In our last post, we were talking about all the time-saving ways you could use Adobe’s online document services through Adobe Reader XI; now, we’d like to share just how to get that work done. But here’s the thing: there is no way to explain just how simple it is to use these services. Will that keep us from trying? No way. As soon as you catch on, feel free to open up Adobe Reader and try it yourself (we don’t think it will take you very long).
The key to using any of the services – with or without Adobe Reader – is your Adobe ID. It’s how you identify yourself to each service, and it’s how you sync all of your information between Reader, Reader Mobile, Acrobat.com, and any of the other services you’re using. (Don’t have one? Don’t worry. You can create one for free at any place you would otherwise sign in; you can even do so within Adobe Reader! Read on.) There are several ways to sign in from within Adobe Reader, but one of the quickest ways is to open up your Tools pane; here’s what that looks like:
- Click on “Tools” in the upper right corner of the application.
- Once the Tools pane is open, you’ll see a little blue bar at the top of the pane with a “Sign In” link. Click on that. (If you see your name there already, you’re already signed in – good work!)
- A pop-up window will appear where you’ll be able to sign in. If you don’t have an Adobe ID, you can create one with that same pop-up window.
Easy, right? And now that you’re signed in, you can access any of the services in that Tools pane. All of your subscriptions are associated with your Adobe ID, so if you’ve subscribed to one or more of the services, you’ll have those paid options available to you. Otherwise, you’ll have access to the services at their free or trial level, where available (for more info on pricing, see: Acrobat.com, SendNow, ExportPDF, CreatePDF.). Here’s how to access each of the services from Reader:
- Export a PDF file to Word or Excel by expanding the “Export PDF” panel. Choose the PDF file to convert (the document that’s currently open will be the default here), and choose the format you’d like to convert it to (.docx, .doc, .xls, or .rtf). Click on “Convert”, and watch the magic happen. When the conversion is finished, you’ll be prompted to save the converted file to your computer – or, if you prefer, directly to an Office 365 or SharePoint location. Want to give it a shot? Subscribe to ExportPDF.
- Create a new PDF file by opening up the panel marked “Create PDF”; just click to choose the file you’d like to use. As with ExportPDF, you can choose from locations on your computer or from an online location. Now click “Convert”. Give Adobe Reader a few seconds to communicate with the CreatePDF servers, and voila – you’ll get a prompt to open the newly converted PDF file in Adobe Reader. Have we even had to leave Adobe Reader yet? No. Convert your own files by subscribing to CreatePDF.
- When it comes to sending files with Adobe SendNow, you’ll see some options: choose the file and the recipient, and then write a message to be delivered along with the file. You can decide whether you’d like your recipient to sign in for access to the file; you can opt for delivery receipts to find out when the file has been downloaded; and you can limit the time that the file will be available for download. All without ever leaving the Adobe Reader window you’ve got open already. For the full range of features, try a SendNow subscription.
- Finally, open up that last panel to upload the current document to Acrobat.com for secure storage and access from any device; the free service includes 2 GB of storage space and hooks into Adobe Reader Mobile for reading on the road. You don’t even need a subscription for this service; just use your Adobe ID to access your own cloud storage account.
When we told you that Adobe Reader wasn’t just for reading anymore, maybe you thought that we were being facetious. We were not: Adobe Reader XI grants you access to all these services and more, and all you need to get started is an Adobe ID. Time to give Adobe Reader another look, people; see what this software can do to amp up your workflow and inject some more time into your day by downloading it for free.
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very productive
Thanks very much, Stuart. For more tips on productivity & Reader updates, check out our twitter feed at https://twitter.com/Adobe_Reader
I am trying to install Adobe Reader XI…I currently have Adobe Reader 10.1.4 installed on my windows vista…I am redirected from XI to the download page for 10.1.4…Can you help with downloading Adobe Reader XI ???
The last version of Adobe Reader for Windows Vista was Reader X which is why the page is redirecting you. Please see the Adobe Reader XI System Requirements here: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html That said, it is possible to install Adobe Reader XI on Windows Vista, but it’s not an environment we support.
im worried now this adobe reader doesn’t wanna open my online documents like study material on my unisa,whats happening?
Could you please be more specific about your issue? Is it a problem with installation or is it just not opening now?
smart
Adobe reader XI maám nainstalovaný, Ale nejdou vůbec otevřít a číst dokumenty.Proč?
Zkuste prosím http://forums.adobe.com/community/adobe_reader_forums/adobe_reader
I am still using Window XP (and loving it). I use Adobe Reader 8.3.1. Is that the correct version for me? How can I convert pdf documents to Word documents?
Hi Brian, the latest version of Adobe Reader available for Windows XP is Reader XI. You can download Reader XI by visiting http://get.adobe.com/reader
I’m trying to down load adobe reader on my windows phone
7 but I can’t manage please help
Hi Victor, please try downloading Adobe Reader for Windows Phone 7 via the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/adobe-reader/bc4f319a-9a9a-df11-a490-00237de2db9e
I download adobe reader to my iPhone 4
When I go to start keeps telling me I got
A invalid email address and pswd
Hi Hector. Try launching Adobe Reader and clicking ‘Acrobat.com’ at the bottom of the screen. Try signing out and signing back in with your Adobe ID. If you’re not using Acrobat.com, you can just stay signed out.
Cannot open any PDF since installing 11.0.2 on my Windows XP. Tried all the suggestions on Adobe. com/support, (changing/reparing) even deleting and readding 3 times. No luck. Don’t know what else to try.
One error message appeared asking to open with protected mode disabled. Dissappeared and can’t get it back. Truly exasperated. Help needed for this non-geek.
Could you please post this is our forum so that our full staff and community of experts can give you more help? http://forums.adobe.com/community/adobe_reader_forums/adobe_reader
Why cant I find an adobe flash ap for zzz Galaxy s lll .
Adobe reader and others but not glash.so many news videos say you nee d flash
Flash Player for Android has actually been discontinued. Please take a look at this post for details http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmedia/2011/11/flash-to-focus-on-pc-browsing-and-mobile-apps-adobe-to-more-aggressively-contribute-to-html5/
I encounter this error everytime I try to download adobe XI on my windows XP – Adobe Bootstrapper for Single Installation has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Can you please help
This is certainly an unusual error and the cause could be any of a number of things. There are some suggested solutions within this thread: http://forums.adobe.com/message/5065241 Give them a try and let us know if we can be of further assistance.
problem with chinese text, very annoying. adobe xi can not copy-and-paste chinese text properly, not even if i try to paste it in the very pdf document “search tool”: it comes up with something that looks like “text code”. in other documents, reader xi is considering text as image (previous versions rendered it as text).
os: windows7, just upgraded to adobe reader xi, downloaded east asian font pack, too.
hope you can fix it or i’ll switch back to older version. very annoying.
Would you please post a file sample and detailed behavior/workflow in our forum so that our staff and community of experts can help you with a solution at http://forums.adobe.com/community/adobe_reader_forums/adobe_reader ?
Thank you for your reply, now it seems all is working. can’t say why, but after a reboot all went ok, and the problem disappeared. So no need to ask for solution, thank you anyway.
I use the comment & markup tools in Adobe Reader 9 to mark up page proofs that are sent to me as pdf files. I couldn’t find a way to keep the tool I was using selected in Reader X–it required me to click on a tool icon each and every time I used it, which was a pain–so I jettisoned it. Does Reader XI have a way to keep tools selected (or, if the flaw is with me, not the program, can you tell me how to do it )?
Hi Cherie, Whether in Reader X or Reader XI, you can add multiple comments without reselecting the tool. 1. Select the tool you want to use (but don’t use it yet). 2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) and choose Keep Tool Selected. Hope that helps.
Thanks. That does help.
With Reader XI… how can we prevent user from “save as” option… Protect from Print already on the document.
Thank you
Preventing saving is not possible. If the PDF is being viewed on the system, it is already saved locally and may simply be copied to where ever the user desires. There are other products that can restrict some of the uses of a PDF at a higher security, but these additional features are not available with Acrobat or Reader.
I installed the Adobe Reader 10.5.2 (build 73784) app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet and the highlight feature will not work on the scanned pdfs we need it to work on. It does nothing when we choose highlight and drag the S- Pen over the text. These are scanned forms we need to annotate.
Hi Heather. Scanned PDF files don’t contain renderable text unless they’ve had optical character recognition applied to them first. Essentially the text can’t be highlighted now because it’s still an image. Check out this video for steps on how you can use Acrobat to OCR your document: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-acrobat-x/recognizing-text-in-scanned-pdf-documents/
Hi, I have a macbook pro and trying to open a couple of PDF file off a website. I can open all of them PDF files except two of them and they prompt me with this message everytime I click on it:
Please wait…
If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document.
You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by visiting http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/support/products/ acrreader.html.
The page wasn’t replaced by “proper documents” so I clicked on the link and successfully downloaded adobe reader. I tried to go back to the link to open PDF and still got the same prompt. I tried it on my other computer and it does the same thing.
Am I missing something?
I hope to hear from you!
We’d be happy to help. Which browser are you using and where are you accessing these PDFs from?
I suddenly cannot read my bank statements this month…adobe not reading. My bank tells me it is internet exployer not connecting with adobe XI which is have…
What to do…blank screen appears on my bank web site with a blue circle in uppper left hand corrner with a blue line through the circle.
Have you tried other browsers like Chrome or Safari? We recommend that you first update Reader or Acrobat. Then look for problems with the PDF, check the browser settings, and then look at repairing or re-installing Reader. For more information take a look at this help page http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/cant-view-pdf-web.html
I need help…I am stoked about HTML5 (in a way)…I am deathly afraid of this stuff, and I can not take it; rather my family…I have had some scares. I know I have all this, but that is about it. What first?
Is there a software related issue we can help you with?
And how we take off the sign in panel?? I don’t want to use that services.
Hi Antony, Are you referring to using e-signatures or signing in with your Adobe ID?
how can i save the last page i read on version xi
i followed that way but it didn’t work : Edit → Preferences… (Ctrl+K)
In Documents category check the first option:
Restore last view settings when reopening documents
Click OK
Hi Mina, the steps you were taking are the correct ones. It’s odd that it’s not working for you. Have you updated Reader to the latest version? Could you also try repairing Adobe Reader via Help > Repair Adobe Reader Installation?