AppleInsider Staff
Adobe on Tuesday unveiled Document Cloud, an all-encompassing digital document management solution that includes a new touch-enabled version of Acrobat and two iOS-specific apps.
Set to launch in April, Document Cloud can be thought of as a central hub for a user's document creation and management needs.
Acrobat DC is a major facet of Document Cloud and has been completely redesigned with mobile applications in mind. Adobe says the new Acrobat DC is packed full of new features to help process and manage PDF documents, as well as touchscreen support and a fresh layout.
Unlike past mobile Acrobat software that shipped with limited functionality, the upcoming Acrobat Mobile will be a full-featured, touch-enabled app with a variety of powerful tools. As an example, a new feature uses Photoshop technology to convert pictures taken with an iPhone into a PDF file that can be edited, signed and even automatically filled with a user's personal information.
Digital signatures are getting special treatment, as Adobe is launching a tool called Sign Services — formerly Echo Sign — that lets users track a document as it is passed along for multiple signatures. In addition, users can turn to a new mobile app called Fill & Sign to sign documents with a stylus or finger.
Wrapped in Document Cloud, Acrobat relies on Mobile Link to sync across platforms — desktop, mobile and Web — to keep information up to date.
Adobe Acrobat DC and Document Cloud will ship in April. Users can sign up for current versions of Acrobat XI Pro for $14.99 per month, or Acrobat XI Standard for $12.99 per month, each of which will be automatically upgraded to Acrobat DC when it becomes available. Adobe is also planning to offer Acrobat DC as a one-time purchase.
Malcolm Owen
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12 Comments
Useless. Most corporate users I know don't even know how to properly annotate a pdf let alone digitally sign it.
The most common use of editable PDF is not digital signatures. (Not to be confused with being able to sign your name on a form.) Adobe should focus on adding these two features that people have been begging-for for years: Allow images to be inserted in editable PDFs (i.e in insert image form element) and allow on screen signatures using the touch screen. (Sign/touch signature form element.) It would dramatically widen the uses of PDF in business and consumer spaces. (Most businesses are simply not technical enough to use the digital signing technology.)
Monthly subscription, I'll pass.
[quote name="mstone" url="/t/185267/adobe-reveals-document-cloud-acrobat-dc-with-e-signing-photo-pdf-conversion-more#post_2693283"]Useless. Most corporate users I know don't even know how to properly annotate a pdf let alone digitally sign it. [/quote] I hope Adobe can make electronic signing more understood. The cost of this seems a little high but not that far off many current digital signing systems such as Docusign or similar, used by many Realtors these days that I come across. My wife is a realtor and I run her Docusign system for her and it has been extremely frustrating at times . It is quite amazing how many people cannot understand how to simply click through a document to sign it digitally even with clear instructions. Many simply print it out, fill it in by hand and fax it back! The part that seems to totally go over so many heads is the concept that they are accessing a document on a server / cloud and once completed it's done. They seem fixated on the need to download and return it.
Perhaps this will be yet another benefit of my Creative Cloud subscription which includes Acrobat XI Pro.