Adobe’s new PDF program lets you fill out forms, sign docs and more. Get it now!

By Kim Komando

October 3, 2018

For many of us, and especially those in the business world, Adobe is about as well-known a software company as there is. You may not use all of their stuff like Photoshop, Premier or any other of the creative software, but you’ve likely at least heard of them.

That said, there is probably at least one app of theirs you use, even if it’s not one you necessarily think about. It is Adobe Acrobat, and its purpose is to allow you to read files that are saved in a PDF format.

Acrobat was initially released in June 1993, and over its more than 25 years of existence has undergone a good number of changes. A major update just happened, and it has paved the way for an even newer and better Acrobat and Adobe Scan, which lets you scan multiple business cards at once.

It’s loaded with features

Adobe launched Acrobat DC on Oct. 1, and with it brought about increased possibilities for what can be done with the PDF format. They integrated even more tools as well as gave it improved artificial intelligence.

It now allows you to send personalized invitations using Document Cloud Share, send an anonymous or public link in an email and attach to an email. When it comes to Scan, the update makes it so that cards can be imported as separate contacts, which is a nice feature.

But that’s not all we get. The update brings more editing capabilities to tablets, which is another good thing.

Now, as you read on about the rest of the features, note that the updates for Acrobat Reader and Adobe Scan are free to download, while Acrobat DC will need a subscription.

Unified home view

Acrobat DC features a unified home view that makes it easy to track and manage documents for both sharing, reviewing and signing across a desktop, mobile or on the web. With it, you will see a unified recent files list, which will display files shared with you or by you for viewing, reviewing or signatures as well as files opened for viewing on your computer.

The home view also provides to-do cards, which show a document received, and a search box that will let you see all your document cloud files as well as files sent or received. There is a context plane, which will help you take actions on files across all Home view, and the view will help track and manage your shared files.

Through Home view, you can easily access and store files from your Google Drive file storage account, too.

Unified document cloud review service

Many of the upgrades have to do with the cloud, which the new Acrobat uses to easily share PDF files for review from the Acrobat DC desktop app, the Document Cloud web or the Acrobat Reader mobile app.

The idea behind it is to simplify both the gathering and management of feedback, putting it all in once place instead of needing multiple email attachments. The commenting solution aids in finding information quickly, while features like @ mentions, deadlines, reminders and “I am done” are used to alert others to whether or not you are done or still reviewing.

Both initiators and reviewers will be notified of a change in a PDF’s status of reviews or when tagged for any additional action or when a comment is made.

Adobe Sensei

One of the things apps are consistently improving at is predicting what we are going to do. Adobe’s Fill & Sign tool is powered by Adobe Sensei, which is a form field detection and alignment for text, check mark, cross, radio button and comb field.

Furthermore, it brings an auto-alignment that ensures the font size is according to the field size and is also well-aligned with the field box or line. It will recognize when there is a blank spot in a form on its own, whereas before whoever was using the app needed to draw a box around where the text needed to be placed.

There’s more

The new Acrobat still has the Send for Signature tool, though it has been renamed to Adobe Sign in Acrobat DC desktop. It comes with features that allow for more control, including that senders can add an expiry date, reminder, signer authentication and more.

Once the documents have been sent for signatures, it will now be easier to view and track their status as well as send reminders, cancel requests or view their history via the unified Home view. And if you have the Acrobat Reader mobile app and a subscription to Acrobat Pro DC, you can add text and images, edit and format text, update lists or add, rotate and resize images in a PDF all right from your iPad or Android tablet.

Ready to download?

To download Adobe Acrobat Reader, tap or click here. For Adobe Scan, tap or click here.

And if you want Acrobat DC, tap or click here.

Tags: Android, apps, computer, Google, home, reviews, updates, upgrades