Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 2, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Adobe Systems has announced Adobe Acrobat 9. The new version of Adobe’s software comprehensively changes the process of creating and exchanging electronic documents. Acrobat 9 natively supports Adobe Flash technology and can bundle a broad range of different content into a PDF Portfolio. Colleagues can also navigate through a PDF document together using real-time features.
“The demands organizations and individuals place on communication and collaboration in everyday work will continue to grow,” said Fritz Fleischmann, Managing Director of Adobe Systems GmbH and Senior Managing Director for Central and Eastern Europe. “Yet there have never been better ways to communicate messages so persuasively. Acrobat 9 is the answer to these demands and is ready to change how professionals communicate and collaborate using electronic documents.”
Extensive new features
For the first time, Acrobat 9 offers integrated support for Adobe Flash technology. Flash Player-compatible videos and applications can be embedded in PDF documents. Recipients need only the free Adobe Reader to use this content. The age of static documents is over—communication becomes dynamic.
Acrobat 9 can combine different types of content in a single document, the new PDF Portfolio. PDF Portfolios can bundle numerous formats—documents, video and audio files, or 3D objects—into one compressed PDF file. Users can choose from professionally designed layouts or create their own portfolio layout. They can integrate content quickly and easily, define navigation, and add visual refinements and branding. Proposals, legally relevant documents, or advertising materials, for example, can be individually adapted and presented far more persuasively.
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New hosted service Acrobat.com
Through access to Acrobat.com, Acrobat 9 also offers more options for real-time collaboration on PDF documents. Adobe Systems’ new hosted service has been available as a public beta since today and enables new workflows. Sales representatives, for example, can use Acrobat 9 to send extensive contract documents to customers. Any user of the free Adobe Reader (with full functionality from Reader 9) can then use Acrobat.com to control group navigation through a PDF document in real time. This ensures that every participant is on the same page and communication proceeds without misunderstandings.
Acrobat 9 users can use Acrobat.com to store and exchange files, centrally collect data captured in form-based processes, and consolidate comments from distributed documents. Acrobat.com also offers services including Adobe ConnectNow. This personalized web-conferencing system enables desktop sharing, video and audio conferences, and integrates chat. Adobe Buzzword, a web-based word processor, also allows several users to work on, exchange, comment on, and review a document. Buzzword can additionally create high-quality, print-ready documents.
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The Acrobat 9 product family
The Acrobat 9 product family includes Acrobat 9 Standard, Acrobat 9 Pro, and the new Acrobat 9 Pro Extended. The most comprehensive solution, Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, includes Adobe Presenter, which converts Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into multimedia PDF files.
Pricing and availability
Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro, and Acrobat 9 Standard for Microsoft Windows, along with Acrobat 9 Pro for Mac OS X, are expected to be available from July 2008 in German, English, French, and Japanese. Acrobat 9 Pro Extended will cost approximately €980 including VAT. Owners of earlier Acrobat versions—from Acrobat 6 Professional and Acrobat 3D onward—can upgrade for about €320 including VAT. The full version of Acrobat 9 Pro will cost about €670 including VAT, with upgrades from earlier versions—from Acrobat 6 Standard onward—available for around €225 including VAT. Acrobat 9 Standard will cost around €420 including VAT, or around €140 including VAT as an upgrade from earlier versions—from Acrobat 6 Elements onward.
Further information about the Adobe Acrobat 9 product family is available at http://www.adobe.de/acrobat. The public beta of the new Acrobat.com hosted service is now available in English for free registration at http://www.acrobat.com.
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