At a glance, see the main features of Adobe® Acrobat® 8 Professional and click links to start tasks or learn more about features. See Start in the Getting Started window.
View PDFs in a new visual design for the work area, navigation pane, and toolbars. User interface elements have been removed to maximize space. See View the work area.
Easily hide or show individual tools by right-clicking/Control-clicking a toolbar, or use the More Tools dialog box to customize all your toolbars. See Display and arrange toolbars.
Find words or use advanced search tools, all from the same integrated toolbar. View search results in a floating, resizable window. Search documents in a PDF package. See Search features overview .
Embed a search index for a specific file directly within the PDF to speed up searching. See Create and manage an index in a PDF.
Create a blank PDF page and type text onto the page. Format text using formatting controls. Lock the document so that it can’t be edited. See Create a PDF from a blank page.
Assemble PDF files (including PDF forms) and non-PDF files into a single package. Files are not modified when packaged, so signatures and security options stay intact. Documents within a package are viewed in the same window. Easily add, delete, or extract documents from the package. Search and print the current or selected document, or all documents within the package. See About PDF packages.
Combine files into a single PDF with concatenated pages, or assemble files into a PDF package. Choose simple options to control the size of the resulting PDF. See Combining different types of files.
Convert Word mail merge documents to PDF and send them out by email. See Create PDFs from Word mail merges.
(Windows) Select and order worksheets for conversion. Convert all links and bookmarks. Create PDF/A-compliant files. See Application-specific PDFMaker settings.
(Windows) Convert overlapping shapes and graphics, action buttons, action settings, and speaker notes. Convert backgrounds to a separate, nonprinting layer. Create PDF/A-compliant files. See Application-specific PDFMaker settings.
Convert email message or a complete mail folder to PDF from Lotus Notes. Create PDF packages of email from both Outlook and Lotus Notes. In Outlook in Windows, convert email archives to PDF packages, and automatically archive email on a schedule. See Convert email messages to PDFs (Windows), Migrate Outlook PDF archives to PDF packages (Windows) Set up automatic email archiving (Windows).
Scan to PDF or PDF/A from a broader range of scanners. Add metadata while scanning. Optimize a scanned PDF. See Scan a paper document to PDF.
Create PDF/A-compliant files when scanning paper documents, and when creating PDFs from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat Distiller, and the Acrobat Preflight tool.
Apply identifying labels to a batch of related documents—typically legal documents associated with a court case. Bates numbering appears as a header or footer on each page of each PDF in the batch. See Add a Bates numbering header or footer.
Inspect PDFs for metadata, annotations, attachments, hidden data, form fields, hidden layers, or bookmarks. Remove some or all of the information. See Examine a PDF for hidden content.
Save header, footer, watermark, and background options as named settings for reuse. Remove or update existing headers, footers, watermarks, and backgrounds. Shrink content to accommodate headers and footers. Preview changes in real time. Set underline text. See Add and edit headers and footers.
Access the real-time, web-based collaboration capabilities of Acrobat Connect (sold separately). Click the Start Meeting button to escalate from a document review to real-time communication with others over the Internet. Acrobat Connect uses Flash and a personal meeting room for screen sharing, audio and video conferencing, whiteboarding, and more. When you first click the Start Meeting button, you can create a free trial account. Each subsequent time, you will go directly to your Acrobat Connect personal meeting room. See Meetings.
Initiate a review where comments are stored on a central server, allowing all participants to see comments in real time. No extra server software is needed. Shared reviews work with a folder on a network server, a Windows SharePoint workspace, or a web folder on a web server. Comments are automatically retrieved, even if Acrobat isn’t running, and added when disconnected from the network. Notifications tell users that there are new comments. Comments from reviewers outside the firewall can be merged into the shared review. Enable Reader users to participate. See Start a shared review.
Provides details about all active reviews. For shared reviews, this includes the number of comments from a reviewer, the review deadline, server status, unread reviews, and a summary of updated shared reviews. See Tracking PDF reviews .
View and accurately place callout and cloud markups as you apply them. The callout leader automatically moves as you position the callout. Selected comments are highlighted for easier visibility when zoomed out. Rotate stamps, and select all tools from a single, integrated toolbar. See Commenting.
Use a wizard to create PDF forms from templates, existing electronic documents, paper forms, or spreadsheet data. Customize forms with contact information and logos. Edit in Adobe LiveCycle Designer. See Creating and editing forms.
Import a PDF as background artwork on a form in LiveCycle Designer. Add form fields on top of the background. See LiveCycle Designer Help.
Track the forms you initiate or fill out. See Tracking forms.
Aggregate returned forms into a PDF package. Export the form data to a spreadsheet. See Submitting forms and Collecting and managing form data .
Automatically recognize form fields on non-interactive PDF documents and convert them to interactive fields that can be filled electronically. See Creating new forms.
Enable Reader 7.0 and 8.0 users to fill in, digitally sign, and locally save forms and other PDFs. See Enable Reader users to save form data.
Enroll in a signing service where the server holds your private key. Authenticate to the server from Acrobat and allow the document to be signed with your credentials stored on the server. See Set up a roaming ID account.
Before signing, view the document content as it will appear after eliminating transparency, scripts, fonts, and other dynamic content that can alter the document’s appearance. Acrobatautomatically runs the Document Integrity Checker, which now includes checking for Qualified Signatures conformance before entering signature preview mode. See Sign in Preview Document mode.
Predetermine the signing certificate. Configure the chain model for certificate validation. See Sharing and managing certificates.
Specify which choices a user can make when signing a document. See Customizing signature properties using seed values.
Allow Reader users to draw a signature field. See Before you certify a PDF.
From AutoCAD, convert multiple AutoCAD files to multiple PDFs. Improved speed of AutoCAD conversions to PDF. From outside AutoCAD, convert AutoCAD files to PDF. See Convert AutoCAD files to PDF (Windows) .
Measurement recalculated if start or end point moved. Measurements snap to lines, intersections, or corners. See Measure the height, width, or area of objects.
Mark text, images, and sensitive areas for redaction. Permanently apply redaction. Modify the appearance of redaction marks, including color and codes. See Redact sensitive content .
From within the Search feature, mark some or all search results for redaction. See Search and redact words .
Apply identifying labels to a batch of related documents—typically legal documents associated with a court case. Bates numbering appears as a header or footer on each page of each PDF in the batch. See Add a Bates numbering header or footer.
In Adobe Creative Suite, synchronize settings for on-screen color across the applications with a single click. See Synchronize color settings across Adobe applications.
Define flattener presets in one Adobe application, such as Acrobat, and then easily share those swatches with other applications, such as Illustrator and InDesign. See Create a flattener preset.
Locate, modify, or remove PDF elements using customizable fixup profiles. Create an inventory of PDF content, including XMP metadata. Perform advanced inspections on Cos objects and fonts. Convert to and validate PDF/X-4 and PDF/A files. Edit droplet settings for automated preflight inspections. See Correcting problem areas and Advanced inspections
Print pages as a simple booklet, for example, 2-up, saddle-stitched. See Print a booklet.
Maintain and access document and object-level metadata.
See and change the color space of a selected object. Scale, rotate, or clip an object. See Move or edit an object.
Manage files and versions as a single user or in a small workgroup. Integrate with Adobe Bridge to manage files for your Creative Suite projects. See Adobe Version Cue.
Read and organize eBooks and other publications with Adobe Digital Editions (a separate product). When you first click the Digital Editions menu item, you can download and install the Adobe Digital Editions software. After you install, choosing Digital Editions takes you directly to your Adobe Digital Editions bookshelf. See Adobe Digital Editions.
Measurement recalculated if start or end point moved. Measurements snap to lines, intersections, or corners. See Measure the height, width, or area of objects.