Adobe Releases Acrobat 9, Creative Suite 3.3

• By David Nagel
• 06/25/08

Adobe has now released Acrobat 9, announced earlier this month, along with an updated Creative Suite (version 3.3), which incorporates Acrobat 9 Pro software.

The new versions of Acrobat 9--Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro, and Acrobat 9 Standard--incorporate a number of functional and workflow improvements that are designed to expand the range of collaboration tools available to users and broaden support for multimedia. The new features are particularly geared toward expanding the software's functionality for students in the areas of collaboration and the creation of electronic portfolios.

The process of creating portfolios in Acrobat has been simplified in the new version and includes:

• Support for Flash video;
• The ability to embed PowerPoint presentations (without converting them);
• Pre-designed templates for portfolios;
• The ability to add descriptions in Edit view; and
• Support for a variety of media in one PDF portfolio, ranging from still images and video to 3D objects and spreadsheets.

Other new features include:

• A new form wizard;
• Form submissions through e-mail, with a tool that also allows for the tallying of responses to forms;
• Built-in 3D object support (Extended only);
• Adobe Presenter included with Extended;
• Enhanced fidelity when embedding Web pages;
• New 256-bit document encryption;
• Redaction tools for permanently removing sensitive information for documents;
• Automated tools for previewing, preflighting, and otherwise preparing PDF files for print;
• The ability to verify PDF standards via a new PDF Standards pane;
• The ability to create and validate accessible documents; and
• Various performance improvements.

Significantly, the new version also eliminates the fee for enabling form saving in Acrobat Reader. This will allow users to fill out electronic, PDF-based forms and save those forms with the fields filled out. The form creator no longer has to pay to enable this feature.

Acrobat 9 also enables certain collaborative features available through the new Acrobat.com beta Web site, which was also announced earlier this month.

Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro, and Acrobat 9 Standard are available now for Windows in English, French, German, and Japanese. The Mac OS X lineup, also available now, does not include Pro Extended but does include Pro and Standard editions. Acrobat 9 Pro Extended sells for $699; Acrobat 9 Pro sells for $449; and Acrobat 9 Standard sells for $299.

Educational pricing for each version has been discounted significantly. Acrobat 9 Pro Extended runs $229 (term site license: $24, with 100 unit minimum); Acrobat 9 Pro runs $159 (term site license: $15, with 100 unit minimum).

New versions of the Creative Suite, incorporating the new version of Acrobat, has also begun shipping. These include Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 Design Premium, Creative Suite 3.3 Design Standard, Creative Suite 3.3 Web Premium, and Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 Master Collection.

Further information about the Acrobat 9 family can be found here. Further information about Acrobat 9 for education can be found here. Further details about the new editions of the Creative Suite can be found here.

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