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Click here to register. (Opens in a new window)
Be the boss of your PDFs! In this informative session, you'll learn over 30 new Acrobat tips:
Read on to learn more about the event . . .
Although this event isn't specific to the legal use of Acrobat, you'll still pick up a lot of interesting tips. We'll be covering about thirty different tips for using Acrobat 8. Honestly, I hope we have enough time to do them all!
Myself and Rick are on the same team here at Adobe but have different backgrounds so the banter should be very interesting.
Rick is Adobe's Business Development Manager for Acrobat- Legal, and has been with Adobe for a long time. Rick's Acrobat blog is one of the best over all information blog out there:
I'll post the Tips and Tricks document on this blog sometime soon.
Oh, and in case you haven't registered yet, click here.
Remember to keep some life in you life
Tim Huff
Hello all if you want a great overview of Acrobat 8 Professional today is your day! Myself, Bryant Bell, and Rick Borstein are going to cover Creating PDF's, Combining Multiple files, Collaborating, Forms, and Security!
If you want to get started with Acrobat Geekdom, this is the place! You need to registar for the eSeminar and you can do that HERE, So I hope to see you there. Put some life in your life!
Tim Huff
Acrobat 8 Professional
Acrobat 3D Version 8
Ok here we go, it is easy here I have created a new form in the Adobe LiveCycle Designer by selecting a new blank form. I then dropped the US States drop down list from the custom library tab. Your screen should look like below.
Then to set a state as a default you go to the Object Edit area on the lower left panel (note if you do not see this panel, go to the Window pull down and turn on Object). Here is a something that can go over looked, you must select the drop down on the form then go to the object panel to make changes.
Once you have selected the drop down go to the Object tab and you will see 3 tabs select the tab Value, and you will see the list listed in the Default Box just move down to the entry that you want to be the default and that's it you are done! I hope this little tip and trick helps you create some killer forms! Have fun and keep some life in your life!
Tim Huff
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe LiveCycle Designer
Ok so, as with the eSeminar, I will start in Word with the orginal document that the team sent out. I mean come on, trying to type in the spaces then backing out to keep the layout correct is just a royal pain. So, if this happens to you, be a hero and follow these steps. I will start by creating a PDF from the Word Doc using the PDF makers. I can't stress enough to use the PDF Makers (the little Acrobat Buttons you see in all the office appilcations. Your resulting PDF will be a much richer and will make this process much easier.
| Fig. 1 Using the PDF Makers to create the PDF from Word |
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Ok now that we have the PDF Created, we still can't fill in any of the fields. But, wait, there is a a way, it is called the typewriter tool!
| Fig. 2 Our word document as a PDF |
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Just go to Tools Typewriter Typewrither and you will get a cool little cusor that will allow you to position text on the line or anywhere on a PDF (Fig 3)
| Fig. 3 Using the Typewriter tool |
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which is a really quick way of filling out a form that is a flat document (one with out active fields), but, the person that gets this form will still have to enter the fields into what ever system by hand, and as we all know that is a huge bummer! In short the data collection is a no go! So what can we do to this PDF to make it a dynamic xml form? Well pior to Acrobat 8 you had two choices, first you could just use Acrobat and manually draw fields on the PDF. This was pretty easy to do, but, is a bit tedious. Second, you could try to import it into Acrobat Designer and even though much more powerful, not real user friendly. So what do you do? Well your a lucky dawg, dawg, (humm, losing some street cred here) you use the new Create New Form in Acrobat 8! Here how it's Done.
To start, go to Forms Create New Form, this will start a wizard that will walk you through creating a dynamic form and create a distribution/collection workflow.
| Fig. 4 Starting the Form Field Recognition |
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Now we just answer the questions as needed:
| Start with an electronic document, notice that you have a few options here as well, but will be saved for other posts |
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STEP 1 - In this case we will start with the Current Document |
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| STEP 2 - Now you have an interesting choice, adding fields by hand (booo) or Run Auto Field Detection (this sounds like much more fun!) |
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| STEP 3 - Show you have completed the Auto-Detection, notice that the fields have all been found, your mileage my vary. One of the tips for a better field detection is to make sure there is a space between the fields, and the explanation text. |
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| STEP 4 - Congratulations! You got the first part done. Now the wizard will auto start Adobe LiveCycle Designer this is a step that requires you to create a eMail button. |
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| STEP 5 - Add the buttons, here I add my eMail and de-select the Add a print button |
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| STEP 6 - Now in the video you will see an expanded lesson here but for the blog entry just save it off to somewhere you can find it. Then reopen the PDF in Acrobat. |
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Now you have a form sitting in Acrobat, we need to send it out so that we can get some data back. We will now start the Distribution Form workflow.
| Start the Distribute Form workflow by going to Forms Distribute Form. |
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| STEP 1 - Set your delivery options; here I am using the simple eMail return, you can secure them on return but we will save that for another post |
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| STEP 2 - Ok this is a very important step here, this is where you are going to tell the system where to put the Data Collection. This will be a repositatory for the returned form data. Make sure you out this in a location that you have access too, and will not change. If you move it, every time you open an eMail with a return form you will have to manually direct the data to the new location. Again not the end of the world but still a hassle! |
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| STEP 3 - Tell Acrobat who else gets to play. Here you can either grab people from your Address Book, or type in an eMail, Note the you can type many eMails at once the only thing to know is to make sure to add a return between each address. Your address book will be automaticlly linked to Acrobat at install, you do not need to do any thing to your system to get this bonus. |
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| STEP 4 - Tell the recievers what they are doing. In step 4 you tell the recievers of the form what is the about, you can have a standard boiler plate message body saved as a text file and just link it in at run time. Here I just added the text "Thanks Tim" at the bottom. |
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You are now done and a eMail has been placed in your Outbox. The workflow has began. The video shows what happens when a user gets the form and fills it in, adds a digital signiture, and then saves it (all things new to Acrobat 8 Professional) with the Adobe Free Reader! What will happen now is as people start to submit the forms back you will start getting eMails with the data, so this is pretty good, but, what can you do with this data, how do you COLLECT this data, what form is it? Well let Acrobat come to the rescue here, simply open your eMail and double click on the attachment. Acrobat will load and you will see a new Form but it is a PDF Package, the data you are recieving from the eMails is XML data that is propogating the fields of a PDF Package (pretty darn cool) this allows you to collect, collate, and look at the data. (fig.5)
| Fig. 5 - Here the PDF Package give you a great look at your data |
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But, this view of the data is a bit structured and sometimes you want to do some math on the data or hook it to some other data. You have the option to export the data to either XML or a CSV file that can be opened by Excel, or almost any database program out there!
Well, that's it for this one, whew it was a long one, I better go, Brasil and Argentina are about to start the finals of the Copa America, and dude, I can't miss that! Be good and remember to put some life in your life! For a Video of this Blog Click here!
Tim Huff
In fact there are some really good eSeminars that you can sign up for here you must registar to get to see the seminars, but the cool thing about that is that you will get a reminder so you don't miss it!
Some of the topics covered in this series are
Put it ALL TOGETHER.
June 20 at 10 am PT
Create and combine a wide variety of document formats into one integrated, yet powerful PDF easily exchanging information with everyone—even extended team members.EASIER REVIEWS, faster feedback.
June 27 and 10 am PT
Manage reviews quickly and easily—reliably sharing professional PDFs so anyone, anywhere can view them exactly as intended—simpler markup and commenting tools, too.Faster DATA COLLECTION.
July 11 at 10 am PT
Collect and compile data automatically into designated database workflows with easy-to- use electronic forms—reducing inefficient and time-consuming paper-intensive processes.BETTER SECURITY.
July 18 at 10 am PT
Reduce risk and protect your documents from unintended access and use—from simple password protection to authentication and digital signatures.BONUS 2-HOUR RECAP
Put them all together on JULY 25 at 10 am PT for a special 2-hour overview of each of these 4 topics:
- Put it ALL TOGETHER
- EASIER REVIEWS, faster feedback
- Faster DATA COLLECTION
- BETTER SECURITY
These eSeminars will help you jump start and advance your use of Acrobat in your business or daily life.
So, come on by and enjoy a little lunch with the Adobe boys, and remember to put some life in your life!
Tim Huff
The Adobe Acrobat 8.1 update fixes a number of issues that were discovered after the release of Adobe Acrobat 8.0. The Acrobat 8.1 update is a patch release for Adobe Acrobat Professional and Standard and the Adobe Free Reader. This also parallels the release of Acrobat 3D Version 8 witch I have already covered in an earlier post. But for enquiring minds here is the info:
New features in Adobe Acrobat 8.1
New operating system support:
- Windows XP 64-bit edition
- Windows 2003 64-bit edition
- Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit editions
Note: There is a known issue with 64-bit versions of these operating systems which causes the Adobe PDF Printer to not work correctly. Microsoft has released a Hot Fix for this issue which is documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article #930627 available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930627. Adobe has tested and will support the Adobe PDF Printer with this Hot Fix installed.
New features:
- Vista Preview Handler: Preview Handler is a new user interface for viewing PDF files in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 on Windows Vista and Windows XP, as well as in Windows Explorer on Windows Vista. Preview Handler must be turned on in both applications.
- Microsoft Office 2007 support.
- PDF printer driver in Vista supports high quality PDF creation.
- PDFMaker Office 2007 PDF Creation.
- Option to create Quick and Simple PDFs from Word 2007.
- New PDFMaker Ribbon UI in Office 2007.
- Mac OS X version now includes Flash MPP for improved support for Flash files with multimedia on Mac OS.
- InDesign Plug-In update supports communication with InDesign for Creative Suites 3.
- Option to print documents to a FedEx Kinko?s office in the USA. English only.
- Direct render of Dynamic forms
- FIPS 140 Support
- New features in Adobe Reader 8.1
- Issues addressed by the Adobe reader 8.1 update
The Adobe Reader 8.1 update fixes a number of issues that were discovered after the release of Adobe Reader 8.0. The update is available as a full Adobe Reader 8.1 installer and can be download from the Adobe website.
New operating system support:
- Windows Vista 32-bit edition
- Windows Vista 64-bit edition
New features:
- Improved forms performance.
- Acrobat 8 3D support: Precise CAD data (PRC), Product Manufacturing Information (PMI).
- Integrated FedEx Kinko's Print Online: Send any PDF directly to FedEx Kinko's Print Online for printing.
Whew! Alot of busy programmers, but you can expect that, this has been a crazy time with new operating systems from Microsoft and Apple, new platforms in MacTel, it has been a challenge. We are focused on getting you the best solution on the market as fast as possible. And as I always say, please put some life in your life!
Tim Huff
I was recently asked this question, "Tim, You showed us that you didn't need AutoCAD on your computer to get 2D DWG files into Acrobat 8 Professional, but what about AutoCAD 3D models into Acrobat 3D version 8?" Well, you are in luck, just like Just like Beckham at a Spice Girls Concert! We got you covered here, just sit back relax and let your ol’ buddy Tim kicks this one out for you.
Ok, in Acrobat 3D version 8 and in Acrobat 8 Professional you know by now we have direct import of DWG and DWF files. This extension will help you by not making you purchase extra seats of AutoCAD for prople that are not designers. It is so easy that we don't need any pictures for this one. Just open Acrobat 3D Version 8 (hey there is a free 30 day trial just click here) and Drag and Drop the 3D DWG Autocad file (2007 or older 2008 support coming soon) and you will get the data imported in! Simple! You get both Model Space and Paper Space into your PDF file. Now let me set the rules for you here. If your AutoCAD 3D is Wireframe, Acrobat 3D does not magically make it a solid, so the import will bring in what ever state the model is. We do not sew or knit surfaces into solids.
And that’s it, too easy! That’s it for this entry. To see a video of this process click here
Have fun and remember to keep some life in your life.
Tim Huff
Acrobat for AEC / EPC
Acrobat 3D
