Those are deep, hour long eSeminars.

On Friday, November 13, we'll be presenting Thirty Top Tricks for Acrobat 9.

You can register here if you haven't yet.

Since I'm sure not all of you can attend, I've rolled up the Thirty Top Tips for Acrobat 9 into a ten-page, illustrated document so you can try them on your own!

Click the menu on the widget to download or view the file.

If you read on, I'll tell you how you can share the document with others.

Please go ahead and distribute the document to whomever you want. I do ask two things:

1. Distribute the document in its entirety
   Please do not pull out parts of the document.
2. Include attribution to me:
   Rick Borstein, http://www.adobe.com/go/acrolaw

I can . . . just attend our free "Learn Acrobat Online" eSeminar series!

We're going to kick it off this Friday with an "Acrobat 9 Tips and Tricks" Session.

Although not all the sessions are legal-focused, Google sends so many folks to my blog, that I thought I might reach some new folks.

You can register for all of the events by clicking the button below.

Read on for full, detailed agendas.

The eSeminars are designed to introduce you to each topic and to let you know what's possible.

Friday, November 13th
Acrobat 9 Tips and Tricks

Learn how to set preferences to streamline workflow, reduce the size of PDF documents, create a full-text index for faster search, use batch processing to save time, create a custom stamp, place an image in a PDF, add a "Print" button and more.

Friday, December 4th
Acrobat 9 Top New Features

Have a previous version of Acrobat and haven't upgraded yet?

Join Adobe Experts and dive into the top new features of Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro software. Learn about PDF Portfolios, easier to use forms creation capabilities, ClearScan OCR and much more.

Friday, January 15th
Acrobat 9 for Legal Professionals

Create a single, well-organized PDF Portfolio – perfect for closing binders; discover document comparison, redaction, bates numbering, document splitting, ClearScan OCR. Learn forms creation, distribution and data collection and much more.

Friday, January 22nd
Acrobat 9 for Life Science Professionals

Create scientific notebooks by consolidating information from different applications into one searchable PDF, apply passwords and SAFE digital signatures, create interactive forms and more.

Friday, January 29th
Acrobat 9 Creating & Distributing Forms

Learn the basics of forms creation, best practices, tips & tricks. Convert paper and Word documents to electronic forms. Ensure clean data by adding validation, formatting and required fields. Add calculations to forms. Enable form-fill for free Reader users.

Friday, February 5th
Acrobat 9 Creating PDF Portfolios

Create and send a single PDF Portfolio containing many types of documents, add sortable information so recipients can work with multiple documents as a set, and present a branded experience by including your organization's logo and colors.

Friday, February 12th
Acrobat 9 for Healthcare Professionals

Learn about healthcare document standards and best practices including PDF Healthcare to help eliminate paper and accelerate document processes and much more.

Friday, February 19th
Acrobat 9 Digital Signatures

Save time and eliminate paper with a spectrum of signature solutions from simple signature stamps and biometric signing devices to multi-factor security solutions.

]]> 2009-11-05T01:23:08Z 2009-11-05T01:23:04Z tag:blogs.adobe.com,2009:/acrolaw//32.43927 2009-11-05T01:23:04Z

Despite that, I'm hearing from more and more law firms that would like to use Acrobat to capture, review and produce email as part of a case.

A great solution is an Email Portfolio. Acrobat can convert an entire folder of email in Outlook or Lotus Notes into well-organized PDF Portfolio which lets you sort, filter and search.

The Outlook integration provide by Acrobat offers the following:

1. Convert individual email messages to PDF
2. Adds attachments in their native format into the PDF of the message
3. Combines all of the converted messages into a PDF Portfolio
4. Adds a full-text index to the PDF Portfolio

Acrobat's email archiving feature is intended to be a personal email archiving tool, however with a bit of tweaking (and perhaps a plug-in like Evermap's AutoPortfolio), you may be able to use it successfully to manage small EDD productions.

New to Email Portfolios? Learn about the basics of Email Portfolios by watching this short movie.

In this article, I'll discuss:

1. How to create a new User Account for production
2. Setting up a "null user" in Outlook
3. How to load PST and MSG files into Outlook
4. How to convert email messages into an PDF Email Portfolio
5. Reviewing documents in the Email Portfolio
6. Producing Documents from the Email Portfolio
7. Converting an Email Portfolio to a PDF Binder
8. How to use Evermap's AutoPortfolio tool to move data to a litigation support product like Summation or Concordance

Getting Started

First, you will need to make sure that Acrobat 9 is installed on your system. Out of the box, Acrobat installs for all users on the computer.

Next, make sure you have access to the PST or MSG files via a network, thumb drive or other method.

Creating a new User Account
I recommend that you create a new user account before processing email. This way, you avoid mixing discovery data with your own personal messages. This might help avoid chain of custody issues.

You will need administrator privileges to create a new account.

1. Go to Start—> Control Panel
2. Double-click User Accounts to create a new Administrator account.
   
3. Create a new Administrator account.
4. Choose Start—> Log Off, then log into the new account you created.
5. Copy the email data files (PSTs, MSGs) to the desktop (or other convenient location) in the new user account

Setting up Outlook

After logging into the new User Account you set up above, you will need to configure Outlook as a "null" user.

The steps below are for Outlook 2007, but it should be similar for earlier versions of Outlook.

1. Start Outlook.
   The New Account Wizard will open. Click the Next button.
   
   
2. On the Account Configuration screen, click the No radio button and do not configure an account.
   
   
3. On the Cancel Configuration screen, check the box labeled "Continue with no email support">
   
   
   
4. Outlook will ask you for a Name and Initials. I suggest you add the case name and abbreviated initials for the case, although neither will affect conversion.
   
   
   

Loading PSTs and Message Files

You will need to load the messages into Outlook for conversion.

You may receive Outlook email in different types of container files:

To load a PST

1. Choose File—> Open—>Outlook Data File . . .
2. A new Personal Files folder will appear in Outlook
   
   

To load MSG files

Multiple MSG files can simply be dragged from the desktop into a folder in Outlook.

Simply select all the MSG files inside a folder on the the desktop and drag them into an Outlook folder:

Unfortunately, you cannot drag folders from the desktop into Outlook.

If preserving the folder structure is important to you, you might try a utility which converts nested folders of MSGs into a PST such as MSG 2 PST ($14.95 US).

Converting Email

Once you've loaded the email into Outlook, it is simple to convert it to PDF:

1. Select the Folder you wish to convert in Outlook
2. From Outlook, choose Adobe PDF—>  Convert Selected Folders—>  Create New PDF . . .
   
   
3. The Conversion Window opens. Check off any additional folders you wish to convert:
   
   
4. Click OK.
5. Save file to the local hard drive.

Conversion Speed and Size

I tested the conversion of a large PST containing multiple folders. I used Outlook 2007 on a Intel Quad 6700 desktop with 2GB RAM on Windows XP SP3.

Here are the results:

Acrobat has a limit of 10,000 emails per conversion. If you have larger productions, you will need choose smaller subsets of files for conversion.

After the conversion, Acrobat will open the PDF Portfolio. Acrobat can take a 2-6 minutes to completely load the PDF Portfolio.

Watch the upper right corner to check the total number of emails loaded:

Working with the Email Portfolio

If you have never worked with Email Portfolios, I'd suggest watching my Email Archiving movie first.

After you watch the movie, you'll have a good idea how to sort through and work with a PDF Portfolio.

I will limit my observations here to how you might review items in a PDF Portfolio How you will use these features will vary whether you are:

1. Producing your client's email to the other side
2. Analyzing discovery data sent to you from the other side

Folder Views

A PDF Portfolio can be viewed in a flattened or foldered view. The default view is the Flattened view showing all emails from all folders and recipients.

You can change the Folder view by clicking on the appropriate icon at the top of the Portfolio window:

Filtering

Applying Filters to your data allows you to narrow down email messages to a smaller subset.

Press the Filter button at the top of the Portfolio window

Here's what you can do:

• Choose a field to filter
• Choose operators
  • Contains
  • Does not contain
  • Starts with
  • Ends with
  • is
  • is not
  • is blank
  • is not blank
• Add Search text

You can have multiple levels of filters, too. So, for example, you could find:

All messages from John Smith where the subject line contained "Jill" or "Bob" or "Ice Cream".

Marking Files

Whether you are reviewing email from the other side, or reviewing for privilege, you will need a way to mark the key files that are important. After you have reviewed all of the files, it is easy to filter to your key documents.

You can add a new column to the Email Portfolio to do this.

Here's how:

1. From the top of the Portfolio window, click the Modify—> Edit Portfolio
   
   
2. From the panel on the right, click Specify File Details
   A) Insert your cursor to name the new column
   B) Choose the type of column (Text, Number or Date)
   
   
3. You can change the order of the columns, by click arrows at the bottom of the Edit Portfolio panel:
   
   
4. From the top of the Portfolio window, click the Modify—> Edit Portfolio to turn off editing mode

Adding Text to the Column

1. Switch to List View by clicking the List View button
   
   
2. Insert your cursor in the field to type text
   
   

What about email attachments?

Acrobat does not convert email attachments to PDF. Instead, they are embedded in each PDF email message in their original format.

You'll need to review them separately in the native application.

To open an attachment, click the attachment link within the message:

You can also open the Attachments panel of the message to view the attachments or save them out.

Selecting and Producing Documents from the Email Portfolio

After reviewing the email in the portfolio, you may wish to create a subset that includes only the key messages that are of interest in the case.

There's two ways to do this:

1. Delete unwanted email from the Portfolio
   - Select a message (s)
   - Hit the DELETE key
2. Save target files from the Portfolio
   This copies the email message PDFs outside of the Portfolio to a location of your choosing
   - Select a message (s)
   - Choose File—> Save Files from Portfolio

In either case, you can sort based on on any column, including ones you create.

Converting an Email Portfolio to a PDF Binder

A PDF Binder is a single PDF document with multiple pages and (optionally) attachments. You may wish to produce documents from the Portfolio as a "flat" PDF instead of as a Portfolio.

After this conversion, all of the attachments will be available in the Attachments panel of the document and the links to them will still operate.

Acrobat can convert Email Portfolios to PDF Binders by following these steps.

1. Close the email Portfolio if it is already open
2. Choose File—>  Combine—>  Merge Files into a single PDF . . .
3. Click the Add Files button at top of the window
   
   
4. Locate the email Portfolio you wish to convert
5. You'll see the warning below. Click OK
6. Click the Combine button

Unfortunately, Acrobat can only sort by File Name in this window. A workaround is to Bates Number the emails in the Portfolio in date order before conversion.

How to use Evermap's AutoPortfolio tool to move data to a litigation support product like Summation or Concordance

Acrobat does not include tools to export to litigation support systems like Summation or Concordance or convert attachments.

Fortunately, there is an Acrobat plug-in, Evermap's AutoPortfolio ($199, free trial version available), which can help fill the gap.

AutoPortfolio can do the following:

• Flatten all individual messages and attachments into a single PDF document
• Extract attachments
• Convert attachments to PDF (from Word, Excel, etc.)
• Export portfolio lists to a spreadsheet
• Create TIFF/TEXT combos for litigation support systems
• Create load files for litigation support systems
• De-duping

Installation

AutoPortfolio takes less than sixty seconds to install. Just quit Acrobat if it is open and double-click the installer.

Testing Methodology

I used an Intel Quad 6700 desktop with 2GB RAM for testing and a large PST file with 3995 items and 1090 attachments. Attachments were of many types including .msg, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .dwg, .catia5, .fdf, .txt and others.

I probably used a wider variety of attachment formats than most people.

How it Works

AutoPortfolio adds a Plug-Ins menu to Acrobat. From the menu, you can access the AutoPortfolio functions:

I experimented with several options.

The Extract Files from Portfolio function pulls all embedded attachments out of the email portfolio and optionally converts them to PDF. This is a simple process, just choose a destination folder and click OK.

My PDF Portfolio had 1090 attachments total, but the program could not convert 99 of them to PDF. Most of the failed files were embedded .msg files. It's easy enough to import those into an Outlook folder for conversion.

Convert Portfolios into Regular PDF converts all of the email messages to a single, flat PDF with a lot of pages.

A conversion dialog opens which offers several options. You can even choose to convert more than one Portfolio and you can optionally choose to:

1. Extract attachments
2. Convert attachments to PDF

A Sorting window allows you to choose individual messages to convert or sort on any column. This would be a useful way to sort on a column you might have created, too.

I tried this option with and without converting attachments.

The version without attachments was over 6000 pages and reasonable in size (260 MB).

Results

Since Acrobat is doing the work, you will get better performance on a faster machine with more RAM.

Files which didn't Convert

As noted above, 99 files did not convert. AutoPortfolio placed these in a folder on my hard drive.

Issues

AutoPortfolio did stop on some occasions when it did not know what to do:

• Video Files
  Acrobat stopped to ask how I would like video files to be converted. Since AutoPortfolio uses Acrobat's standard conversion routines, it is not possible to change this.
• 3D and AutoCAD Files
  Initially, Acrobat stopped to ask me about converting these files. I was able to change the Convert To options in Acrobat Preferences for DWG and 3D files so that this did not occur again.
• Progress Notification
  Although AutoPortfolio offers progress bars when converting attachments, there isn't really any way to know how long the entire process is going to take and at times, I wasn't sure if the machine had hung. Fortunately, I quick look at the my hard disk indicator light confirmed that items were still processing.

Conclusions

I suggest you try the techniques outlined above on your own PST before diving into an EDD project on deadline. This way, you'll know how the process works and how long it might take you to review documents. If you are a paralegal, you'll need to know how to present the workflow to the attorney(s) you service.

Processing email in discovery is probably for more advanced users of Acrobat. You'll need some technical knowledge and a fast machine.

If your production is small in size, you may find some of the techniques outlined here to be helpful. If all of this scares you, you may want to hire a professional service provider to process email for you.

You can get the update by going to the Help—> Check for Updates or at the following locations:

Windows Updates
Mac Updates

We recommend that all Acrobat 9 users update.

Acrobat 9.2 includes security updates, but also some fixes to some bugs that affect legal professionals in the areas of Redaction and Bates Numbering.

Read on for a link to the release notes and a brief overview of some of the fixes.

Adobe publishes Release Notes for each dot release of Acrobat.

Here's the link to the official Acrobat 9.2 Release Notes.

Legal Fixes

Acrobat 9.2 offers key fixes in two areas which have been issues for some legal customers.

1. Redaction
   On some files, text spacing could change after redactions were applied. Acrobat 9.2 fixes this issue.
2. Renaming to the Page Range during Bates Numbering
   This bug, introduced in Acrobat 9.1, prevented Acrobat from renaming document to the Bates range (e.g. 000001-000015.pdf). This works properly now in Acrobat 9.2.

It's rare to find color printers or copiers widely deployed in law firms. When color documents appear in discovery, firms don't always know what to do with them. Examples include PPT files, images scanned in full color, etc.

Acrobat files can contain color and non-color elements:

• RGB: Red, Green, Blue color
• CMYK: Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black
• Greyscale: Shades of gray ranging from 0 (white) to to 256 (black) in value
• Monochrome: Black and White

RGB or CMYK image-only PDFs, in particular, can be quite large. Converting these PDFs to grayscale or black can reduce the size of the file and speed printing.

Other times, litigation support departments will have to satisfy the odd attorney who prefers to read grayscale documents.

Whatever the reason, it is fairly easy to convert RGB or CMYK PDFs to Greyscale. It's a bit more difficult to convert to monochrome, but I've included a workaround for that, too.

You'll need Acrobat Pro to make this work for you . . .

To convert an RGB PDF to Grayscale

1. Open a color PDF.
2. Choose Advanced—> Preflight
3. Twirl open the PDF Fixups area
   
   
4. In the Preflight window
   A) Choose the Convert to grayscale fixup
   B) Click the Analyze and Fix button
   
   
5. Acrobat will ask you to name the file and allow you to choose a location to save it.
   
   

Converting many Color PDFs to Grayscale using a Preflight Droplet

A preflight droplet is an intelligent icon you can drag and drop files to for conversion.

Follow these steps to create a Preflight droplet:

1. Choose Advanced—> Preflight
2. Twirl open the PDF Fixups area and select Convert to Grayscale
3. Locate the Options button:
   
   
4. Click on the Options button and choose Create New Preflight Droplet
   
   
5. The Droplet Setup window appears. You can adjust many options:
   
   
   A) Choose a folder where you wish to place converted PDFs
   B) Choose a folder for any PDFs which do not convert
   
   

   Note: There are many other options here for reporting.

6. Click the Save . . . button and save the droplet file to your desktop. It looks like this:
   
   
   
   

Using the Convert to Grayscale Preflight Droplet

To use the droplet, you need to drag and drop files onto it.

Select the files you wish to convert and drag them on top of the preflight droplet:

Converting to Monochrome

Unfortunately, Acrobat cannot convert documents to monochrome directly. The workaround is to convert to monochrome TIFF and then re-convert to Acrobat.

This process works well for image-only color PDFs. PDF Normal documents— containing vector fonts and text— will no longer be searchable unless OCR is performed after conversion.

To convert a PDF to Monochrome TIFF

1. Choose File—> Export—> Image —> TIFF
2. Click the Settings button
3. Set as below:
   
   

Acrobat will convert each page to an individual TIFF file numbered sequentially:

To recombine the files:

1. Click the Combine button in the Acrobat toolbar and choose Merge Files into a single PDF . . .
   
   
2. The Combine Files window opens. Click the Add Files . . . button at the top of the window.
   
   
3. Locate the file or folder of files you wish to combine.
4. Click the Combine files button.

]]> 2009-09-28T16:11:19Z 2009-09-28T17:09:57Z tag:blogs.adobe.com,2009:/acrolaw//32.43214 2009-09-28T17:09:57Z

And, the second most frequently asked question is—  "What's the difference between Acrobat 8 (or other version) and Acrobat 9?"

There are detailed "official" matrices you can download from the Adobe website, but they probably don't speak as directly to you, the legal professional.

I've put together two "unofficial" documents that speak to both of the issues above.

So when you want to know which version of Acrobat has redaction, or if web capture changed in version 9, these PDFs will help.

Download the Files

Acrobat 9 Legal Feature Matrix
Shows differences between
Adobe Reader, Standard, Pro and Pro Extended
(214K PDF)

Acrobat 7-8-9 Comparison for Legal Professionals
See new features added in Acrobat 8 and 9.
(179K PDF)

Sign up for our free, 1-hour eSeminar!

Monday, September 14, 2009 10 AM PST 11 AM MST Noon CST 1PM EST

or cut/paste to browser http://events.signup4.com/AcroLaw

My colleague Mark Middleton and I will show off all of the top features of Acrobat 9 Professional during this live demonstration.

This event is held in cooperation with the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA).

During the seminar, we'll cover:

• PDF Creation
• Bates Numbering
• Redaction
• Form Data Collection
• Typewriter Tool
• Metadata Removal
• SharePoint integration
• PDF Portfolios

Sign up today!

Just click on the link below:
http://events.signup4.com/AcroLaw

Acrobat 8 and 9 Pro allow you to apply and remove Bates Numbers to documents. To try it yourself, choose Advanced—> Document Processing—> Bates Numbering:

The ability to remove Bates Numbers is valuable in case you make a mistake during the numbering process. However, due to the adversarial nature of the legal business, attorneys may desire to limit what the other side can do with documents.

To whit, this email I received from an attorney last week:

What can I use to flatten Bates numbers so that they cannot be altered or removed using the Acrobat Bates numbering process?

I know I can print to PDF, save as TIFF, print-then-scan, etc., but am looking for a solution that will work in batch mode and not degrade the appearance of the file. Also, I don't favor using security settings because I don't want to restrict the user's ability to access the file.

In this article, I'll discuss how to "lock down" Bates Numbers so that they cannot be removed by Acrobat's "Remove Bates" option.

Acrobat stores information about Bates Numbering, Headers and Footers, and Watermarks as "private data" (metadata) within the PDF.

If you remove the metadata, then Acrobat will no longer be able to update or remove Bates Numbering, Headers and Footers or Watermarks.

How do I remove the information?

Acrobat's metadata removal utility (Examine Document) may be used to remove all metadata from the document. If you choose Document—> Examine Document, this will prevent changes to the Bates Number.

However, this is a bit of a brute force approach. A better way is to use the PDF Optimizer to remove only the private application metadata from the document, which accomplishes the goal.

Locking Bates Number in Single PDF Document

Many attorneys gather up all discovery documents into a single PDF. If this is your process, use the steps below to lock down the Bates Number.

1. Choose Advanced—> PDF Optimizer
2. Make the following changes in the PDF Optimizer window:
   
   
   A) Deselect all categories except for "Discard user Data"
   B) On the right, choose only "Discard Private Data"
   C) Click the SAVE button to give the setting a name.
3. Click OK
4. Acrobat will ask you to save the document.

If you choose Advanced—> Document Processing—> Bates Numbering—> Remove on a file you have processed using the steps above, you will see this message:

Locking the Bates Number across Multiple Documents

If you have Bates Numbered many individual documents, this is the workflow for you.

Creating a Batch Sequence to Lock Bates Numbers

1. Choose Advanced—> Document Processing—> Batch Processing
2. Click the New Sequence button
   
   
3. Give the sequence a name and click OK
   
   
4. Click the Output Options button at the bottom of the window:
   
5. Make the following changes in the Output Options window:
   
   
   A) Recommended: Add a prefix or a suffix to the file name
   
   

   Why add a Prefix or Suffix? If you choose this option, Acrobat will not overwrite your original files. You can simply look at the file name to see which files have been processed without having to create a duplicate set ahead of time.

   
   B) Enable the PDF Optimizer check box
   C) Click the Settings button
6. Make the following changes in the PDF Optimizer window:
   
   
   A) Deselect all categories except for "Discard user Data"
   B) On the right, choose only "Discard Private Data"
   C) Click the SAVE button to give the setting a name.
   
   

   Tip: Use an Existing setting If you previously created a PDF Optimizer setting in the section Locking Bates Numbers in a Single Document, you can simply select it from the Settings menu.

   
   
7. Click OK, the OK again.

Running the "Lock Bates Number" Sequence

Here's how to run the Lock Bates Number sequence you created above:

1. Choose Advanced—> Document Processing—> Batch Processing
2. Choose a sequence to run:
   
   
   A) Choose the sequence you created
   B) Click the Run Sequence button
3. The Run Sequence confirmation window will appear. Click OK.
4. Select the files you wish to process, thin click the Select button
   
   
5. The files are processed.

Advanced Batch Options

The steps above rely on selecting the files you wish to process. That could be cumbersome if you hundreds of files spread across multiple sub folders.

Fortunately, Batch Sequences support recursive processing. This feature allows you to run the command on the parent folder and all sub folders.

In the Output Options (Step 4 of Creating a Batch Sequence), make the following change to process an entire directory structure:

A) In the Run Commands section, choose "Selected Folder"

B) Click the Browse button to locate the parent folder.

Note that you will need to change the sequence for different cases.

Detecting Bates Numbers via Third-Party Applications

Our engineers have given developers a method to detect Bates Numbers added by Acrobat.

For example, Lexis-Nexis CaseMap can detect Bates Numbers on a PDF and import the data into fields in the product's document database. Awesome!

If you're a developer and want to know more, go to the Acrobat Developer Center and download:

Bates Numbering in PDF Documents Created with Acrobat 9 (PDF, 112K)

My [Fujitsu] ScanSnap makes PDFs that are too big . . . like around 60K per page! What can I do to make these smaller in Acrobat?

I have to eFile [with the Federal Court] and am having to split the filings into many segments to go through the [Court] gateway. The issue seems to be with documents that are scanned on our network scanner. PDFs produced directly from Word are a lot smaller. Is there some trick to reduce the size of scanned files?

Before covering how to reduce the size of scanned documents in detail, let's discuss four factors that affect the size of scanned images:

1. Scanning Resolution
   A scan at 600 dpi results in a much larger file than at 300 dpi.
2. Color Space
   Color and grayscale files result in much larger files than black and white files.
3. Physical dimensions of the scanned page
   A legal-size scan will be larger than a letter-size scan, with all other factors being equal.
4. Compression
   Raw scan data can be compressed to make it smaller.

Ideally, you would control all of the above factors yourself by scanning at 300 dpi, black and white and using an efficient compression algorithm.

Unfortunately, you many not have that option. Many desktop and network scanners offer limited or confusing options— or— the scanned PDFs arrived from outside your firm.

For the purpose of this article we will make a couple of assumptions:

1. You have a black and white scanned document of unknown dpi and compression
2. You have already OCR'd the document, or don't need OCR

Read on to learn how to reduce the file size of scanned documents using Acrobat.

Black and White Image Compression

There are three common types of compression used on black and white scanned images:

For most 300 dpi black and white scans, it can be very difficult to spot any visual differences.

Comparison of Compression, 300 dpi, 200% Enlargement

Using "Optimize Scanned Image" in Acrobat Standard and Pro

The Optimize Scanned Image feature performs various image clean-up tasks (de-skewing, edge enhancement) and also nicely compresses files.

Here's how to use this feature:

1. Open the PDF you wish to optimize
2. Choose Document—> Optimize Scanned PDF. . .
3. The Optimize Scanned Image window appears.
4. Choose the appropriate level of compression and click OK.
   
   

What do the settings mean?

The slider at the top of the window has six clickable positions:

For 300 dpi black and white scans, only options a, b and f result in different file sizes.

Using Acrobat's PDF Optimizer to Compress Scanned PDFs

The PDF Optimizer can be used to analyze and selectively compress documents. Sorry Acrobat Standard users— this feature is in Acrobat Pro and Pro Extended only.

Analyzing File Size of Scanned Documents

To better understand why a document is big, view the statistics available via the PDF Optimizer.

1. Open the PDF you wish to analyze
2. Choose Advanced—> PDF Optimizer . . .
3. Click the Audit Space usage. . . button
   
4. The Audit Space Usage window appears:
   

The window above reflected the state of a 4-page scanned document:
A) Total file size about 200K
B) Over 190K was allocated to images!

We can do a lot better than that . . .

Reducing the Size of an Individual Scanned PDF using the PDF Optimizer

1. Open the PDF you wish to compress
2. Choose Advanced—> PDF Optimizer . . .
   The PDF Optimizer window appears:
   
   
3. In the list on the left, ensure that only Images and Clean Up are checked:
   
4. At the bottom of the window, set the following for black and white documents:
   a) Set to 300 ppi
   b) Set to 300 ppi
   c) Set to JBIG
   d) Choose Lossy or Lossless
   
   
5. Save your setting so you can easily recall it:
   
   
   a) Click the Save button at the top of the window
   b) Give the setting a name and click OK

In this article, I'll discuss three tips and techniques for working with redactions in Acrobat 9 Pro:

• Setting a preference so that redacted files are automatically renamed DOCNAME_redacted.pdf.
• Creating a new document which summarizes redactions
• Setting a Preference to automatically copy selected text into the Redaction Comment

Read on . . .

When Acrobat applies redactions, the text, image or data is permanently removed and cannot be recovered. For this reason, Acrobat will give you a stern warning when you apply redactions:

The operative message above is that when you apply redactions you will be prompted to rename your document the next time you save your document.

Let's say you ignore this warning and try to save over your original document. You'll receive another warning similar to the one below:

If you ignore this warning, you can save over your original file.

To protect against accidentally saving over a file, you can set a preference to automatically rename redacted documents.

Here's how:

1. Choose Edit—> Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat—> Preferences (Mac)
2. Select the Documents category from the list on the left:
   
   
3. At the bottom of the window, enable the check box labeled "Adjust filename when saving applied redaction marks"
   
   
4. Click OK

The next time you apply redaction marks and save your document, Acrobat will automatically include the _Redacted suffix in the Save dialog:

Create a new Document which Summarizes Redactions

If you were headed to meeting with the other side, and you expected some challenges to your privileged and redacted documents, you might want to create a summarized version of your redacted documents to take with you.

This process creates a new, consolidated PDF. Redaction annotations are displayed as call-outs on the document:

To create a summarized document:

1. Open the document containing your redaction marks.
   (You need to run this step before you apply redactions.)
2. Choose Comments—> Summarize Comments
3. The Summarize Options window will appear. I suggest choosing the second option:
   
   
4. Click the Create PDF Comment Summary button.

Setting a Preference to automatically copy selected text into the Redaction Comment

One of the best aspects of how redaction works in Acrobat is that each redaction mark is a standard Acrobat comment. When you double-click on a redaction mark, a sticky note will pop into which you can add your own text:

In the sticky note you might add some information about why you are redacting the information, or even include the text that is to be redacted. Later, when the other side disputes privilege, you can refer to these notes.

Sometimes, it is simply helpful to copy the text you are going to redact into the note itself. That way, you'll know what you redacted when you summarize the document (the last tip!).

Here's how:

1. Choose Edit—> Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat—> Preferences (Mac)
2. Select the Commenting category from the list on the left:
   
   
3. Enable the check box labeled "Copy Selected Text into Highlight, Crossout, and Underline comment pop-ups
4. Click OK

When you select text using the Mark for Redaction tool, the text will automatically be copied into the sticky note:

]]> 2009-07-12T03:23:41Z 2009-07-12T16:16:56Z tag:blogs.adobe.com,2009:/acrolaw//32.11374 2009-07-12T16:16:56Z

While it seems pretty easy to send PDFs instead of printing documents, are there times when we must print? For example, to sign a document?

If you are a regular reader of this column, you might remember my article about creating signature stamps. In that piece, I explained how to use Acrobat to "stamp" your personal signature on documents. This is a good practice to use anywhere fax signatures are accepted.

What about gathering the signatures of clients and partners?

A client comes and is ready sign your standard intake agreement and retainer. How could you accomplish that without printing anything? Could you digitally capture a signature and protect yourself at the same time?

Short answer: Yes, but you need a digital signature pad, like the Topaz SignatureGem (available from resellers such as Computime) which is the subject of this article.

You've probably used a digital signature pad when checking out at a department store. Signatures collected from a digital signature pad are superior in many ways to paper signatures. Not only does the pad capture the signature itself, it also captures how the signature was made by tracking variables such as pressure and pen angle. That offers additional assurance.

For those who want to peak ahead, I recorded a Topaz Signing Pad Demo Movie.

More info, after the break . . .

Installation of the Topaz SignatureGem is easy. The only hiccup I ran into is that the box I received did not contain a plug-in compatible with Acrobat 9. I was able to download an updated plug-in from the Topaz web site.

After installing the software, you plug the pad into an available USB port. Optionally, you can run a test utility to make sure it's working (I did). I probably could have accomplished the same thing by just trying it in Acrobat . . .

The Topaz Read Me mentions to change Security Settings in Acrobat so that the standard Acrobat signing handler does not appear when signing. That might be good advice for someone who only would sign using the pad.

However, I frequently need to show a variety of different signature handlers to customers and I knew that would not work for me. The good news is that Acrobat offers you a choice of signature handlers when signing, so you can pick the one you need when signing.

Signing a PDF Document

To digitally sign a PDF document, you need to add a signature field. The best method for you will depend on whether you are signing a "one-off" document, or whether you are creating a form that you will regularly use.

One-off Signing Workflow

If the form is a one-off document you need to sign, the preferred method is to "place" your signature. Here's how:

1. Choose Advanced—> Sign and Certify—> Place Signature
   — or —
   Click the Sign button on the Acrobat toolbar and choose Place Signature
   
   
2. You'll be prompted to select a Digital Signature Method. Choose the Topaz.GemSignPlus.
   
   
3. Next, Acrobat will tell you to create the signature field:
   
   
4. Use the mouse to create the digital signature field. Once you finish, the Signature Capture window will open. Write your name on the signature pad:
   
   
5. Click the Accept button. A confirmation dialog will appear and your signature is placed on the document:
   
   
6. A blue status bar appears to show you signature status:
   
   

Creating a Form for Signing Reuse

For a form you intend to fill out and use more than once, it's best to add necessary form fields and then save the document.

Most forms can be automatically recognized in Acrobat. If you clearly label your fields, Acrobat does a pretty job picking them up. Use underlines to indicate the fielded information and add a text label to the left or underneath the line. If you place the label "Signature" next to a field, Acrobat will create a digital signature field for you! Here's an example of a good way to label fields:

Space precludes me a full discussion of creating forms, but the general steps are below.

1. Open the form in Acrobat
2. Choose Forms—> Add or Edit Fields . . .
   — or —
   Click the Forms button on the Acrobat toolbar and choose Add or Edit Fields . . .
3. Acrobat will ask if you want to add fields. Click Yes.
4. Acrobat will find your fields for you:
   
   
5. Click the Close Form Editing button.
   
   
6. Save your document.
7. Click the signature field to sign the document.
   
   

Sign and Destroy . . . watch out!

When you use the Acrobat signature handler, you are always prompted to SAVE AS after signing. That's not the case with the Topaz signing solution. When you sign using the Topaz pad, the document is immediately saved!

Since you can't remove a signature after applying it, you could lock yourself out of ever using the form again..

Always sign a copy of the document. Keep your valuable, original forms in a separate folder just in case.

When Not to use Digital Signatures

Digital signature fields— once signed— add a layer of security to your document. The document is encrypted as part of the process.

That's fine for documents used in your office or sent to clients. Digitally signed documents are tamper-evident, which is probably a good thing.

Digital signatures (and security, in general) do encumber the document in certain ways. Many legal workflows (e.g. discovery) rely on the unfettered access to documents, so be careful.

Also, keep in mind that most courts and the USPTO do not accept encrypted documents.

Instead, use a signature stamp which does not encrypt the document.

What I didn't Cover

To keep it simple, the intended workflow here is for documents you intend to archive in your office, capturing client signatures for your use.

When you shared digitally signed documents, there is the issue of establishing trust. If you want other folks to be able to see the blue ribbon on your documents, you need to exchange certificates with them.

To do so, choose Advanced—> Manage Trusted Identities and click the Request Contact button.

Watch the Movie

Check out how to sign a PDF with a digital signature pad by watching my Topaz Signing Pad Demo Movie.