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Just over ten years ago, Adobe set out to kick-start the paperless office concept with its Acrobat solution. The rationale behind this initiative being that users could communicate by passing electronic documents from one to another without having to worry about recipients having the correct fonts and / or file capabilities. The document could be read by using a small utility entitled Acrobat Reader. This utility was available free of charge.

About the same time, WordPerfect, still a standalone company in those days, produced its own similar solution. However as the passage of time has shown, while Adobe Acrobat took the plaudits as the user’s choice and the WordPerfect offering faded from sight, the paperless office failed to materialised and for the time being will continue to be regarded as an Urban Myth. Even without the paperless office, Adobe Acrobat dominates the field of electronic documents with its popular PDF (Portable Document Format) technology.

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While the Acrobat Reader remains free to download, those wishing to create their own PDF documents will require a copy of the main Acrobat applications. Not unnaturally for a commercial product, Acrobat is a paid for item. The latest version of Adobe Acrobat, now up to 7.0, is available in either Standard or Professional flavours. This review is based on the Professional edition which costs £464 as against the £289 for the Standard version.

Installing the product requires the entry of a 29-character serial number. You also need to select the appropriate language from a list that restricts you to US rather than International English before deciding on a Typical, Complete or Custom install. You will need to activate the product within a 30-day timescale.

Building on its traditional strengths within the PDF creation environment, Adobe has added some new features and enhanced others especially with regards to Microsoft Office components. By making use of the Acrobat Distiller element, you are just a single click away from turning Office documents into PDF files. This feature extends its reach to selected Web pages and emails.

Users of Microsoft Outlook will appreciate the ability to convert selected messages or a complete folder into PDF while still retaining any attachments and related links. The file will contain bookmarks with the messages sorted by sender, date and subject matter. The task of combining files from multiple applications has been made easier and now includes the option to preview and add items such as headers and footers to the PDF version.

Document security and control has been improved. It is now possible to designate differential restrictions that apply to selected individual recipients. These restrictions can cover areas such as printing, saving and copying and can have specified time limits set for each person.

Those active in the technical and creative arenas have not been forgotten. For example the former can create PDF files from AutoDesk AutoCAD and Microsoft Visio documents without loosing any information relating to layers. Not surprisingly Acrobat works very closely with the various elements of Adobe Creative Suite – it is, after all, part of that package.

The latest version of Adobe Acrobat includes improved error fixing and collaborative working especially when it comes to adding comments to documents in progress. Even those with just a copy of Acrobat Reader 7.0 can be permitted to join in this process and add comments which will be automatically emailed back to the original author for further action. You also have the capability to create forms that can be filled in on-line with the data being transmitted to the appropriate repository.

There is no doubt that Acrobat 7.0 Professional is a powerful tool when it comes to the creation of electronic documents. However it is not a product that will appeal to everybody. It is a professional application for a professional user who can make full use of its many features.

http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/main.html