Showing posts with label acrobat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acrobat. Show all posts

Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Design Premium Upgrade Review

Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Design Premium Upgrade
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(More customer reviews)
I'm a long-time fan of Adobe, and eagerly anticipated CS3. I hoped they would work out the many Macromedia bugs, but they managed to add a few of their own! And the promised product integration simply isn't there:
The Dreamweaver inteface is unchanged, except for renaming the Layers panel, and adding a new Objects tab. It won't correctly display interactivity in a SWF preview (the first click works; subsequent click are treated as a right-click, showing the FlashPlayer drop-down menu rather than the functionality in the SWF!)
Photoshop may be the reason most people upgrade, but its most touted new feature--non-destructive filters--is implemented very poorly. Rather than working like adjustment layers currently work, SmartFilters, as they are known, convert the underlying Photoshop layer into a SmartObject and places the SmartFilter on top. You CS2 users know that you can't edit a SmartObject in Photoshop--you have to go to the object's native application. So to edit the image under a SmartFilter, Photoshop opens it in a new document window (meaning you can't see its interaction with layers underneath as you edit it, and can't see how the various SmartFilters make the changed composition look until you save and return to the original document.
Flash was the reason I purchased this upgade: I was elated about importing layered PSDs and AI files. PSDs work great; AI files cause Flash to crash! (and Adobe tech support will not even respond)
Flash added a couple of new tools: shape primitives, which came from Macromedia Freehand: they allow you to easily edit the corner radius of a rectangle long after it's drawn--even editing each corner independently!
But do they offer a Primitive Star or Polygon tool like Freehand had (which allows you to edit the number of sides on stars and polygons)?
No.
Are the new Primitive Shape tools in Illustrator or Photoshop?
No.
Are the tear-off tool sets from Illustrator and ImageReady CS2 in Photoshop or InDesign CS3?
No.
Speaking of ImageReady, does it exist anymore?
No.
Can Photoshop CS3 open and edit multiple frames of an animated GIF?
No!(Don't delete ImageReady from your hard drive yet!)
Can you move the new collapsable tool panels onto your second monitor?
No.
Does Flash correctly auto-format ActionScript?
No.
Can you open an InDesign CS3 document in CS2 if no CS3 features were used (would be useful for all the non-early-adopters, such as printers receiving the jobs files)?
No.
Can you open a Flash CS3 .FLA with Flash 8, even if no CS3 features were used?
No.
Should you buy CS3?
No.
Not even at the academic price. It's a beta-version at best; wait for CS4.
UPDATE: A week later I'm STILL waiting for Adobe's reply, even after opening a second support case! It's like they outsourced their software development and support to Microsoft.

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Adobe CS3 Design Premium Mac Upgrade.Upgrade from Creative Suites Premium or Standard or Studio 8.

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NitroPDF Professional Review

NitroPDF Professional
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I just got this. First screen that comes up notifies you that, due to licensing problems, you can't download the version on your CD anymore--you have to download a newer version from a web site. Lord knows why they're selling something you can't use--especially since they know you can't use it, given the banner that pops up telling you so!
I downloaded the newer version--but it doesn't work well. I get loads of runtime errors and the program shuts down. For example, I can't open an existing PDF--the program crashes. Neither can I go to the "secure" part of the menu without a crash.
Pretty pathetic and extremely disappointing. Don't buy it.

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Nitro PDF Professional Review

Nitro PDF Professional
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Hi there,

My name's Chris Dahl, I'm the product manager for Nitro PDF Professional here at ARTS PDF.

It's unfortunate that we have to make a post of commercial nature here, however we've recently noticed a number of bogus reviews appearing that seem to have been written by a competitor of ours. If you take a look at the reviews from the following people (click on their name to see both the Nitro *and* the surprisingly glowing countering Scansoft review) I think you'll see it's quite apparent this is the case.

1. Dan Allerbach
2. Chris Malloy
3. kelli wakeman
4. Anthony Alphiso

What I'd suggest you do is download the trial version of each product from the respective websites and let you be the judge on the product. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions, my e-mail address is chris.dahl[at]artspdf.com.
P.S. it's required that you leave a star rating when writing a review on Amazon, so I had no choice but to select 5 stars. What can I say... I love our product!

Regards,
Chris.
___________________________________
(...)
___________________________________

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Create & Edit PDFs 300% Faster Nitro PDF Professional is an affordable, fully-featured PDF creation and editing product. It gives you full control over PDF documents, including commenting, form-filling and authoring, digital signatures, text editing, one-click creation from Microsoft Office and more. Create and Convert PDFs – Integrated PDF creation from within Microsoft Office. Create PDF from within Word, Excel and PowerPoint using in application toolbar buttons. Nitro PDF Professional's smart conversion utility generates bookmarks from headings and styles, hyperlinks from table of contents, footnotes, endnotes, and comments.Turn PDF Files into Microsoft Word Documents – Lost the source of your PDF? Need to make numerous edits? No problem! Converting PDF files into Microsoft Word documents couldn't be any easier. Your word documents will keep the same formatting, text, tables and graphics as the original PDF file.Edit, Comment and Add Bookmarks in PDF – Insert images, watermarks, and edit text to make changes to your PDF without having the original source file. Comment your PDFs and share your ideas with all of your associates. Track who make the comments and when they were made. Bookmark your PDF documents and allow readers to skip, browse and jump to sections of interest.Secure Personal Files – Control user access and secure PDFs with passwords or digital signatures. Choose to allow or deny printing, high-resolution printing, document modification, content copying and extraction. Create, Save and Print Forms – Create your own forms for business use, or save and print out forms you have already filled out.

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Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard (Mac) Review

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard (Mac)
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It seems that all this offers over what's built in to the OS, is commenting of documents, password protection, and combining multiple documents into one PDF. That's not a lot of functionality for [item price]. You can't even create Acrobat forms or use it for preflighting print runs!

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Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard software lets business professionals quickly and easily convert any Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, or other paper or electronic document to a reliable Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Adobe PDF files preserve the visual integrity of documents so that they can be e-mailed to colleagues and then viewed and printed on a variety of platforms using free Adobe Reader software.
Acrobat 6.0 Standard software's intuitive review tools allow business professionals to comment on documents electronically and make it easy to track, manage, and incorporate feedback into original documents. Acrobat's full set of features help you streamline communications and reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with paper-based review processes.
Password protection lets you secure files to prevent unauthorized users from opening and viewing sensitive documents. Apply permissions with 128-bit encryption that control whether users are allowed to view, edit, comment on, sign, or print Adobe PDF files.And with digital signature support you can approve final documents, verify authenticity, and build a list of trusted certificates.

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PDF Converter 2 Professional Review

PDF Converter 2 Professional
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Interesting product, but just another one that has been added to the long list of software products that lack the fundamental design principles. The product's sales people try to make up for the lack of fundamental design flaws with unfounded and inaccurate claims. i.e.
1. "Turn PC files into optimized, small file-size PDF documents". I believe the person that wrote this did not have a strong understanding of the English language. I purchased the product to allow a PowerPoint slide file (file size 578K) to be emailed in a "small file-size". ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 2.0 turned the file into a five (5) times larger file! Even with ScanSoft technical support on the phone with me for almost an hour, the smallest size was over 2000K!
2. "System Requirements...Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1 or above". What I did not see listed was a requirement for a active internet connection. What a surprise to find that I actually have to be actively connected to get the activation process to work. What private information is ScanSoft collecting off my computer? I purchased a legitimate retail version from a Office Depot, a legitimate retailer. Why is ScanSoft so paranoid? What other design flaws have they included, due to their paranoia?
Here are some other interesting concerns:
3. During the installation process, there is no option to tell the software not to install in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc. What a surprise when I open up my PowerPoint to find that it takes five (5) times longer to load! Instead of 2 seconds, it now takes 10 seconds! Why did it take so long? Well, ScanSoft has now decided to load itself into every Microsoft product on my computer! It was not happy with just loading itself as a printer driver, it loaded itself on all my Office main menus and in my submenus! What else has it done without me knowing? Is it also sending my private information off somewhere? ScanSoft looks more like a SpyWare program than a PDF converter.
4. Now for the software return process...if you like to jump through hoops, try a return. I call up to return the product and I get what I think are the requirements. FAX a copy of the receipt and wait for a check. Sorry, the next day I get five (5) emails telling me five different things that I have to do from three (3) different people. Does this sound like out-sourcing? Yes!!! This explains it all to me. (I digress, this is a review of ScanSoft PDF Convertor 2.0, not of out-sourcing!)
5. Well, I think that I have jumped through all their hoops, now I will wait for a check. Does "check is in the mail" sound familiar? I wonder how long it takes a check to travel from India to the US?
6. The adventure is not over yet. Now, I have to clean up all the garbage on my hard drive and in my registry that the ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2.0 Uninstaller program left. What no Uninstaller program? I sure hope that the Windows XP Add/Remove program can work properly! But it relies on an installation list provided by ScanSoft! I am in trouble. Yes, it is time to manually edit my System Registry (Do not try this at home. This a job for a technical professional.)
7. ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2 is a great example of how not to design and implement software! Yes, it is only $99 which looks like a lot better deal than Adobe Acrobat. How many dollars have I wasted trying to get ScanSoft to do what the sales people wrote on the box? How many dollars am I going to waste trying to get ScanSoft PDF Convertor Professional 2.0 off my computer?
Here is my advice:
A. Buy software products with caution
B. Do your research (read reviews)
C. Beware of software products that have major software design flaws.
D. With poorly designed software the total cost is not what you paid the retailer for it!
E. Outsourcing is not the answer for technical support!


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Macromedia Studio MX 2004 Win/Mac Review

Macromedia Studio MX 2004 Win/Mac
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I have been using Macromedia Products since version 2 of Dreamweaver. I have a thorough knowledge of Dreamweaver and Fireworks. I have a bit less of Flash yet I do use it from time to time to create flash elements in sites that are primarily driven by html or xhtml code. I don't use Freehand because I think it is perhaps the most poorly implemented of all illustration programs bar none. I have always hoped that Macromedia would take Freehand seriously... and till this day I am still hoping.
Regarding the software...
Dreamweaver is by far the most popular web development software on the planet. In fact it has more users than all other web development platforms combined. This is a definite strength since you are able to find a tremendous amount of help around the Internet and in book stores.
Dreamweaver is still very good at what it does, however it has gone downhill with this most recent release (yes, I have installed the newest updater which does improve the software to a degree). The problems with the software are many. Macromedia has sacrificed a nice usable and professional interface for this 'flowery' looking gradient mess. Oh... it's pretty alright. The problem is I'm trying to get work done! The previous versions of the Studio have a much more professional interface. The program seems taxing to the system no matter how powerful your processor or how much ram you have. It also seems to have screen redraw issues. This is especially true when designing forms. Why that is... I have no idea. The way the program handles CSS is quirky at best. You need to basically go thru and make all these changes to the default behavior it is shipped with in order to get it to work and write CSS in an external style sheet else it will be written to the head of the current document (How stupid is that?). Macromedia should have used the Define Site Dialog box and asked developers if they wanted to create a CSS based site or used the older HTML methods. If a person chose CSS the program should have required them to enter the name of an external style sheet that all CSS would be written to by default. Then when using the property inspector, any changes to the design code would automatically be written to the external style sheet and not to the head or body of the document. It definately needs drastic improvement if it will ever be at the level of other Professional CSS coding software (think TopStyle Pro).
Another issue with Dreamweaver that I have is with its lack of ability to support a dual monitor configuration without major bugs, headaches, and screen redraw issues. I know many developers that have gone over to the dual monitor approach to development because of a tremendously improved work flow. YOu could have the design Window in one monitor and the code window in the other (Go to Window -- Code Inspector -- or hit F10). Once the code inspector is open, you can drag it over to the second monitor and thus develop both visually and with code. However, the newest DW version has some serious issues when you do this. First of all, you can't maximize the code window... so you have to manually drag one corner and size it yourself. The other is when you are between documents and have no current document open. The program seems like it just wants to crash, drawing and redrawing the entire interace. 'What in the world is going on here?' is the question that comes to mind minus profanities!
Flash has improved and is more powerful than previous version being more 'coder friendly' and allowing flash apps to be built using a forms based approach although I think they made a big mistake in making two versions of the software. It just confuses people and now is harder to share work within a team unless everybody is using the exact same version! Bad decision Macromedia.
Fireworks is probably the program in the group that deserves the highest honors. It is tops in the field of web graphics and functionality. I put it over Photoshop/ImageReady because it is specifically designed for the web whereas Photoshop is trying to be all things to all people. And to people who need that functionality, Photoshop is King! However, Fireworks is significantly easier to learn and use than PS. It will do anything you could possibly want in creating web graphics and eliminates all the functions that a print designer needs. Fireworks is for the web... not print. If that is acceptable for your work load.... use it!
Freehand is dead at this point in my eyes. Illustrator and Coreldraw are both vastly superior in usability and power. Freehand is a clunky and bug ridden program that does poorly what Illustrator does masterfully! Evidently Freehand has also taken a back seat in the eyes of Macromedia too. Freehand has always been delivered much later than the rest of the Studio. Even to this day in June of 2004, Freehand is still one version behind the rest of the software even though the MX 2004 Studio has been released for nearly a year (August 2003)! Some have argued that Macromedia purposely delays Freehand so that they can make more money off the developers who have already bought the current Studio and then need to purchase an upgrade to the latest Freehand. So perhaps this is a marketing ploy used in order to make more money. My opinion is that they will make more money if they improve their software, eliminate bugs, drop the 'flowerly' interace, and release the Studio as one release for both Mac and Windows (This means no 'pro' and 'non-pro' versions, all version share the same name...MX 2004 or whatever). Another note, Mac users should not be considered second class web developers. This particular offering for Mac users is particularly bad because of the bugs and speed of the software.
The best I can rate this offering is two stars... hopefully things will change in the near future. All that being said, I still consider myself a fan of Macromedia software... and just think they had a major hickup here with this latest offering.

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Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Review

Adobe Acrobat 5.0
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This is a great tool for anyone who wants to make files available for everyone via the web or other electronic means. However, the documentation is severely lacking and there are a number of features that have to be dug for.
This is a common problem with many software packages, as shown by the thriving market in "missing manual" type books. One wishes that the software publishers would give the info to the customers themselves, considering the prices they charge.

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Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Design Premium Review

Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Design Premium
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As a Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign user since the very start Adobe has it easy. They have made the dominant series of software for so long it is a given that they should continue their regime.
The problem is they have gotten insane with power. Without anyone to check them, the price grows along with the absurd use of memory.
Examples:
- Adobe used the worst installation process ever created by man and made a quick joy of using new programs into a day or two slog through hell. If there ever was a reason to pirate software, this punishing of paid users is definitely it.
- You can't throw this application away. You need to find a hidden program in your computer to uninstall it first, then trash.
- If you accidently trash it you need to run a script that they provide. The problem is this script (which isn't exactly simple) could erase you hard drive. Have fun!
- If you decide that you'd just like to reinstall after trashing you can't. You need to use the script. A bit of DRM will not allow this to be installed, thus forcing you to potentially destroy your computer so they can avoid possible piracy.
- Bridge while in concept is nice, is in functionality, less then useless.
- Stock Photos? See above.
- And Acrobat is the crown jewel of uselessness. It is so bloated and unintuitive it makes me wish Adobe had some real competition. When every other program can open a PDF faster then the company who created the file type you know there is an issue here.
- Updates are welcome. Auto-updates are even nicer. That is until you learn the hard way that auto-updates delete preferences and color-palettes. So behind the scenes you are about to lose all of your work randomly. Sweet.
- The improvements to all other applications are fairly minor outside some solid GUI tweaks
My main complaint here is that the much touted connected community of applications still doesn't work. Transferring from one application to another is meant to be seamless and quick, but it is still a chore. These are not streamlined apps nor are they speedy workhorses - they are stuck in between and set to make very few power users happy. Even less for first time folk.
On the plus side, the intel boosts are wonderful. And the rewritten InDesign makes me love that I switched from Quark so long ago. The new Flash is nice, and it integrates the best of all, but Actionscript 3 is a major step backwards in my opnion. It is far too code oriented for designers, and almost useless to coders.
But in total, if you have a version of any of these apps on your computer this simply isn't worth your money or your time.

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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional Upgrade from Professional Version 6 Review

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional Upgrade from Professional Version 6
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Don't take my word for it that's a quote from the title of a recent post excoriating this irritating and increasingly bloated product on Slashdot.
Be warned: Adobe has not learned its lesson, and despite the outcry that followed the release of version 6, this latest release of Acrobat continues Adobe's aggressive trend of intruding into your desktop environment, again, as in version 6 without providing an easy way to undo the damage once its done--in fact, it's now nearly impossible. Like earlier releases, this version of Acrobat adds startup macros and new toolbar buttons to your existing applications and adds menu entries to your desktop "right click" menus. Adobe argues that these are conveniences, but they are entirely unnecessary (for most of us "printing" to Adobe PDF achieves the same result, is much more convenient, and a more natural model), and clutter what for most users is either a too-crowded user interface (for those who don't have the knowledge or patience to customize it) or a carefully tuned one (for those who do). Unlike many well-behaved applications that provide obvious ways of avoiding this kind of intrusive and disruptive behavior (e.g. through a simple checkbox option in a settings dialog), Acrobat's "option" for disabling this behavior, once deeply hidden in the setup process,is now almost completely absent. To disable the "Convert to Adobe PDF" button that mysteriously appears in the Outlook mail editor, for example, one has to be sure to choose "this feature will not be available" from the "Microsoft Outlook" option under "Acrobat PDFMaker" under "Create Adobe PDF". Simply deleting the button using Outlook's toolbar customization feature will not work: it comes right back when the editor is next opened. Similar problems arise in Word, Excel, Visio, Project, and Internet Explorer. And there's simply no way to get rid of the never-used "Convert to Adobe PDF" and "Combine in Acrobat..." entries in that appear in the desktop context menus for files (even if one installs none of the Acrobat PDFMaker features).
For the technically inclined wishing to repair some of the damage that Acrobat 7 does, there are complex but largely effective step by step instructions available on the web, but even the authors of these are driven to despair by version 7: ("Adobe has really pushed the boat out with Acrobat 7 and managed to screw Word royally") .
In short, Acrobat will make a mess of your working environment, there's no way to completely fix it, and even the partial fix is a pain (and not well documented). (This may seem a minor issue, but if every application followed Adobe's reckless example, our working environments would start to look like strip malls, crowded with features screaming for our attention to the point where it is hard to find what we need when we need it. One of the great strengths of the personal computer desktop is that users can configure it in ways that suit their needs; no application should interfere with that.)
Experienced Acrobat users will also notice that this version continues another frustrating trend for Acrobat (and most other Adobe applications): it is yet again slower to launch than the previous version. In fact, on my 2 GHz Pentium 4, it takes longer to launch than the entire Visual Studio .NET development environment, and longer than the boot sequence for Windows XP!
There are other minor problems as well (arbitrary rearrangements of menu and tool bar items, etc.) but these two major flaws are more than bad enough. Unless you really need the latest Acrobat features, you should probably avoid this upgrade. And if the "improvements" in this release are any indication of where Adobe plans to go with future releases, it may be time to start looking elsewhere for a tool for digital document management.
Fortunately, there's no reason at all to upgrade. Version 7 offers no usefully new features, so you can (and should) avoid this one (at all costs).

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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional software is the advanced way to create, control, and deliver more secure, high-quality Adobe PDF documents. Assemble electronic or paper files—even Web sites, engineering drawings, and e-mail—into reliable PDF documents that are easy to share with others using free Adobe Reader 7.0 software. Manage document reviews, synthesizing feedback from multiple reviewers while preserving document format and integrity. Extend commenting capabilities to anyone using Adobe Reader 7.0 and design intelligent Adobe PDF forms that include business logic, such as calculations and data validations, to help increase the accuracy of data collection while reducing the costs of manual data entry.

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Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Review

Adobe Acrobat 5.0
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Version 5 has features I dreamed about in 3.0 and 4.0, but despaired of ever seeing. Adobe made my dreams come true. Here are the highlights that make this an essential tool if you work with PDF files or transform other documents into PDF format: You can now save files in rich text format (RTF), which can be directly opened and edited in Microsoft Word (and other applications). I was able to do this in version 4 with an expensive third-party plug-in that did not always produce the results I was looking for. Version 5 does not need the plug-in and does a much better job.
Two other features that I love are the ability to extract images from a PDF file and save them as Tiff, JPEG or PNG graphics. This is really powerful. A nice touch is the user interface, which now makes Acrobat's tool bars look like those in Microsoft Office applications. I thought this was a quantum improvement over the confusing interface in previous versions.
Adobe touts added security features in this version, but the only thing I found different is the 128-bit encryption. Version 4 gave me total control over protecting documents from alteration, selecting and copying text and printing. As a consultant I sometimes need to provide clients with intellectual property that I need to protect, and the features that I enjoyed in version 4 have been fully carried over in this version. Another nice feature that has been carried over from the previous version is the ability to open a web page from within Acrobat and save it as a PDF file. I have grabbed many pages from many sites for off-line reading using this feature and it still works without a problem in version 5.
Other features that are interesting, but I have not tried, include the ability to create and publish dynamic forms online, and support for XML form data. When I get time I plan to play around with creating and publishing the dynamic forms because I can think of a dozen uses on my web site.
Overall this is a solid product that did not cause me the same pain I endured when I moved from version 3 to 4. Everything works as advertised and some of the new features are plain wonderful.

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"* Convert any document to Adobe PDF * Share documents across a broad range of hardware and software * Approve and vomment on ducuments from within your Web browser." "SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: * Pentium class processor * Microsoft Windows 95 OSR 2.0, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5 or 6, Windows 2000, or Windows XP * 32 MB of RAM (64 MB recommended) * 120 MB of available hard-disk space * Additional 30 MB of hard-disk space for Asian fonts (optional) * CD-ROM drive * Additional Acrobat 5.0 requirement: Internet Explorer 4.0.1, 5.0 or 5.5 required for Windows NT users." " What good is a document you can't open? Whether you create business plans, spreadsheet, graphically rich brochures, or Web sites, Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software lets you convert any document to an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Anyone can open your document across a broad range of hardware and software, and it will look exactly as you intended---with layout, fonts, links, and images intact. With Acrobat 5.0, you and your team can increase productivity by approving and commenting on documents from within a Web browser." "Preserve documents exactly as intended: * Easily convert any document to Adobe PDF so anyone can open it across a broad range of hardware and software. * Convert Web pages or entire Web sites to Adobe PDF files with all links intact for office viewing, comments, and archiving. * Produce interactive Adobe PDF forms complete with pop-up boxes, buttons, and text fields that include automatic calculations and operations. * Efficiently process Adobe PDF files using batch capabilities to rotate, crop, and insert pages." "Work smarter as a team: * Quickly approve Adobe PDF files with e-signatures. Or add comments with electronic sticky notes, highlight and strikethrough tools, and more---right from your Web browser. * Save time by easily repurposing the information in Adobe PDF files: Simply save your PDF files as Rich Text files..." [from box]

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Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional Upgrade Review

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional Upgrade
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For just about every user, it's more than likely that one would be better off saving the money and not getting this upgrade. Functionality hasn't changed, many other glitches that have existed since 2.0 still abound. Save your dough and wait until they drastically upgrade.
What the importance of this particular upgrade amounts to is the few operations that have been made easier (working in conjuction with AutoCAD, etc.). But the all around use of the program is essentially unchanged. Do your research first.

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Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional software allows business, creative, and engineering professionals who work with graphically complex documents to exchange business-critical documents accurately and efficiently. Convert any document to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), and with one click from Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Project, as well as from Microsoft Visio and AutoCAD, preserve document layers.
Combine multiple documents-including large-format technical drawings and page layouts-into one compact Adobe PDF file in a single step. Automatically initiate and manage document reviews using intuitive electronic tools. Create forms that can be exchanged with colleagues and customers, and archive your project files as searchable Adobe PDF files.
View, navigate, and comment on large-format documents with tools that eliminate the need for paper-based reviews, making it faster and easier to meet critical deadlines. Streamline proofing cycles with robust tools that let you automatically track, manage, and incorporate electronic feedback. View detailed artwork or large-format documents with intuitive navigation tools. Output PDF/X-compliant files, and help eliminate surprises at the printer by preflighting files and previewing and printing color separations.
Note: This is an upgrade version.

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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional (Mac) Review

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional (Mac)
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Acrobat 7 Professional on the Mac offers very little over Acrobat 7 Standard. The windows version includes a whole extra program (livecycle designer) for creating forms and using xml data. The Mac version does not include that program.
However, Professional does offer a couple of very important features:
1) The first is building indexes of documents. Indexing is similar to a search but is much more powerful. An index is a pre-built catalog of all the words in your document, saved as a separate file. After the index is built, whenever you want to search a document, you search the index instead, and searches are almost instantaneous. Searching a regular pdf without an index is quite slow. The real power of the index comes when you index multiple pdf's at once. You could have 100 reports, or a dozen books, or whatever, pre-indexed, and any future search is very very fast. Indexing is definitely a slick feature and an impressive trick if you create content for end users or clients.
2) The other important feature is mostly for the advertising/design/print community. Acrobat Pro allows a lot of interaction with press-ready files. You can view separations, preflight documents, and chop large pages into smaller pieces and print any portion of a page you like. If you work with documents for a living, the Professional version is almost a must-have.
Finally....speed. Version 7 is still slow to load. But on a Mac you can leave your computer on for weeks at a time and just leave Acrobat running, so that's not too big of a deal. You can speed up load times by de-activating plug-ins that you don't use. If you just use Acrobat to just view documents, you don't need a lot of the plug-ins. If you use Acrobat professionally, I'd leave the plug-ins active. Do a Get Info on the Acrobat program, click open the Plug-ins tab, and you can uncheck plug-ins to deactivate. For a full description of each plug-in, look under the help menu while in Acrobat.
CONCLUSION: Great program. Good upgrade from 6. Pro version offers useful power features. Mac users a little shortchanged on forms creation.

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Acrobat 7.0 Professional is the advanced way to create, control, and deliver more secure, high-quality PDF documents. Assemble electronic or Paper files - even Web sites, engineering drawings, and E-mail - into reliable PDFs that are easy to share with others, using free Adobe Reader 7.0 software. Enjoy improved performance as you quickly convert, collect, and organize Adobe PDF documents. Create a list of reviewers and automatically track the feedback you receiveCollect and manage comments using sort and filter tools, for bringing them together in a single documentProtect sensitive and confidential documents inside and outside the firewall, online and offlineUse password protection to restrict access to documents with 128-bit encryptionSet document permissions and restrict which PDF documents can be printed or changedSign electronic documents using Digital signatures

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Adobe Acrobat Standard 9 Upgrade Review

Adobe Acrobat Standard 9 Upgrade
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
The upgrade requirements aren't mentioned here, but according to Adobe's website you can upgrade "from Acrobat 6.x, 7.x or 8.x Standard".
The license allows an additional install on a laptop or home computer, provided you don't use that copy at the same time as the main install. From the license: "... the primary user of the Computer on which the Software is installed ('Primary User') may install a second copy of the Software for his or her exclusive use on either a portable Computer or a Computer located at his or her home, provided that the Software on the portable or home Computer is not used at the same time as the Software on the primary Computer ..."
The product requires activation, which includes sending license information to Adobe.
According to Adobe's website, it is OK to move the software between computers you own, but you need to manually deactivate the software on the old computer before the move. You can launch deactivation using the Help/Deactivate menu item. (You may need to wait a minute or two after Acrobat starts before this menu item appears.)


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ACROBAT 9 WIN UPG ST -ST RTL DVD

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PDF Converter 6.0 Review

PDF Converter 6.0
Average Reviews:

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I bought this product on a promotion price offered by another software product I own. It was very, very difficult to install. The CD would not auto run; the autorun.exe file on the CD would not execute nor would it run after I copied the entire CD to my hard drive. The Setup.exe program (which I finally located on the CD) seemed to install, but then when I tried to run the program it would not start at all. After much research on the vendor's website, I found a variety of other software that had to be installed first in order to get it run.
After hours of frustration over 2 days (and I'm a computer professional by the way), installing, uninstalling, getting and reporting error messages, I was finally about to get the product to install and activate.
OK, so far so good. It did a decent job of converting a couple PDF files to Word 2000 format so I tried something more difficult. A PDF file that I had created myself from Excel using Adobe Acrobat Pro version 6 with nicely formatted pages and very colorful. When I ran it through PDF Converter 6, it did convert to Excel 2000, however, it did not retain any of the color or text formatting or even much of the layout of the 8 pages of the file. It would have taken me major work if I had really needed this type of conversion to make it into a usable format.
All in all, I'm not overly thrilled with this product, so my suggestion is to check out other products first before buying this one. The marketing hype sounds much better than it is in my opinion. And, the installation nightmare is totally uncalled for. An average user should not be expected to have an IT professional with them just to install a software product - any software product.
I'm glad I didn't pay a lot for it and didn't go for the "pro" version, which is quite expensive. I have not looked at alternative software to see what else might be available.

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Release Information Trapped in PDF Files! PDF Converter is the world's most accurate and best selling method for turning existing PDF files into fully-formatted documents, forms and spreadsheets--complete with text, columns, tables and graphics. Precise conversion technology allows you to access the information trapped within PDF files, without the hassle of cutting and pasting. There is no easier way to access text, charts, and even graphics from within PDF files. Save time and money by turning your PDF and XPS files into fully-formatted, editable Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Corel WordPerfect and Rich Text Format documents with PDF Converter.


The # 1 Tool for Turning PDF Files Into Fully-formatted, Editable PC Documents.
Precise Conversion to Editable, Formatted Documents Convert PDF and XPS documents into all of the Microsoft Office formats, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, or into Corel WordPerfect with just one click. Unmatched conversion accuracy turns PDF files into fully-formatted documents, complete with column layout, formatting, charts, and graphics. Never again struggle with cutting and pasting or content trapped in text boxes.
Unrivaled Speed PDF Converter makes it easy to convert PDF files one at a time or batch convert multiple files all at once. The built-in preview window lets you view and select which pages you want to convert--and the entire process takes only seconds! And with one touch conversion, you'll never need to cut and paste from a PDF again.
Repurpose Content with Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Conversion Need to transfer that table from PDF to an Excel worksheet or workbook? It's no problem at all with this high-quality PDF file Converter. You can quickly turn tables and spreadsheets into fully editable Excel files, without tedious copying or reformatting.
Easier to Use than Ever Before! Improved usability makes PDF Converter easier to use than ever before. Save time and eliminate the hassle of retyping documents with the #1 tool used to convert PDF files into fully-formatted, editable files.

Better PDF for Business
Never retype a PDF document again Convert PDF files into fully-formatted Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, RTF and Corel WordPerfect files for perfect document recreation.
Get accurate "flowing column" conversion Eliminate the hassle of trying to edit content trapped in text boxes. Converted documents are complete with flowing text and columns.
Customize your conversion settings Further improve accuracy by tailoring your conversion to the type of document you are converting. Settings include: Standard, Legal Pleadings, Spreadsheets, and Form conversion.
Save time with batch conversion There's no need to waste time opening and converting each individual document. Drag and drop all of the files you need into PDF Converter and, with one click, process multiple files at once to maximize time savings.
Access and repurpose charts and graphics PDF Converter separates individual graphics in the converted document, letting you save them or integrate them into Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and other desktop applications with copy-and paste ease.
Recognize and convert PDF forms Unique Logical Form Recognition (LFR) technology delivers the accuracy needed to convert static PDF forms into editable Microsoft Word documents.
Convert directly from your desktop Just right-click on a PDF file and select your conversion format to instantly create editable documents.


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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard Review

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Having purchased and been very happy with Acrobat 4-6 standard editions, I am sorry to say Version 7 is real step backwards for Adobe:
-- The program will not read many pdf documents Acrobat 4-6 will (this may some sort of font copyright problem or just a flaw in this version of the software).
-- The Activation process is tedious, difficult and prevents you from using your own software, even if you only install it on one machine.
Having purchased this software almost a year ago, I uninstalled it because it did not read files Acrobat 6 does, as mentioned above. I thought this might be a bug in the program which Adobe would fix. So I installed and uninstalled it several times, each time the program would not work. Now the program tells me I have activated it too many times, though I have no working copy of the program. The software tells me to call Adobe customer support, but after keeping me in a computer loop for 10 minutes I learn the "call center" is closed, or there is simply no answer after 50 minutes.
If I could return this software I would. It does not work. I can't return my copy, but you don't have to buy a copy. Stick with 6.0 or the cheaper Scansoft program. Acrobat 7.0 does not work, and after a time Adobe won't let you use, even if you buy it, full price.

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AutoCAD LT 2011 - 5 User Pack Review

AutoCAD LT 2011 - 5 User Pack
Average Reviews:

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I have been using AutoCAD for over 22 years and by far this is the worst release that Autodesk has ever produced. First of all it runs slow. I am running it on a Core i7, 8 GB Memory, 1 GB Graphics, Windows 7. I also have AutoCAD 2010 running at lighting speed on the same computer. 2011 is infested with bugs and Autodesk so called enhancements in 2011 are just blowing smoke and mirrors. They have all but destroyed the Hatch command with graphic crap that takes three to four more steps to hatch an object in your drawing, if you can get the hatch pattern to even work. There are many, many more commands that they have also slowed down just for the WOW factor and has nothing to do with productivity or speed. And why did they changed some of the icon to "mickey mouse" looking icons. Skip this release and wait till next March when 2012 comes out. If you are on Autodesk Subscription (highly recommended) then keep 2010 and do not install 2011.

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AutoCAD LT 2D drafting and detailing software is the professional choice because we focus on boosting your productivity. A comprehensive set of tools enables you to accurately and efficiently create, document, and share your drawings. Creating in the genuine DWGTM file format provides stability and compatibility when you communicate with clients and colleagues. And, with varied menu and user interface options, you can optimize the software for the way you work. Packed with powerful features, AutoCAD LT is built for professional drafting.

Five-Seat Stand-Alone License The MSSA license allows you to install, register, and activate stand-alone licensed Autodesk products on several workstations using a single serial number. You can use the Autodesk Deployment Wizard to create preconfigured install images. Only one serial number is required to install and activate multiple workstations.
Install and activate each seat of the MSSA license on one additional workstation for each user, such as on a home or a remote workstation. You can do this only if the two workstations are used at different times, by the same user, and are owned or under the control of the license holder.

Take Control
AutoCAD LT 2D drafting and detailing software is the professional choice for productivity, reliability, and compatibility. Extend your competitive advantage by using industry-standard AutoCAD LT software for 2D drafting and detailing. Create drawings in the genuine DWG file format for enhanced stability and compatibility when communicating with clients and colleagues. And get even better performance by optimizing your software for the way you work. Packed with powerful features, AutoCAD LT is built for professional drafting.
Document Use a complete set of 2D drafting and detailing tools to produce precise technical drawings--accurately and efficiently.
Document in 2D Create simple or complex drawings from standard shapes such as lines, arcs, and circles. Modify existing geometry with commands such as stretch, copy, rotate, and scale. Add annotations--including text, dimensions, and tables--to help convey your ideas.
Be More Productive AutoCAD LT is designed with one goal in mind: increasing your productivity. Each release of AutoCAD LT includes feature enhancements and additions that introduce new ways to promote drafting efficiency.

Collaborate Work easily and effectively with clients and colleagues.
Get Industry-leading Reliability and Stability Create drawings in the genuine DWG file format and have confidence in data integrity when sharing your work. Maximize productivity by reducing time lost tackling corrupted or incompatible data.
Enjoy AutoCAD Compatibility AutoCAD LT is fully integrated with other Autodesk software products, making it easy for you to share data with others or expand your capabilities.
Incorporate External Files Reuse data and create richer documents by referencing external information from colleagues or clients--such as DWG files, JPG and TIF images, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and DWF and PDF underlays--in your drawings.
Share Files Electronically Electronically publish and distribute drawing sets in a single DWF or PDF file for fast, secure collaboration.

Optimize Improve efficiency by making AutoCAD LT work the way you do with a variety of user interface options.
Standardize Drawings Save time and standardize drawings by using blocks, adding dynamic properties to accommodate multiple sizes or views in a single block. Get quick access to frequently used content, such as blocks, hatches, and commands with tool palettes.
Tailor Your Environment Quickly find your way around the screen with tools to locate commands, view all open drawings, and navigate between different areas in an open drawing. Optimize your work environment by tailoring the location and appearance of commands to meet your needs and company standards.


Top Reasons to Buy AutoCAD LT 2011 Software
Improved Drafting Tools Continual enhancements to 2D tools in AutoCAD LT software help make drafting easier and more productive. In AutoCAD LT 2011, new grips for polyline and hatch editing enable you to more easily add or remove vertices or convert line segments to arcs, and vice versa. A new Hatch contextual user interface enables you to change a hatch's scale, angle, or origin on the fly. Text in linetypes always stays readable, regardless of the line's direction. When rotating a viewport, you can use one command to choose whether the view shown will maintain its original orientation or rotate along with the viewport.
Better Communication of Design Intent Publish high-quality PDFs directly from AutoCAD LT to easily share information. Objects and layers in AutoCAD LT 2011 can be made transparent, so you can see through them. Transparency affects both plotting and on-screen appearance, giving you more options for identifying phases of work, highlighting areas of a drawing, and more. The new Hide and Isolate Objects tools enable you to display only the objects you need, regardless of their layer.
Windows 7 Certification AutoCAD LT 2011 is the first AutoCAD LT version to be Microsoft Windows 7 certified. Upgrade your hardware and operating system with the knowledge that both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of AutoCAD LT 2011 software are compatible with--and are supported on--all available Microsoft operating systems, including Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
Additional AutoCAD Functionality Several tools previously available only in AutoCAD software are accessible in AutoCAD LT software. In AutoCAD LT 2011, the new Quick Dimension tool enables you to more easily create a series of dimensions for selected objects. Create irregular boundaries or trace over objects with the Sketch command. Add colors and patterns to your drawings with gradient fills. Use the Align command to move, rotate, and scale objects to line up with other objects. Non-rectangular viewports are also supported, enabling you to create a viewport in any shape you need.
File Format Compatibility AutoCAD LT software enables you to open DWG files received from colleagues and clients, regardless of the version of AutoCAD software used to create them. Save your own work to a variety of file formats, as far back as R14-compatible DWG files and R12-compatible DXF files.
Powerful External Reference Tools The External References palette supports the use of PDF, DWF, DGN, and image files (JPG, TIF, etc.) as underlays in DWG files, in addition to the traditional DWG references. Use object snaps with vector-based PDF or DWG files to locate new objects relative to geometry in the underlay. Open externally referenced files of any format with a simple mouse click, or edit DWG references in-place to make changes while continuing to view the host drawing's geometry. Use the Clip External Reference command to show only the relevant portions of a referenced file.
Dynamic Blocks The flexibility of Dynamic Blocks provides a powerful alternative to bloated block libraries containing multiple variations of similar block definitions. Dynamic Blocks enable you to modify a block's geometry without editing the block definition or erasing it and inserting a different block. With the Synchronize Attributes command, you can easily add or remove attributes from existing block definitions.
Flexible Annotation Tools Significant improvements in recent releases of AutoCAD LT to text, dimensions, multileader, and tables enable you to create and edit annotations faster and with more flexibility. Tables can be easily split into columns to fit into the available space. Misspelled words are automatically indicated with a dashed red underline. Add jog lines to dimensions, control the linetype of extension lines, and break extension lines around objects. Use multileaders to align notes, group similar keynotes, and associate multiple leader lines with one symbol or note. The Annotation Scaling feature automatically calculates text and dimension sizes, as well as block and hatch pattern scales, based on the drawing scale.
Better Layer Management Modifications you make in the Layer Properties Manager are instantly applied to the drawing, enabling you to immediately see the effects of your changes. The same layer can have different properties, such as color or linetype, in different viewports, so you can easily highlight specific information in each viewport. Layer management tools also let you select objects in the drawing in order to freeze, turn off, isolate, or lock their layer.
Streamlined User Interface and Online Help The AutoCAD LT user interface helps increase drafting productivity by presenting commands in a concise visual format that responds to both active commands and object selection. Quick View Layouts and Quick View Drawings provide fast and visual methods for activating a layout in an open drawing. The Quick Access toolbar provides constant one-click access to frequently used tools and commands. The new Online Help system in AutoCAD LT 2011 includes access to regularly updated content. You can link from a help topic directly to related information in the online AutoCAD Knowledge Base, discussion groups, and the AutoCAD Exchange community site to save time searching and navigating.

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Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard Edition Review

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard Edition
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I bought the 6.0 upgrade without reading the reviews. Woe to the foolish. It slowed WORD to a crawl, brought DtSearch to it's knees, and twice locked my system up so tightly I couldn't get the task manager open.
I didn't waste any additional time seeing how slow it was at its own tasks. I'll take everyone's word for it.
Less than one day on the machine. I've gone back to 5.0.

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Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard software lets business professionals quickly and easily convert any Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, or other paper or electronic document to a reliable Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Adobe PDF files preserve the visual integrity of documents so that they can be e-mailed to colleagues and then viewed and printed on a variety of platforms using free Adobe Reader software.
Acrobat 6.0 Standard software's intuitive review tools allow business professionals to comment on documents electronically and make it easy to track, manage, and incorporate feedback into original documents. Acrobat's full set of features help you streamline communications and reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with paper-based review processes.
Password protection lets you secure files to prevent unauthorized users from opening and viewing sensitive documents. Apply permissions with 128-bit encryption that control whether users are allowed to view, edit, comment on, sign, or print Adobe PDF files.And with digital signature support you can approve final documents, verify authenticity, and build a list of trusted certificates.

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