Lori DeFurio

October 26, 2009

Forrester Study on Future of Collaboration

A new study on the Future of Collaboration was released today. I recorded a short Lori's Corner episode which outlines some of the major points identified in the report. In addition to my comments, Sheri McLeish, of Forrester Consulting, speaks about the findings and her recommendations. I was encouraged to hear and read that knowledge workers want higher quality and more persuasive communications.

The introduction of PDF Portfolios and inclusion of Adobe Flash in Acrobat 9 will allow for the creating of branded and visually compelling materials. If you're interested in learning how to create a PDF Portfolio these short tutorials are great. If you're interested in experiencing PDF Portfolios, the PDF Portfolio Gallery on AcrobatUsers.com has quite a collection.

Also - be sure to visit Ali's blog posting on this study where he talks about the collaboration aspect, and Joel's blog posting on this study where he outlines what it means to IT professionals.

Next Steps

• Get your own copy of the report.
• Attend an eSeminar on "Building the Future of Collaboration". (Presented on Thursday, December 3, 2009 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. US Pacific Time and again on Thursday, December 10, 2009 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. US Pacific Time)

September 15, 2009

Become an Acrobat 9 ACE

Did you know that as of today there are 224 Acrobat 9 ACE's? (Adobe Certified Expert). These people have taken the Acrobat 9 ACE exam or re-certification exam and have the skills and knowledge to understand and use Acrobat 9 to the fullest.

Recently, I discovered an Acrobat User Community member has created a web site where you can purchase practice questions to help you study for the ACE exam. I've included one of the questions and how it looks in the practice test.

Be sure to let me know if you get your certification on Acrobat 9.

 

September 4, 2009

Acrobat in Times Square

Did you know?

For the next two months, the Acrobat online ad will be seen by thousands in Times Square.

If you are on the corner of Broadway and West 47th Street look up at the side of the W Hotel. There you will see Acrobat's new, "Did you know?" multimedia ad. Take a picture or a video and send it to me.

August 29, 2009

It's Conference Season again...

I always look forward to fall -- back to school for the kids, and extended learning opportunities for Acrobat users as conference season begins.
First, we have the Acrobat and PDF Central Conference, hosted this year in Minneapolis, September 22-24. Acrobat Experts from around the globe are "in the house" -- from our own Ali Hanyaloglu, Lisa Croft, and Paul Gilbertson to PDF gurus like Ted Padova, Duff Johnson, Angie Okamoto, Bob Connolly, and Thom Parker.
Here's a tip -- if you are (or become) a member of the Acrobat User Community, you'll get $100 off the 2-day registration fee (regularly $395).

Next up -- Adobe MAX. This year, we'll be in Los Angeles. I'll be hosting my hands-on lab "I didn't know Acrobat could do that!" and there is so much more. Take a look at this episode of Lori's Corner where Joel Geraci interviews Ted Patrick and Doug Winnie about what's happening at MAX.

If you're aware of other conferences this fall where Acrobat will be a topic, let me know.

August 7, 2009

Acrobat & Xcelsius - a match made in ...

I could say heaven, but really its a match due to Adobe Flash. Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9 both include Adobe Flash reducing the need for additional viewers.

Xcelsius Present, an SAP offering, allows you to take data from Microsoft Excel and turn it into something much more useful for presentations -- charts, graphs, etc. -- and with the latest version you can now export to PDF directly, allowing for rich, engaging, yet portable information.

I created a short intro to match the format of Lori's Corner on Adobe TV, which will direct you to a demonstration I prepared showing multiple examples of how you can use the two products together.

Please let me know if you've created examples and I'll post them here or on AcrobatUsers.com

Enjoy your summer!

June 16, 2009

Adobe MAX 2009

Registration is open and the MAX scheduler is live. I'll be presenting a 90-minute lab again this year entitled "I Didn't Know Acrobat Could Do That!" in response to multiple requests from customers and developers that were unaware of what is possible with Acrobat 9. In addition to this hands-on lab, there will be lots of other Acrobat sessions.
We're lucky to have Harry Hemus of Dividi Projects joining us to talk about creating rich, interactive PDF documents. Harry has created some very cool presentations, including one for David Gilmour's Live in Gdańsk project, and Harry's story is currently a featured video on the Acrobat home page.

Adobe MAX 2009. I'm going, will you?

June 15, 2009

Announcement: Acrobat.com now 'shipping'

I'm so excited that Acrobat.com has moved from 'beta' to 'shipping' today. In addition to the free services which have been available for the past year, there are premium services increasing meeting and file size, and support.

Please visit http://blogs.adobe.com/acom/2009/06/hello_business_world_welcome_t.html for a full description of what's new, what's improved, and pre-release tools for business productivity.

May 14, 2009

Announcing Lori's Corner on Adobe TV

As many of my readers know, I've been hosting a 'tech corner' on AcrobatUsers.com for the past few years entitled "Lori's Corner" with tips & tricks and a 'Dear Lori' section where people can ask me Acrobat questions. During the redesign of AcrobatUsers.com (December 2008) the information in the tech corner was integrated into the tutorials section.

It is important for me to continue a relationship with the Acrobat Community and therefore, I would like to announce a new Lori's Corner - now on Adobe TV. The first episode is a book review of titles on Acrobat 9. My guest is Ali Hanyaloglu.

Enjoy- and if you want to send me a "Dear Lori" -- I'll welcome your question.

April 25, 2009

TIP: Converting Excel to Adobe PDF Options

A customer asked me if it was possible to convert an Excel workbook with multiple worksheets into individual PDF documents, each named by the worksheet tab.

Well... it is... and here's how:

1. Select Create PDF and in the Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box select all worksheets

2. Open the resulting file and notice there are now bookmarks that match the worksheet names

3. Select Document > Split Document.

a.Select Top-level bookmarks; select Output Options

b. Select Use bookmark names for file names

And now with just 2 actions (Create PDF & Split Document), you have your individual files.

March 19, 2009

The Ultimate Tourney Guide

On Sunday night, the NCAA (men's college basketball in US) announced the 64 teams participating in their yearly tournament to determine the best basketball team in the country. Adobe along with ESPN have partnered to bring an interactive PDF document to your desktop to allow you to learn about the teams (via streaming video), watch the progress of the tournament bracket, and participate in daily polls.

This document is a great example of what's possible with Acrobat (and Reader) 9 now that we have Adobe Flash run-time in the product.

Let me know your experience, and I hope your team wins!

March 9, 2009

Acrobat & Adobe Reader 9.1 Update Available

An update to Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 is now available. In addition to a security update, there are a few more items:

Updated Software Support

To ensure compatibility with the latest software releases, this update includes support for:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008
• IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 (specifically for Acrobat PDFMaker in email and using Notes for collaboration)
• Autodesk AutoCAD 2009: Acrobat PDFMaker installed in AutoCAD and Acrobat’s 3D Import options

Additionally, there’s support for:

• Catalan and Basque languages
• Using the Pencil tool to add an electronic signature if you’re using a TabletPC or tablet/stylus device

The PDF Portfolio templates posted in August are now included in the update, and of course, some bug fixes.

Where's the software?

Here's the direct links to the software updates.
Adobe Reader 9.1 is a full install; Acrobat 9.1 is an update:
Adobe Reader 9.1 : Full install
Acrobat 9.1 Standard : Update
Acrobat 9.1 Pro (Win) : Update
Acrobat 9.1 Pro (Mac) : Update
Acrobat 9.1 Pro Extended : Update

February 26, 2009

Volume Licensing for Acrobat

I'm happy to say that Adobe has launched a new page today -- entitled Volume Licensing programs for Adobe Acrobat software.

This page compares and contrasts the savings and benefits under the TLP (Transactional Licensing) with CLP (Cumulative Licensing) volume license programs; has links to detailed information and a link to subscribe to the Acrobat IT Tips and Tricks Newsletter.

Protecting Planet Earth - one PDF document at a time...

A new white paper featuring Adobe Acrobat has been published outlining how organizations have moved from paper to electronic, with PDF as the core -- to reduce their carbon footprint on Planet Earth.
For example, Bureau Veritas, a global engineering consulting firm, estimates that by eliminating paper and reducing work hours, they saved approximately 50 trees and 22,000 gallons of potable water on a typical power plant project.

February 3, 2009

Announcement: 2 for 2 -- Acrobat Wins "New Product of the Year" from Law Technology News

Monday night, Law Technology News held their annual awards, and (drum roll please)... Acrobat won again for the category "New Product of the Year". I'm excited about this honor, and the reaffirmation that Acrobat is the best product on the market for legal professionals. Rick Borstein hosts a great blog for legal professionals with tips, tricks, podcasts and demos to enable you to discover all that Acrobat can offer.

January 20, 2009

TIP: Using Auto-Complete in Acrobat & Reader

Acrobat and Adobe Reader have a preference for allowing auto-complete of form fields. You just select Edit > Preferences > Forms and then you can select Off, Basic, or Advanced. Once you've select Basic or Advanced, then Acrobat will remember what you've input so that you'll have those words, numbers, etc. available in subsequent fields. There's one exception -- if the form was created with Adobe LiveCycle Designer, *and* is a dynamic form -- auto-complete will work, but you'll have to double-click to get the auto-complete drop-down with all your saved values.

January 11, 2009

Announcement: Survey for Adobe Reader Users

The Adobe Reader Team has posted a survey today asking what you want most in the next versions of Adobe Reader. The survey should take 5 minutes or less to complete and is available until January 31, 2009.