For many of us, experience with Adobe Acrobat actually means experience with Adobe Acrobat Reader (now often simply known as Adobe Reader) - that little piece of free software you find on every computer, which allows you to access the millions of .pdf files you find on the web. And, sure enough, it's a very helpful piece of software, given the universal nature of the .pdf format when it comes to accessing documents online.

So, what's the difference between Acrobat and Reader? Well, Reader - as you'd imagine - simply reads the files; Acrobat is the creator. So Acrobat inevitably has power and versatility far beyond anything you can get from the Reader... however, as 99% of your audience are going to be using Reader, it's important to ensure that they get the best possible experience.

Yet how rich of an experience can they really have? Doesn't Acrobat simply create online documents, an easy way to see information as it would appear in printed form? Well, with Acrobat X Pro, you'll find that there's a whole lot more that you can do with your documents.

Multimedia

If we're looking for information on a website, for instance, we've long since been used to finding whatever kind of content would be most suitable for getting that information across - be it text, audio, video, images or animations. Why should your .pdf document be any different? There's always been the scope, of course, for adding images, but now video, audio and Flash animations can be dropped into a document with just a couple of clicks.

Forms

So, right away, we've one clear difference between the Acrobat document and the printed equivalent. However, there's another thing that printed documents tend to do rather well - you can write on them. And in the past, any .pdf forms have had to be printed off in order to be filled in. Fortunately, that's no longer the case; your documents can be saved as Reader Extended forms, allowing them to be accessed and completed - even submitted directly back to your organisation - without needing to print or convert the file in any way.

Security

Many of us will use Adobe Reader mostly to view documents that are open to the public and stored online. However, if you're creating a .pdf file for your business purposes, you won't necessarily want it to be accessible to anyone - or you might just be looking to keep certain pieces of information private - whilst the recipient may need to be sure of the legitimacy and provenance of the file.

Publishing your documents with Acrobat X Pro solves these problems. Any file can be password locked and encrypted, ensuring that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Individual pieces of information - confidential customer data, for example - can be redacted at the touch of a button (with any record of the redacted information able to be wiped entirely if necessary), and Acrobat Guided Actions can help ensure that the same data is redacted every time if it appears across a number of documents. And to guarantee integrity, Acrobat can automatically attach a unique digital signature to the document - as well as allowing you, or a respondent to a form, to create a physical, written signature and stamp it where needed.

Impact

Designing your documents with Acrobat now gives you the power to make a greater impact than ever before - secure, trustable .pdf files with the content, style and degree of interactivity that you need. Acrobat X Pro can even help you to ensure that all content is easily accessible for those with disabilities or different technical requirements. It's important to be able to make the most of all that Acrobat has to offer - and a short training course for you or your staff can help your organisation do just that. And with the most effective and technologically up-to-date .pdf files, you can be confident of your documents making the most impact, and showing your business in the best possible light.