Lori DeFurio

Lori shares Acrobat news, updates, tips and tricks.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Earlier this year, laws were passed in both Nevada and Massachusetts requiring PII (personally identifiable information) be encrypted when stored or transmitted. The Nevada law went into effect October 1, 2008. The Massachusetts law will go into effect in January 2009.

In the text of the laws no specific technology or methodology is called out, but I’m happy to say that both Acrobat and Adobe LiveCycle solutions can be used to meet these requirements.

In the text of the laws no specific technology or methodology is called out, but I’m happy to say that both Acrobat and Adobe LiveCycle solutions can be used to help you meet these requirements. For example, PDF documents that might contain PII can be encrypted using Acrobat 9′s new 256-bit AES encryption or LiveCycle Rights Management; these PDF documents can certified and secured using digital signatures; and Acrobat 9 can examine documents for hidden information and PII can be searched and permanently removed using redaction tools.

I’ll continue to update this post as new information surfaces around the laws and specific solutions that will address these two laws, and of course, any new mandates in 2009.

As part of an internal contest at Adobe, a few employees took the plunge and created some great PDF Portfolios using the built-in templates. These are now posted in the PDF Portfolio Gallery at AcrobatUsers.com. Take a look!

In researching a Dear Lori I discovered this great table outlining formats and usage in Acrobat and Adobe Reader 9.

Adobe PDF iFilter is a free utility to allow searching and indexing of PDF documents when using MSFT Indexing technology.

The latest update, which will work with 64-bit systems, is now available for download. Full details and supported configurations are outlined on the download page.