I Came, I Saw, I Learned...

Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Description Fields to Document Properties

by Barb Binder  

It's easy to ignore the Description tab of the Document Properties dialog box in Adobe Acrobat. You may never even think about it as you create, enhance and review your PDFs. But if you start amassing a large collection of PDFs, ignoring the Description tab would be a mistake. The Description fields are easily searched (both locally and online) and taking a few minutes to fill them out as you go will save you the headache of realizing a few years down the road that you should have been doing it all along.  

 

My personal rule is to make sure I get those fields filled out when I make a PDF. I set the fields up in advance for files created in InDesign, FrameMaker and Word so that they are saved with the source file and simply appear each time I create a PDF.

The general steps are the same for all three applications (and many others that I won't address here). Basically, it's:

1. Open up a native file in your source application.
2. Figure out where to enter the description fields.
3. Create the PDF.
4. Open the PDF in Acrobat or Reader.
5. Choose File > Properties > Description to view the fields.

For the specifics on setting this up in InDesign, FrameMaker and Word, read on.

Adobe InDesign

1. Open any InDesign document.
2. Choose File > File Info > Description (Mac & Win), fill out the description fields and click OK. 
3. Choose File > Export to create the PDF document.
4. Open Acrobat or Reader.
5. Choose File > Properties > Description to see the fields.

To see any additional fields, click the Additional Metadatabutton.        

Adobe FrameMaker

1. Open any FrameMaker document.
2. Choose File > File Info, fill out the description fields and then click OK.
3. Choose File > Save as PDF to create the PDF document.
4. Open Acrobat or Reader.
5. Choose File > Properties > Description to see the fields.

Microsoft Word

1. Open any Word document.
2. Choose File > Properties (Mac) or File > Prepare > Properties (Windows) and fill out the description fields.

On Word for Windows, the fields appear at the top of the document. If you want to see the dialog box, you have to click Document Properties, and navigate to the Summary tab. On a Mac, you are taken right to the dialog box.


3. Choose File > Save as PDF (Mac) or PDFMaker(Win) to create the PDF document.
4. Open Acrobat or Reader.
5. Choose File > Properties > Description to see the fields. 

I know and use all of the steps as described above. Even so, yesterday I found myself with 50+ PDFs that I had just created. I was ready to send them off to the client and realized that I forgot to enter the description fields... on all of them! If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, check out next week's article: Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Description Fields to Multiple PDFs.

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Need to learn Acrobat? Barb's next Acrobat class is April 25. Come learn the basics in just two days.

Adobe Acrobat X: Filling in Online Forms

by Barb Binder 

In a perfect world, everyone would not only own, but also know how to use, Adobe Acrobat X Professional. And if they did, they would only post online forms with fields that were enabled for typing. Sadly, that's not currently our world. Or at least it's not mine. When I'm directed to an online form, I typically find that I'm expected to print, fill in the form by hand, and then fax it back.

As a long-time Adobe Acrobat instructor, I know that with a few short clicks, a form can be enabled for online data entry. But if a PDF isn't set up to add data, what can be done? Since I'm both printing-adverse (I love trees), and Acrobat-knowledgeable, here's what I do:  

1. Locate the form I need to fill out on a website.
   
    
2. Right-click it to open it in Acrobat X Professional or Acrobat X Standard. (If you are using Adobe Reader X to access the form, be sure to read the note below.)
   
    
3. Always hopeful, I will start by trying to type into a field. When I see the Hand tool show up, and not the insertion point cursor, I know I need to move on to step 4.
   
   
   
    
4. Choose View > Tools > Content > Add or Edit Text Box to open the Typewriter Toolbar.
   
   
   
    
5. Now I can select the Typewriter tool, pick my formatting and just click to start typing.
   
    
6. When I'm done, I can e-mail it back to the distributor and no trees were harmed in the process!

That's the good news. However, if you are using a copy of Adobe Reader X to access the form, you will not be able to choose View > Tools > Content > Add or Edit Text Box unless the person posting the form enabled the command when they saved the file.

If you are the one posting forms online, and don't have the time or inclination to learn how to create fillable form fields, please at least save a copy of the form using File > Save as > Reader Extended PDF > Enable Adding Text in Documents (that are not fillable forms). As long as you are saving a copy, it's OK to accept the alert box shown below.

 

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

Editing with Acrobat: Get the Comment Pane's Numbers to Match Acrobat's Page Numbers

by Jennie Ruby

This week a past student of my Editing with Acrobat class contacted me with this problem: The page numbers used in the Comments pane at the bottom of her screen did not match the page numbers displayed in the page number field at the top of the screen. Endless confusion resulted when she tried to discuss editorial changes with authors--Is that on page 2? or page 21?

Page Navigation toolbar:

Comments Pane:

Where did these different numbers come from? The number 21 corresponds with the actual printed number on that page as it will appear in the printed publication. Acrobat picked this number up from the desktop publishing software used to create the document. It is called the "logical" page number. The number 2 corresponds with the second page in the Acrobat PDF. I will be calling this number the "Acrobat" page number.

One quick fix to make these two numbers match is to set Acrobat to use the Acrobat page numbers (starting with 1 as the first page of the PDF) instead of the "logical" numbers. To do this, choose Edit > Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Page Display category, deselect Use logical page numbers and click OK. 

Now, within your screen, the numbers are consistent. But how do you discuss your comments with an author who is looking at a printout that has the "logical" page numbers on it? You may need to create a summary of the comments using the logical page numbers.

To create a summary numbered to match the author's printout, return to the Preferences dialog box (Edit > Preferences > Page Display) and select Use logical page numbers. Then choose Comments > Summarize Comments.

Choose a layout and formatting for your summary, then click Create PDF Comment Summary. You will get a new PDF showing the original text and the comments, and any page numbers referred to in the comments will match the "logical" printed page numbers. 

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Need help with Acrobat's many editing tools? Or do you need a reliable way to get feedback from several people on a document or PowerPoint deck? My Editing with Acrobat class is a great place to start.

Are you an eLearning developer who has been tasked with creating an effective voiceover script? If so, consider attending Jennie's Writing Effective eLearning Voiceover Scripts class. Jennie also teaches the Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts and the Complete Review of Grammar class.  

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 About the Author:  Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

Acrobat X: Help... Anywhere!

by David R. Mankin 

 

Help... it's one of the first things I teach in any Acrobat class. The Acrobat Help System is available with a quick press of the F1 key, and it's been that way for as long as I can remember (regardless of the version of Acrobat).

What varies from version to version is the type of Help file that ships with Acrobat, and therefore the program in which Help opens. Later versions of Help were HTML based documents, and opened in your default browser. In Acrobat 9, pressing F1 opened your browser and presented an HTML help file that was on your hard drive.

I was a little surprised to see what happened when I pressed F1 in the brand-new Acrobat X. My browser opened and the Help file was offered for my use, but I quickly noticed that the browser's address bar indicated that this was not a local file on my hard drive, but an HTML file located on Adobe's server. Is this a problem? No... unless you're at 36,000 feet over the Rocky Mountains in a 747, or inside the walls of a highly secure workspace. 

I found a neat way to ensure that Acrobat's Help file is at your fingertips at all time. From a computer with Acrobat X installed (and internet access), press F1 from within Acrobat to open the online Help file in your web browser. In the upper right of your browser window, look for a link that reads View Help PDF (23 MB) and click it.

This will load a PDF version of the Help file into your browser window, or you can right-click the link and opt to save the PDF to your computer. I have the PDF Help file saved to my desktop so it's available and easy to find--even at 36,000 feet!

Since Acrobat X's help file is online, you only need a url to see it: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/pro/using/index.html.

 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

Acrobat: CreatePDF Service in the Cloud

by David R. Mankin 

 

There are many ways to create PDFs. If you have Acrobat Professional running on your machine, you have probably discovered that Acrobat's installation process installed a print driver for you. It's called Adobe PDF and can be used to create a PDF file from any application that has print capabilities. Some of you may even use this feature exclusively.

Now suppose you are away from your computer and you find yourself at someone else's machine, or you have a PC that does not have Acrobat Professional installed. You need to produce a PDF on the spot, but without your Adobe PDF print driver at hand, you're stuck... or are you?

Adobe has added another terrific service to their cloud. It's called CreatePDF and it offers some pretty amazing features. This is not Adobe's first online-PDF creation utility, but it certainly is the most flexible and capable. CreatePDF will allow you to convert many file types to PDF.

As useful as this is, it's just the tip of the iceberg. You can convert multiple documents into a single PDF file, and if you're using Windows, you can download and install a special print driver that will allow you to create a PDF file online from any application that can print. All this functionality is available for computers that do not have Acrobat Pro installed. Amazing!



Is the service free? Yes... and no. You can convert five files to PDF as a test drive, but the combining multiple files to a single PDF won't be available to you unless you subscribe to the service. The cost to use this service with unlimited conversions is only $9.99 per month. Visit https://createpdf.acrobat.com/welcome.html to give it a try or to subscribe to the service. You can access the tools from your Acrobat.com account too.

I believe the monthly fee is more than reasonable if you will be at various computers throughout your work-week, and Acrobat Pro is not always at hand. Remember, you can log in to the service from any machine with web access and a browser!
 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

Acrobat: SendNow is Live!

by David R. Mankin 

 

I have written articles about Adobe's ever-growing Cloud which started with an application called Buzzword. Adobe then added Presentations and then Tables.

Most of us are not tied to just one computer. It's likely that you use multiple devices throughout the day (a PC or two, a smartphone). It just doesn't make sense to have your valuable files sitting exclusively on just one of your devices. At some point you will need to access a specific file from more than one device. This is exactly why cloud computing is so valuable, and increasingly more necessary.

If you've ever tried to email someone a large attachment, you have probably run into email attachment size limitations. How then can you send a 15 megabyte email attachment? You'll love Adobe's new cloud-based SendNow service! If you already have an Acrobat.com account, you can log in and begin using SendNow immediately.

To use the SendNow feature, simply click Select File to locate your file. Type the email address of your intended recipient, jot a note to accompany the file and then click Send Now.



Your file will be uploaded into Acrobat.com and scanned for viruses. An email is then sent to your intended recipient, and they can then download the file from the SendNow server.

The SendNow service is multi-tiered, and pricing is very reasonable, considering that it offers a method of sending files (up to 2 Gigabytes in the Plus pricing, and 20 Gigabytes of online storage) from any machine TO any machine. There's a less expensive Basic plan, and heck--I'm using it for free to write this article and test it out!

Here's where I get to tie it in perfectly with Acrobat itself. In the soon-to-be-released Acrobat X, you can use the Share panel and send a file using SendNow. Easy, and awesome!

Want to learn a ton about Acrobat? Sign up for one of my live, online Acrobat classes.
 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

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Acrobat: Security Envelopes

by David R. Mankin 

 

Acrobat will allow you to apply password security to a PDF file, therefore giving you control over who can open your file. There are times, however, that you may want to similarly control documents that are not PDF files.

Here's an example: I have six files that I want to email to a coworker. Because the files contain sensitive material, I don't want just anyone to be able to open them. One of the files is a PDF, but the others are not. A very slick method for securing the files would be to use Acrobat's Security Envelope feature. A Security Envelope is a PDF file (actually a PDF form) that has attached files. Since the Security Envelope itself is a PDF file, one can easily apply security to it, and therefore protect the attachments, regardless of the file type.

To start the process, click the Secure Task Button and choose Create Security Envelope.

 

 

Click the Add File to Send button to browse for your attachments. You may do this process as many times as needed to find files in multiple locations.

 

Once you've collected your attachments, click Next. You will then be given the opportunity to select your desired envelope template. These are simply PDF forms, and you can create your own if you wish. I chose Interdepartment eEnvelope. I opted to send my Security Envelope later in the next screen.

 

The next screen will allow you to select a pre-defined Security Policy, or the opportunity to create one from scratch. (A Security Policy is a memorized security routine that can be applied and reused to PDF files quickly and efficiently). You can bypass security settings and apply them later, or not at all if you prefer.

 

You will end up with a single PDF file. In this case, it truly resembles an interdepartmental envelope--complete with red string and fastening grommets!

 

 

There are form fields ready to be filled with appropriate information. Once saved, the security is applied to the PDF file. The attachments are included inside the PDF, and covered by its security settings. If a user cannot open the PDF file (he/she does not have the open password, for example), they cannot get to the attachments.

A very cool feature that many folks have never seen! Want to learn more? Sign up for one of my live, online Acrobat classes.

 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

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Acrobat: X-citing News!

by David R. Mankin 

 

There's something exciting in the Adobe world, and it's about to hit the shelves of your favorite software store. Adobe recently announced the pending release of the Acrobat X family of software. There are some really exciting changes and improvements over Acrobat 9. The most noticeable will be Acrobat X's user interface. It is uncluttered, and always gives the document its due focus instead of banks of toolbars and palettes.

 

PDF Portfolios are more usable, beautiful, and cooler, if you can image that! There will be improved scanning results, better OCR, integration with SharePoint technology, a better in-browser PDF experience and an Action Wizard that will blow you away with its power and flexibility.

 

You'll do less fishing for tools in this new release, thanks to a customizable Quick Tools area to the right of the view panel.

 

Exporting to Excel and Microsoft Word has been super-enhanced. There's more--MUCH more. To see a complete features list, click here.

 

The entire Acrobat family is being upgraded. Reader X will be free, of course, and there will be three other Acrobat X products for sale: Acrobat X Standard, Acrobat X Pro and Acrobat X Suite. Current Acrobat owners will be eligible for a special upgrade price. Although the exact release date has not been stated, you can expect this new version to hit the streets very soon.

 

I am very excited about getting my hands on Acrobat X, and bringing it to you in the classroom as soon as possible. In the meantime, sign up for one of my live, online Acrobat classes and learn about the cool stuff you can do with Acrobat 9.

 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

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Acrobat 9: Pan & Zoom

by David R. Mankin 

 

Many Acrobat users also work with some of Adobe's other amazing products. For example, I use Adobe Photoshop and Acrobat nearly every day.

 

One of the nice Photoshop features that I have grown to rely on is the Navigator, a miniature window of the currently active file. I can use the Navigator to move around to different regions of the Photoshop page, and change magnification, all without having to switch over to the Zoom tool or Hand tool.

 

Not many people realize that a tool similar to the Navigator exists in Acrobat and it allows you to move around the current PDF page, and even change magnification--all without changing tools.

 

While the feature is known as the Navigator in Photoshop, in Acrobat the tool is called the Pan & Zoom tool. It lives on the Select & Zoom toolbar, but it is not part of that toolbar's default set. You'll need to uncover it by right-clicking the Select & Zoom toolbar and choosing Pan & Zoom Window. At this point, the tool's icon will be visible on the toolbar.

 

 

Clicking the tool opens a window that contains a miniature view of your current page. This window is movable and scalable. You'll see a red rectangle that exactly mirrors the region of the page that is in view. Drag that rectangle and you can adjust your view panel to show the new location. Change the size of the rectangle and you will adjust your magnification.

 

If the red rectangle isn't easy to see due to your page's color scheme, you can change the highlight color as well. You can even navigate from page to page by using the Pan & Zoom's own navigation buttons.

 

Another Acrobat hidden gem! If you like that trick, sign up for one of my live, online Acrobat classes.

 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

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Acrobat 9: It's Update Time

by David R. Mankin 

 

Some things in life just get better with time. As a regular Acrobat user since version 2, I can tell you with great confidence that Acrobat 9 is better than Acrobat 8, which was better than Acrobat 7, etc.

 

 

Improvements and tweaks (and repair patches) are a constant component of the software industry. Adobe clearly doesn't sit back and take their eyes off the ball once its software is released. Those improvements can be obtained through Acrobat's (and Reader's) built-in Updater. To find out if your installation is current, simply choose Help > Check For Updates. If updates are available, you will be prompted to have the updates downloaded and installed.

 

Earlier this week, Adobe released an update which updates Reader & Acrobat to version 9.4. Most importantly, it addresses a critical vulnerability. Here are Adobe's words regarding this:

This vulnerability (CVE-2010-2883) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild.

 

This should be enough of a reason to check if you have this update installed. If you have your Updater preferences set to download and install updates automatically, you may already be current (Edit > Preferences > Updater on Windows, or Acrobat > Preferences > Updater on Mac to see your Updater settings).

 

If your Updater informs you that updates are available, don't hesitate. The thought of someone in another hemisphere taking my hard drive and data out for a remote test drive is rather unsettling.

 

Note: You can read Adobe's Release Notes on version 9.4 notes by clicking here.

 

Looking to learn Acrobat in a hurry? Sign up for one of my live, online Acrobat classes.

 

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About the author: David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

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