Customer Reviews

Adobe Acrobat Professional 9 [Mac] [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I used this product just long enough to discover that the Mac version does not support rich content when converting Word .doc or .docx files to PDF. Internal links (cross-references to bookmarks in the same document), for example, are not converted. For that, I was told after several support calls, one needs the Windows version, which is supposed to come with PDFMaker for use in such conversions.

All that was several weeks ago. It took that long, working faithfully with the call center from day to day and from week to week to sort out (1) who I am - I had an older customer ID associated with a purchase made years ago, and it took several calls to figure out the customer ID under which my Acrobat 9 purchase was made; (2) make them realize that I'd uploaded my software destruction agreement as a prerequisite to the license swap that would get me the Windows version; (3) confirm shipment. The Windows version is due to arrive this week. All I can do is hope that I don't have to call back and start over at the beginning.

Adobe makes great products and is uniquely situated in today's ebook marketplace as the purveyor of PDF, the new preferred format for the Kindle DX. They won't have to do much to ride the wave of success built on quality and market positioning made all the more profitable by this new wave of good fortune. There isn't much in this mix to motivate a more efficient customer support organization, and it shows.

The call center people are very sharp and helpful but mired in a disjointed business model. They do the best they can.

I had used Acrobat for Windows for years and liked it very much. A stable and useful program.

I got an IMac and the Mac version of the same program. Whatta dog! The program hung up on its own files when doing a search on the same HD as the application. You got an error message when you tried to update saying the original file had changed and that you had to reinstall. It was a stupid error message in that updates created a different file than the original (duh, Adobe). The final straw was that I got an error message saying my original program was part of a suite (it wasn't) and that I should activate with another product of that suite that I did not have.

It has been three weeks since my latest Adobe case number and they seem to be more interested in getting CS5 out than improving current programs and making them usable.

Steve Jobs was right in not allowing Adobe products to run on Apple machines.

I need this product because of the things that I do. I am an artist and a writer. This product may be overkill, however, for those who do not have a professional use for it. Another reviewer mentions on this page that a serious problem with it is that it does not natively support certain microsoft document files. I bet the reason for that is that most of us using Macs use iWork 09 as our Word equivalent software. Thus, Pages software opens a document file and then you may convert it to whatever you wish. I used to keep Open Office on my macbook but then I discovered that between the Adobe products and iWork 09, I really no longer needed Open Office. I had used Open Office to replace Microsoft Office since it is freeware and essentially the same software as MS Office. Remember, this is a product for Macs and it usually works best to use Mac products along with the Adobe products. The first reviewer covers all the things this product does very, very well so I will not reiterate all of that. I think what this product is called "professional" pretty much sums up the user for it. You can use lesser versions if this does not address your professional needs.

I have a very specific need, and this product totally, wonderfully meets that need. Which is? People send me stuff by PDF, for my comment. I'm a consultant. My beat: donor communications. There are a couple of dozen criteria that help donor communications perform better. Using the post-it note function and the highlighter function in Acrobat Pro 9 [Mac], I can breezily comment on any PDF sent me by a client and then later post these commentaries (with permission) on my website [www.aherncomm.com] for any other nonprofit to view and learn from. Pro 9 works for this task. It's simple. It's flexible. I'm happy as a quahog (the native clam of my home state).

What's New in Adobe Acrobat Pro?

First, there are new tools for graphics professionals in Acrobat. These new features are designed for graphic designers, production artists, and pre-press and printing professionals.

The new Touch Up Text tool lets users make last-minute text edits to a PDF file or edit images embedded in PDF documents by way of the new Graphics Select Tool.

More: What's New in Adobe Acrobat Pro

Easily convert files to PDF with Acrobat. It's now a snap to convert files in other formats to PDF. The user can drag and drop a graphic, spreadsheet, text, HTML, or other file onto the Acrobat icon. The file will automatically open as a new PDF file with Acrobat.

New Ease-of-Use Features

Adobe has also added new ease-of-use features to Acrobat software, including drag-and-drop conversion of Microsoft Word and other formatted files into PDF format.

* Yellow Highlighting Annotation Tools

Acrobat adds a set of new annotation tools: Yellow highlighting pen and a pencil tool. Now, adding changes to an Acrobat document is as easy as making corrections to a paper document.

* Highlight Text

Adobe Acrobat users can now emphasize words, sentences, or entire paragraphs in an Acrobat document using a digital yellow highlighter pen. The user can change the yellow to pink, blue, or a custom color.

The electronic highlighting marks in Acrobat show up when the document is photocopied or faxed. By comparison, highlighting marks made on paper documents does not show up when faxed or photocopied.

* Underline Text

Another way to call attention to a word or sentence in Acrobat 9 Pro is to underline it.

* Strike through Text

Acrobat 9 Pro users can now suggest editing cuts more explicitly by drawing a line through unwanted text.

Forms in Acrobat are Easier

Creating forms in Acrobat is easier because it comes with built-in functions for data calculations, validation and formatting. You don't need programming experience to create forms. Adobe Acrobat's simple "point-and-click" works together with pull-down menus and dialog boxes makes form creation fast and easy. Acrobat allows you not only to design forms in Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign, and convert them to PDF. Now you make them dynamic documents that recipients with Acrobat or the free Acrobat Reader can fill out and return to you Online.

Pro Reaction

Adobe Acrobat easily creates and review PDF files. Now, you can publish PDF files anywhere. With free Acrobat Reader software, you can view, navigate and print PDF from Mac, Windows and UNIX computers.

Transfer PDF files to service bureaus and printers electronically. You can easily make brochures and presentations accessible worldwide. Also, you can post PDF documents such as HR forms online complete with links and bookmarks without reauthoring in HTML.

Con Reaction

Companies misuse Adobe Acrobat by not making bookmarks nor text links to navigate through their help software PDF manuals. In addition, two and three columns text PDFs are difficult to read on the computer screen.

Acrobat Standard only works on Windows computers. Acrobat Pro works on both Windows and Mac OS computers.

Personal Observation

I have always liked working with Adobe Acrobat. Most of my presentations were made using the slide show portion of Adobe Acrobat for cross-platform PC and Mac clients.

Adobe needs to hire some developers with a pulse, or some kind of ability to empathize with it's users.. I get some annoying nagging icon, that keeps bouncing until i click it. Sorry Adobe products, but you are not that important to me, I don't think you deserve to bounce endlessly in my dock. Also, thanks for making me quit Safari to run your crappy update. So now instead of killing time while waiting for your crappy updates by browsing the internet, i get to sit and watch your crap slowly update.

I used to love Adobe, but products like this make me change my mind.

The Acrobat programs have always been a bit ugly, but this latest version is slow and buggy too.

I'm all for the PDF spec and the annotated workflow. But the way Adobe Acrobat munges font data and uses a patchwork of hacks is bizarre. I blame their dedication to making everything Windows native. This has lost them a lot of prestige and quality. Glorified cash-registers need software too, I guess.

It's sad to see them turn into Microsoft.

I have an older Mac and it's great to still be able to buy software to match the old system ... I spent a bit of time searching and Amazon had what I wanted.

I've used Acrobat 9 Pro for a couple of years now & recently switched from a PC to a Mac. This product saves me a lot of time, helps us stay more organized & helps us communicate electronically with other professionals in our field of law.