Adobe Acrobat 9 is a program created by Adobe Systems to edit, create, view and print files of type Portable Document Format (PDF) on multiple software and hardware platforms. Adobe Reader is the free Adobe Acrobat read-only version. The Acrobat is one of the few software programs that allows full editing of pdf files, including adding or modifying text and images within a file ready for distribution or distributed by third parties (such as templates or forms).
The PDF format has obtained certification in 2008 as an international standard. While remaining a proprietary format, the Adobe has published the pdf specifications opening the way for broad dissemination. A lot of compatible free software grew this way, as FoxitReader, and nowadays can not only read but to also edit PDF documents. Produced by the same company that developed the PDF, Acrobat was the first program able to work on this format. And still today, although other commercial or free products for editing PDF files exist, Adobe Acrobat is still the most comprehensive and efficient. Adobe, since version 6.0, has decided to change the name of the traditional software “Adobe Acrobat Reader” to the simpler Adobe Reader, which remains the player to which most users are accustomed, plus some additional features. Adobe Reader is the ideal tool to browse through documents, navigating through pages and printing in PDF. This program has become a landmark on the Internet, very useful when working with documents. The format of files does not change even when they appear on different operating systems and it is this cross-compatibility that makes the pdf format a success.
Over the years Adobe has continued the development of the platform, and Adobe Acrobat has now arrived at version 9. With Adobe Acrobat 9 is the same Adobe that is in charge of managing the data through the web site / interactive Acrobat.com service, which adds the web space in the drafting of documents. While Acrobat Reader allows users to open, view and print PDF files, the full version of Acrobat Pro offers all the advanced features for editing as it normally happens on more known office products such as Microsoft Word. In Acrobat 9 Pro, there are new features and improvements, but you can see even small optimizations scattered everywhere. But the real reason why switching to Acrobat 9 is how the software manages the collaboration on PDF documents and in particular the collection of data through PDF forms distributed by e-mail or Internet. Until recently the most convenient way to collect large amounts of data via the Internet was to present an HTML form on a Web page and wait for people to fill it. The code page typically converted the data collected in a format easy to handle and store in a database. Today, Adobe offers an alternative: the PDF forms, graphically more elegant but also more complex to manage. Who uses Acrobat 9 Pro can create on his Mac or PC a PDF form and then upload it to Acrobat.com for remote management of the form. Acrobat could then send the link to the form via e-mail to those who should fill it in and they will do it online. Acrobat.com will be responsible for collecting data -after the parties complete the form- and for conversion into a database format. This additional feature will win many Adobe users eager to share a simple and efficient data collection.
With the continual adjustments, graphical improvements, and the great compatibility that is always offered, Adobe Acrobat today remains the leader in the field editing pdf documents.
