We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

ZDNet / News / Software / Story

Adobe to update PDF tools

By David Becker, CNET News.com on November 16, 2004

Summary

Expanded editing features will be included in new versions of Acrobat and Reader, which are due for release by year's end.

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

Put away the red pen, because publishing software giant Adobe Systems plans to change the way businesses share comments on documents.

The software maker is set to announce today new versions of Acrobat and Reader, the company's main tools for creating and viewing files based on the PDF (Portable Document Format) standard. New features include expanded collaborative functions intended to improve the exchange of information between businesses and customers or partners.

Until now, folks who wanted to add comments to a PDF document had to have a version of Acrobat, Adobe's collection of PDF authoring tools, said Pam Deziel, director of Acrobat product marketing for Adobe. The new version 7 of Acrobat Professional will allow document creators to switch on commenting functions, which can then be accessed by anyone using the new version of Adobe Reader, the company's free application for viewing--and now interacting with--PDF files.

Deziel said the additions are meant to benefit businesses that have already centered on PDF for internal communications and now want to expand PDF exchange outside the company. Adding functions to the free and widespread Reader ensures that everyone can participate, she said.

"When you're dealing with customers and suppliers, you can't always be sure they have a certain piece of authoring software," she said. "Our strategy is to use the tremendous installed base of Reader...to really move PDF beyond simple distribution of reliable documents into more round-trip work flows and solutions."

The new version of Acrobat, which is still set to arrive, as previously reported, before the end of the year, will also include enhancements for engineering, design and other technical documents, an area where Adobe has been challenged recently by drafting and design software leader Autodesk.

"We've continued to enhance those engineering-specific features," Deziel said, "making sure we're not just capturing the image of the document but the underlying intelligence." A diagram of a network layout, for example, would include not just a graphical representation of a Cisco router but information on properties of that device.

Version 7 continues the strategy Adobe initiated last year to offer different flavors of Acrobat for light, average and power users. The new versions of Acrobat Professional and Acrobat Standard are set to ship for Windows and Mac OS X by the end of December. Acrobat Professional will cost US$449 for the full version or US$159 for those upgrading from a previous edition. Acrobat Standard will be priced at US$299 for the full version and US$99 for the upgrade.

Version 7 of the light-duty Acrobat Elements is available now, for Windows only, under volume-licensing programs that start at US$39 per seat.

Version 7 of Adobe Reader, which will include new online services offered through a partnership with Yahoo, will be available for free download from Adobe by the end of the year.

Related stories

Adobe tackles document ID

Adobe beats estimates on strong overall growth

New Acrobat seen this year

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

27 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

40 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

58 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

4 hours 56 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

It was just a matter of time until google was marginalised anyway. I'm afraid this will be forgotten in China very quickly. Still, it...

7 hours 1 minute ago by robinsmith on Report: Google to leave China on April 10

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

7 hours 29 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Spoke to EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, earlier, and here's the account of the interview: http://bit.ly/9etOZW

8 hours 11 minutes ago by kevinzdnetasia on topsy

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

Experts: social media guidelines good for upcoming Youth Olympic Games, but focus on cooperation, not enforcement. http://bit.ly/d9M0BQ

8 hours 43 minutes ago by zdnetasia on topsy

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

8 hours 44 minutes ago by kevinzdnetasia on topsy

ZDNet Asia features IBM collaboration roadmap story from LCTY Singapore - http://bit.ly/9CuSbZ #lotusknows

9 hours 38 minutes ago by lotusknows on topsy

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

Temasek Holdings eyeing tech stocks, indicating optimistic outlook on IT sector. http://bit.ly/aM7VwU

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

Philippine antipiracy drive focuses on enterprises. http://bit.ly/aWryDC

Gartner: China to become world's fastest-growing enterprise software market. http://bit.ly/bqJTtb

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

1 day 39 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

1 day 24 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

RT @zdnetasia: HP touts new products and management and productivity tools to address business computing pain points. http://bit.ly/dudgA6

For those with a computer science background, or interested in the high performance computing scene: http://bit.ly/9vFC3i

HP touts new products and management and productivity tools to address business computing pain points. http://bit.ly/dudgA6

Very good explanation of JMX

2 days 29 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

2 days 33 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

2 days 35 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license

We at www.fifosys.com have also seen a growth in IT outsourcing and anticipate it as a growing field.

2 days 8 minutes ago by sarah Jane on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

I agree with you. The iSiVaL is super portable and TVs can't expand their image size. I recorded a video that might bring some ideas to...

3 days 39 minutes ago by Jesse B Andersen on Buying a projector? Try an LED TV instead

hermm... he deserved it.. he shud not talk abt sensitive things like tat, well, he shud think twice before saying all those things, event...

3 days 16 minutes ago by ... on Facebook user charged in Malaysia

Password manager tools are potential security threat. Criminals who hack into the computer can use the password manager to log onto any s...

3 days 17 minutes ago by ohanae on What defaults should random password generators use?

I've found the cross platform utility unetbootin to be rather handy for this kind of thing as well.

3 days 51 minutes ago by Jim on Use Live USB Creator to install Fedora 12 from a USB stick

Keep up with ZDNet Asia

Linkedin Join our network

RSS Feeds Subscribe now

Newsletters Subscribe today

Twitter Follow us

Inside ZDNet Asia

Special Report: Tech Focus in 2010

Latest Videos on Tech Industry

Insight: Interviews with Newsmakers

Search for over 15,000 Tech Jobs in Asia

Find your Tech answers in TechGuides

IT Library: Over 60,000 IT papers at your fingertips

Download IT Priorities 2010 Report