Aidan MalleyAdobe on Wednedsay made available Acrobat 9, the latest version of its PDF creation and reading software, and also revamped its Creative Suite 3 bundle to include the new Acrobat edition.
Adobe's biggest offerings are its format and collaboration tools. Version 9 now adds native support for Flash animations embedded into PDF files, a redesigned interface for packaging multiple PDFs now dubbed PDF Portfolios, and a beta online collaboration service at acrobat.com that lets workgroups view and edit PDFs online at the same time.
The refresh also lets owners of differing versions make scanned-in documents searchable, the ability to track when people complete and submit forms, and create geospatial-aware PDF-based maps.
The full Acrobat 9 software is available immediately in a Standard edition for $299 with a $99 upgrade price; a Pro edition at $449 adds the ability to validate PDF files to certain standards, convert files from AutoCAD and other formats to PDF, and embed either Flash or H.264 video clips. It can be purchased as an upgrade for $159.
A definitive Acrobat 9 Pro Extended version at $699 ($229 upgrade) bundles Adobe Presenter, which lets users edit PowerPoint presentations and translate them to PDF, allows more 3D and video conversion formats, and adds the map creation feature.
The unveiling of Acrobat 9 also brings the launch of Creative Suite 3.3, an upgraded version of the audiovisual editing package that now includes Acrobat 9 by default. Photoshop and other programs in the suite are unchanged from their respective versions released last year.
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9 Comments
I yawned.
Photoshop and other programs in the suite are unchanged from their respective versions released last year.
Other reports on this upgrade say that Fireworks will be added to the Design Premium package.
What they want us to pay for updates that fix everything that's broken in Acrobat CS3.
Not ME!
The multiple "editions." The increasing emphasis of "profit security." Carve the market finer and finer until you have a jungle of products that no one can figure out. Products tiered into a dizzying number. Relax and buy the whole ridiculously-expensive package. Not a good precedent.
Here's one: Photoshop doesn't understand an 8-bit png with alpha channel, which is allowed in the Blu-ray specs. Funny, Pixelmator understands what's going on: $60. The Gimp understands it: $0. Not Photoshop. So Sonic will sell you a $1,000 plug-in that corrects this flaw.
It's incomprehensible to me that Photoshop, with its hefty retail price, cannot understand what the Gimp gets right for free, and anything that has Apple's Core Image also gets right.
Concentrate on quality, Adobe.
Acrobat = Overpriced Bloatware