 As time goes on, the name “Acrobat” becomes ever more apt. It’s a forms tool that can capture information and export it into a database. It’s an application-agnostic format for submitting files to a print provider. And now, it’s a rich-media delivery platform, boasting added support for Flash animation and video. It slices, it dices! It’s a low-fat dessert topping! It’s a high-viscosity motor oil!
Most of the ballyhooed features in Acrobat 9, which is part of the Adobe Creative Suite 3.3, are new and rich media-related. There are also some important productivity and output quality enhancements for designers and print production professionals. Here’s a rundown of some of the top new features of Acrobat 9.
Output Preview—Adobe enhanced and expanded the output preview so it can tell you everything you need to know about colors and objects (and colored objects). With the new Object Inspector, click on any page object and it will tell you its color space, resolution, size and more.
Overprint Preview—In previous versions, the ability to see a simulation of how overlapping objects will likely print was an option that you had to activate manually. Now opening a PDF/X file activates automatically. You can also choose to use Overprint Preview on plain old PDF files, be they /X or not.
Color Conversion—It’s now easier and more reliable to convert colors in a PDF: from one color space to another (preferably from RGB to CMYK, or you’re going to get a phone call), rich blacks to solid blacks, process colors to spot colors and so on. These tasks are best done before you get to the PDF stage, of course, but they can now be done in the PDF file directly if need be.
Compare Documents—This identifies differences down to the pixel, including text and formatting changes, image alterations, stroke widths, backgrounds and so on. This is perfect for an audit trail.
Layers—You can place objects in PDFs on different layers, which can help you create different document versions, preflight only certain items and so forth.
Collaboration—Acrobat.com is Adobe’s online portal for collaboration and file sharing. With ConnectNow, up to three people (including the host) can attend Web-conferences, share screens and access and control remote screens. Creatives can use ConnectNow to review a proof, go over design comps, and otherwise collaborate with colleagues, clients or even printers. Acrobat.com also features file sharing capabilities, an online word processor and other collaboration tools.
There are many other enhancements and features to Acrobat 9, which seem to bring PDF further from a static file format to one that is highly editable and fixable (or damageable). Acrobat seems to be getting more and more like a page layout application.
We would be remiss if we failed to point out that you should make changes to a document before it ever sees the light of PDF. Making changes after distilling can cause unforeseen output problems. As always, be sure to consult with your print provider with any questions or concerns about new versions of applications or any new features. |
