The E-Scale Journal

Adobe Acrobat Learning

If you have been around in the graphics world for a little while, I would be surprised if you have not heard about Adobe Acrobat and how it is used for PDF file creation and editing. Adobe has certainly had great success with this file format, and Acrobat is undoubtedly the most capable of PDF file editing and optimizing applications available.

True, there are many other PDF-editing applications, some smaller in scope, and others that way out-perform Acrobat. However, Acrobat is what I use in and outside of work. I have used Acrobat since it was first released in 1993, and I have never encountered another file format or application that comes close to it's usefulness for sending files to others for work evaluation or information sharing.

By the way, what was that file format that Microsoft was going to launch as its own kind of “portable document” file? Did it fall flat on its face?

When Acrobat first came out, there was one other file format some company had begun to bring out. I remember it was called Common Ground, and it may have first started on the Unix platform, on Sun workstations. However, it never amounted to anything. Acrobat came on the scene and dominated almost immediately. The only problem with it at first was that QuarkXPress stubbornly refused to support the PDF file format. That later proved to be a contributing factor to QuarkXPress’ downfall from its lofty perch.

Anyway, I think it is high time I should concentrate on sharing some of the most important things I have learned while using Adobe Acrobat over the years. Over the next few weeks or months I will share out of my “vast depth” of experience, and hopefully some of these pointers will be useful to you.