Acrobat Pro 9 – An eclectic forward seeking review

Reviewed by Harry {doc} Babad       © 2008

Adobe Systems http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/ For a demo of this product: No Macintosh Demo Available Cost: $ 449 USD (List (Street), $ CND, £ UK, € Upgrades start at $1590 [USD] and the academic version is available for $150. Note: Acrobat 9 Standard and Acrobat 9 Pro Extended are still Windows-only products. System Requirements: Mac OS X 4.11 or later, PowerPC® G4 or G5 or Intel® processor, 256MB of RAM (512MB recommended), and 1.42 GB available Hard Drive Space and a DVD-ROM drive.

Users: All Users - Beginner – Intermediate or Advanced   Strengths: A powerful tool for creating editing PDFs and working with tem collaboratively.   Weaknesses: Lack of a manual and poor help files and more complex than necessary set of preferences mar this otherwise powerful program.   Previous Reviews: Adobe Acrobat 8 Pro, Review by Harry {doc} Babad and Robert L. Pritchett, Feb 2007.   Copyright Notice: Product and company names and logos in this review may be registered trademarks of their respective companies The software was tested on a Reviews were carried out on my iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM running Mac OS X Leopard version 10.5.5

 

Introduction

I use Acrobat Pro [AAP] everyday, as a tool to read PDFs sent to me or downloaded from the Internet. I know this can be done with the free Adobe Reader 8.

 

However, my major daily use for this product is in the customization, editing, annotating, and otherwise modifying of downloaded PDF files, especially recipes and article. I also specifically use Acrobat for removing the chaff from downloaded web site pages, when they do not offer a focused print function. This allows mw to remove advertisements, unneeded headers and all the sidebar information what is not relevant to the information I want to use for reference purposes. I also actively create forms for my various professional and volunteer efforts.

 

The Goal	Original Page 1
Original Page 2	Original Page 3

 

Publishers Description and Features Summary

AAP allows the user to communicate and collaborate more effectively and securely. With it you can unify a wide range of content in a single organized PDF Portfolio. It allows you to collaborate through electronic document reviews and create and manage dynamic forms. It also helps protect sensitive information.

 

Although Acrobat Pro has been updated (8 to 9) and made more stable and responsive, there are no significant changes in features in this product upgrade. However this and version 8 are head and shoulders superior to AAP 7.

For those wanting more basic review details, first, I suggest you read Macworld’s review of Acrobat Pro 9 by Parrish S Burke, July 23, 2008 at http://www.macworld.com/article/134585/2008/07/acrobat9.html?lsrc=mwweek. I also recommend Mike Hubbartt’s review of the PC version AAP 9 extended edition, which has many of the features of Macintosh AAP version. Mikes review can be found at http://www.softwareeditorial.com/BusinessProductivity/adobeacrobatproex.html.

 

Mr. Burke concludes that the update includes version 8 contains only narrowly focused update features moderate enhancements. I would also recommend, naturally, that you read our review of Acrobat 8 Pro in the February 2007 macC to see what AAP 8 offers that AAP 9 enhances.

 

To keep thing honest and to keep my editor calm, I’ve added table of what I consider the new, and enhanced and otherwise most useful features to the end of this review. That sic nominally fulfills the requirements macC places on review authors’.

 

So what is this review going to be about?

I can now get on to the meat of my review… or should I say where’s the rest of the missing beef in this product? I’m going to share the features for next desired major upgrade I would most welcome. This is, as you will see, selfishly based on how I most use this otherwise powerful product.

 

A Manual – A Manual, My Kingdom for a Manual

 

I’ve reviewed many shareware applications, alas, that have more robust help files than this product. Although the Acrobat help files continue at times to be useful to me, an experienced user, a newbie would have trouble learning and using this application from them. Even though there is lots of information about problem solving or learning about this products rich features on the Adobe website, it is not organized in a user-friendly fashion. That’s why help files or better yet a manual exist.

 

Alas for the beginner user, O’Reilly Press will not be releasing a Missing Manual for this product. Neither will, when I last checked, will Peachpit Press. The terse help, and at times confusing help files provided with AA9 Pro were inadequate based on the products cost.  This is particularly true with respect to the functions of its tools and for the focus of most of the items in the Preferences Panes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a copy of some-what pricy Adobe Acrobat 9 Classroom in a Book from Adobe Press, which I hope to shortly review. I would also like to get a copy and review both (1) Donna Baker’s Adobe Acrobat 9 How-Tos: 125 Essential Techniques (Adobe Press) and Doug Sahlin’s “How to Do Everything: Adobe Acrobat 9” (McGraw-Hill Osborne Media).

 

Font Characteristics

Text Box and Sticky Note Tools — I would welcome being able to change font characteristics when either pasting materials into a text box or the sticky note tools. The only way I’ve been able to do so is by typing and formatting my text in either MS Word or Text Edit and [pasting it into those tools’ fields. What you say do you want. I want to be able to fluidly change font size, font style and the font itself without having to go outside of the Acrobat application. These tools fall into the category that I call external text import tools. The callout tool also falls into this category.

 

I am aware that there are default setting, adjustable in the program’s preferences or occasionally menus for such tasks. However whenever I go to the preferences I get lost in a game of treasure or scavenger hunting, and am again on a snipe hunt.

 

Text Touchup Tool — I have the same font adjustment needs for this tool that works to change the text in a PDF.

 

Better Pasted Image Control

Image Size and Angle — I usually acquire images, in jpeg format, I use for directly modifying and customizing PDF files either from: (1) goggle images, (2) the web page of a document that looses those images when custom printing or from graphics collections I own or find on the WWW.  I then use the hand tool to paste the images into my PDF, having used the editing tools to make space for the image if it is not initially available. Three outcomes are possible, at time unpredictably, when I try to use an image copied to Apple’s clipboard. All with the symptoms, I provide my at times indirect work arounds.

The image pastes correctly and its size can be tuned by using the corner Bezier points (e.g., handles) on the pasted image. — All is well!

The pasted image is too small, despite being large enough (ca. 50-300 dpi) in the source image. When attempting to enlarge it the image quality degrades and become pixilated. — I paste the original image into MS Word, change its size and then copy/paste it into my PDF.

The paste image is too large overflowing the page side margins and hiding the Bezier points to it cannot be shrunk. —  I usually attempt to use the rotation loop to angle the picture so several of the Bezier points are showing. Then I grab a handle, shrink the image and then attempt to get it square. There is no keyboard combination to assure the picture is straight. A bit of resizing and I’m done.

If that fails, I can also paste the larger then needed image into a MS Word document as described in the preceding bullet.

 I would welcome some simpler way to capture an image, have Acrobat limit its size to page width with all the Bezier point visible.

 

Dual Co-Existing Clipboards, an Enigma Leading to a Quandary Ending in a Vortex of Uncertainty — The dilemma of the two clipboards and their limitation has still yet to be explained in any help file I’ve read. . The usual clip bard, the on Apple Provides as part of the operating system works predominantly with moving information from your hard drive to a PDF. The internal Acrobat clipboard board is only useful for working within a PDF file for editing or reformatting purposes; both of course use the command-C/Command V combinations for cutting and pasting. Duh!

Indeed when searching the Acrobat help files the only topic I could find, for variations on the theme of clipboards was “Sharing Clipboards with other computers.

 

Ease Extracting Information From Multiple Page PDF Creating a One Page Final Document

In order to take a noisy chaff filled three-page recipe and not only shrink it to one page, but add an image to it, I go through a lot, 5-10 steps per page, of steps. [See the Recipe 4-pane before and after figure at the beginning of this article.] Now wouldn’t this have been easier if you had either had a manual or some means of more generally removing frames and moving text? I can do this easily in MS Word but it is tedious in Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro.  Please see the tutorial I’ve written is this issue for details.

 

Okay, All Right…The End

That’s All, Enough Now — “If wishes were horses, beggars could ride. Perhaps some of these enhancements will become possible in Acrobat X Pro. I hope so since I neither script nor use Apple’s Automator.

 

Conclusions and Recommendation

I have a love-hate relationship with Acrobat Pro 9 for the reasons itemized above and in my earlier review of version 8. However, I whole-heartedly agree with Pariah Burke “Everyone just getting into PDF creation or using Acrobat 7 or earlier should think very seriously about picking up Acrobat 9. Unless a new feature fills a specific need, users of Acrobat 8 can afford to skip this version.”

 

Left to my own devices (e.g., budget constraints) even at the academic discount, I’m not sure I would have purchased the update. But having used the AAP 9 product, I would have missed out on the added stability, cleaned up and more logical menus and tool bars, and overall performance.

I’ve also reviewed and occasionally use a few more narrowly focused shareware alternatives to Acrobat Pro. These include:

SmileOnMyMac’s $95 PDFPenPro (Now v.4.0) http://www.smileonmymac.com/PDFpen/index.html

Michele Balistreri’s $25 PDFKey Pro (Now at v.3.7.4) http://pdfkey.com/

Although both are great products, even in combination they do not provide all the features I use daily in Acrobat Pro 9.

 

I wholeheartedly recommend investing in a copy of this fine software, one of the four most used applications on my hard drive. It is worth 4.0 macC’s

 

PS:

When planning this review I co-opted Mr. Kim Auclair who is both a heavy user of the PC version of Acrobat pro but is buying a Macintosh PowerBook for home and business use. I have asked to write an article for us that compare ease of use and other issues between the Macintosh and the PC version. Alas he is off on assignment in Korea and we’ll have to wait for a future macC issue for him to share his views.

Appendix – Acrobat Pro Features

Feature		Purpose
Create and reliably share and collaborate on PDF documents	Easily convert any document that prints to PDF to preserve formatting and ensure document integrity. This also includes the ability to do collaborative reviews with colleagues using either Acrobat or Reader.
Easily convert files to PDF	Convert documents to PDF with one-button ease from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet Explorer, Project, Visio, Access, and Publisher.
Combine files from multiple applications to unify a wide range of content in a PDF Portfolio	A new feature enhances (broadens) AAP’s ability to combine documents, drawings, e-mail, and spreadsheets in a single compressed PDF Portfolio. This can be done with either PDFs or native files in their original format. You can now use the professionally designed templates to add polish and navigational features to your PDF Portfolio.
Easily create forms and collect data	Use the new Form Wizard to convert Microsoft Word and Excel documents or scanned paper to fillable PDF forms. You now can more easily distribute forms, combine collected forms in a single document or view for easy filtering and analysis, and then export collected data to a spreadsheet or database.
Scan to PDF Format with OCR	Scan paper documents to PDF and automatically recognize text with optical character recognition (OCR) technology to create compact, searchable PDF documents.
Capture web pages as PDF	Enhanced ability to convert complete web pages. PDF versions of web pages are easy to print, archive, mark up, and share.
Convert and share 2D CAD	Less interesting to me was the added ability to convert DWG files to Adobe PDF files without using AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT.
Insert video in PDF files	A new feature to insert FLV or H.264 video in PDF files for direct playback in Acrobat and Adobe Reader. (Might be fun but the files get rather large.)
Work with Acrobat.com	A new feature allows you to use Acrobat.com services with Acrobat to store and share large documents, collect form data, and review documents with virtually anyone, anywhere. (This can also be done with a mobileme account from Apple.)