Introduction to Adobe Acrobat X

Where do new PDF files come from? To answer that question, Lesson 2 will start with a discussion on planning your project's workflow. You'll try out several different methods to create a PDF document using common programs including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You'll find out how to work with PDFMaker, a toolbar that Acrobat installs in some Microsoft programs that helps you choose settings and create PDF files automatically. You'll also work with the Adobe PDF Printer, which allows you to produce PDF files from programs that don't export them directly.

In this lesson, instead of using PDF documents converted from many different types of files, you'll see how to add a blank page to a PDF file. You'll try importing some text from another file, and format the text in Acrobat. Along with typing text in the page, you'll work with the editing tools to manipulate the content on the page and add some graphics.

Mixing and matching—moving pages from one document to another—is a common way to edit PDF files. Acrobat X Pro offers a number of techniques for combining and changing page content. You'll start with simple files and then learn how to add and delete pages, as well as learn specialized ways to slip a new page into a document without disturbing any of the elements added to the page, such as links or bookmarks. You'll combine documents (and even specific pages from documents) into one PDF document, and you'll find out how to resize or crop pages so that they all match. You'll learn about metadata—the information Acrobat X stores about a document. Finally, you'll discover how to add password protection that lets you specify whether users can print or use contents from your files.

It's one thing to bring together content from different types of files. It's quite another to make the content look like it belongs together! In this lesson, you'll learn about Acrobat features that help make your document look more uniform. You'll work with backgrounds and watermarks that can be either text or graphics. You'll see how to use headers and footers that you can customize using your own text, choices of fonts, colors, and so on. You'll also use the Snapshot tool to create a new PDF document from a page segment. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to easily make all your documents look put together, whether they started out as two files or 10!

When you work with a table of contents in Acrobat and many other programs, you click a link on the page to take you to a certain part of the document. But then how do you get back to the table of contents to find another topic? Acrobat X solves that problem by using bookmarks. In this lesson, you'll learn about building and displaying bookmarks in a separate pane that stays visible while the file is open. You'll discover different ways to create bookmarks and customize their appearance to match your document. Then, you'll take a look at adding attachments to your PDF document. If you've ever had to send someone an email and had trouble remembering if you sent all the necessary attachments, you'll like this feature. You'll wind up the lesson by looking at some ways to make your files more compact.

Everyone knows how to use links on a webpage: Just click them to get to the linked page. In this lesson, you'll learn about using links in a PDF file. You'll start working with Acrobat JavaScript—and you don't need to be a programmer to use it—to add multiple links and work with custom actions. Like web links, links in Acrobat can open another PDF document, show another page, or send an email. Next, you'll find out about linking to webpages from a PDF file and downloading a webpage to create or add to a document right in Acrobat. And the lesson won't just talk about text links—you'll also create a link from an image.

Did you know that Acrobat X includes an Artificial Intelligence module? While it can't perform any science fiction magic, it can look at a document, decide where you'd like to have form fields, and then add and name the fields for you automatically. In this lesson, you'll see how it works with PDF forms, also called AcroForms. You'll learn about using the Form Wizard to produce a form for you, and then you'll look at some ways to add more form fields. You'll have a chance to calculate prices for different products in the form you create and even build a button that changes its appearance when you click it.

Collaborating on a document—sharing it with others and gathering their feedback—is one of the most popular uses of Acrobat. In this lesson, you'll discover how to use common commenting tools and customize the program to make it simpler for you to work. You'll go through each group of tools and check out the corresponding group of commenting preferences along the way. You'll first learn about Sticky Notes and customizing how you view comments. Next, you'll use the Highlights and Callouts and decide how and where you like to read the comment contents. You'll finish the lesson by trying out Stamp comments and making a custom stamp.

Once you've learned to add and configure comments, you'll need to find a use for them. In this lesson, you'll work with a document review. You'll see how to start a shared review, send email invitations, and work online at Acrobat.com. You'll learn how to set up and manage a review, including different ways to work with comments.

In this lesson, you'll take your collaboration skills to the next level. You'll start by adding another type of form field to your form, then you'll discover how to distribute the form you created in an earlier lesson. Along the way, you'll see how to use Tracker, an automated feature that monitors your form's distribution process. Acrobat X Pro also includes a PDF Portfolio feature that you'll work with as you collect form results. The PDF Portfolio includes some tools that let you filter and sort your data and export it to other programs. You'll also see how to create an Excel spreadsheet from the form data you collect. Then you'll find out how to work in real time with others using Collaborate Live, and see how to work online in your own ConnectNow web conferencing space.

Just when you think you couldn't possibly learn any more ways to combine and break down documents in Acrobat, it's time to talk about Portfolios! You'll start by preparing the files for the final Portfolio project. You'll find out how to split a document into several parts using a couple of different methods, and then see how to automate some preparation details used actions. Once you've prepared the files, you'll start a PDF Portfolio. Then you'll try out different appearance features, add some images, and work with color schemes. Finally, you'll learn how to manage the content of your PDF Portfolio, such as adding folders and moving files. By the end of this lesson, you'll be ready to use Acrobat to combine, create, and collaborate on documents like never before!