) Blog at http://www.adobe.com/go/acrolaw.

What does the document cover?

Here's the TOC from the document:

• What is a Closing Binder?
• Binders or Portfolios: What’s the difference?
• What do I need to create Binders and Portfolios?
• Should I use a PDF Binder or a PDF Portfolio?
  • Binders
  • Portfolios
• Getting Ready
• Creating a PDF Binder
  • Combining the Files
  • Setting Default Open Properties
  • Customizing Bookmarks
  • Creating Links on the TOC Page
  • Adding Non-PDF Attachments
  • Adding an Attachments Bookmark Link (Optional)
  • Add a Full Text Index (Optional)
  • Add a Bookmark to open Full Search (Optional)
• Creating a PDF Portfolio Closing Binder
  • Two Ways to Create Portfolios
  • Create a PDF Closing Portfolio using the Assembly Method
  • Create a new Portfolio
  • Add Files to the Portfolio
  • The Portfolio Window
  • Enter Descriptive Text
  • Selecting a Portfolio Layout
  • About the Welcome Page
  • Customizing the Welcome Page
  • About the Header
  • Customizing the Portfolio Header
  • About Portfolio List View
  • Customizing the List View
  • Entering Field Text
  • Create a PDF Portfolio using the Combine method
  • Add a Full Text Index (Recommended)
• How will a Portfolio open in Adobe Reader 8?
  • Replacing the Cover Sheet (Optional)
• Miscellaneous Portfolio Tips and Tricks

I think I really dated myself with that reference!

I'll post a link to the recording soon, but the forms seminar on my Movie Page is almost identical.

Downloads from the Event

1. Presentation
2. Acrobat Form Elements Sample
3. LiveCycle Designer Dynamic Form (completed version)
4. LiveCycle Designer Dynamic Form (starting version)
5. Brief Demo Script for LiveCycle Designer (use with #4)

You'll find all of these materials in the complete article.

Note: If you get my blog via email, make sure you click on the title of the article to go directly to my blog.

All the materials are in the Acrobat.com forms widgets below. The widgets take a little time to load, so please be patient.

Click the menu in the upper right corner of the widget to view or download. If you have trouble downloading, call your IT folks and ask them to stop blocking acrobat.com.

Presentation materials

8-slide presentation given during the seminar. Speaker notes are included as PDF notes. Check out the last page which has links to several other form resources.

Acrobat Form Elements Sample

One-page PDF file with examples of buttons, combo boxes, list boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, barcode, signature and text fields. May be opened in Acrobat 8 or 9. In Acrobat 9, click the Forms button and choose Add or Edit fields to see how it was put together.

LiveCycle Designer Brief Script

For the brave who want to try this on their own. This script includes only terse instructions for creating the form.

1-hour Redaction and Metadata Removal eSeminar
Using the Typewriter tool to type on a PDF

Get up to speed on legal features of Acrobat fast!

Go the complete article for a list of about thirty additional how-to movies and eSeminar recordings.

Get this via email?
Make sure you click on the article title to go to my blog . . .

Creating PDFs

• Basics for PDF Creation
  Understanding the differences between printing to PDF and the PDF Makers installed by Acrobat.
• Creating Custom PDF Settings in Word
• Email Archiving
• Web Capture
• Scanning Paper Documents to PDF with Acrobat

Combining PDF

• Creating a PDF Binder
  A single, multiple-page PDF from many sources
• Creating a PDF Portfolio
  Create a Deal Binder using a PDF Portfolio
• Creating an eBrief
  Combine a word processing file and cites into a well-organized, hyperlinked and bookmarked eBrief

Working with PDFs

• Creating and working with Bookmarks
• Creating and working with Links
• Compare Two PDFs
• Making Edits to PDFs with the Touchup Text Tool
• Changing the version of a PDF
  • Check versions, change versions, change multiple PDFs
• Splitting a PDF by file size, pages or bookmarks
• Exporting a PDF to Word (and other word processors)
• Removing hard line endings from copied text
  (for citing and easier re-use)
• Extracting a Non-sequential range of pages from a PDF
• Replacing pages in a PDF

OCR

• ClearScan vs Image+Text OCR
• OCR multiple files at once using the OCR Multiple feature

Search

• Find and Search: Understanding the differences
• Creating a Full-Text Index for faster searching

Security

• Checking and Removing Security on a PDF
• Password Security: Applying Passwords, Security Policies

Legal-specific Features

• Redaction
• Bates Numbering
• Metadata Removal

Forms

• Understanding Form Field types
• Creating a Form with the Forms Wizard
• Set font and wrap for Text fields
• Field formatting and validation
• Duplicating fields, Creating Calculations
• Reader-enabling a Form
• Form Data Collection
• Flattening Forms
  Make form fields a non-editable part of the document layer

Collaboration and Commenting

• Add Comments to a PDF (basic)
• Exploring Comments Types
• Working with the Comment Panel
• Create a Comments Summary
• Document Co-Navigation
• Using the Typewriter tool to type on a PDF
• Understanding Email Review
• Understanding Shared Review
• Creating a Custom Stamp
• Flattening Annotations
  Make comments a non-editable part of the document layer
• Using Acrobat and the Tablet PC
  Using Evermap AutoInk plugin. Demo by TableLawyer.com