Justify Adobe Acrobat Pro

In My Humble Opinion
1

At work I have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Pro. Nice program, has some decent features, I’d rather have it than not. But the price tag is something like $450 for this thing! Compared to, say, Photoshop or other very expensive programs, I just can’t figure out what justifies the price of Acrobat. Most of the functions I’m aware of are things that can be done in other programs (review/track changes, etc.), and creating Acrobat documents doesn’t require the full package. I like the Bates stamping feature (I’m a lawyer), but that isn’t worth $400+.

So what am I missing here? Any Acrobat users want to tell me the features they couldn’t live without?

2

In order to do the shared reviews, you need the Professional version of the software.

Secondly, in v.9, they’ve got some really good CAD integration items in the Pro version not found in the Standard version.

Other than that, the program’s a damn rip-off. If you do a little hunting on the internet, you can get the software for about $250-$300.

3

Because, without it, people turn out the horrible pseudo-Acrobat files by just “printing” to Acrobat. It’s a very powerful format, with the ability to create active tables of content, internal links, external links - but all that requires the real version. I download a ton of product manuals, and 90% of them lack these features that would make the manual useful.

I wish Abobe had never added the “Print to Acrobat” function. If they had to export to some intermediate format, like Rich Text Format, and import that into Acrobat, more people would make decent Acrobat files.

4

Ever heard of an e-brief?

5

I think you can probably get most of the functions with other software, but I have it through work so I just use it instead of trying to find a workaround. I mainly use it for 1) collating single page pdfs into one longer document and 2) using the optimization tools to turn the final document into a smaller file size. I imagine a lot of people use it to create forms, but I’m not particularly satisfied with it’s interface for this so I might look into other options for that functionality. I also find it not very easy to work with in terms of just adding some text to an already existing document. But in terms of collating and optimizing document size it’s very handy for me.

6

What is “Print to Acrobat,” anyway? Is that analogous to printing to PostScript?

The thing that drives me up the wall with Acrobat Reader is the inability to save a completed form-fillable PDF. Gah.

7

You can save completed forms with Reader, as long as the form creator “enabled usage rights.” It’s just a step that the person who made the form has to do. If you can, send the form back if it’s not done and ask for a new one. It’s not a big deal.

8

I see what gaffa is saying about making a proper pdf, although that rarely applies to anything I do. As for ebriefs, unless that means something specific in your jurisdiction I’m not familiar with, it’s not something I’d need the full functionality of pro for…as long as you can print to pdf, you’re good to go.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I see that there are some good features I’m not using, but overall, it still seems to me that it’s not something I’d bother investing in if it weren’t provided for me at work. I supposed that part of the answer to why it’s so expensive is that it is aimed almost solely at corporate users.

9

E-briefs are basically hyper-linked multimedia legal motion delivery technology. No more boxes of paper and whatnot when filing motions. Probably something you would have a service create for you anyway.

10

Gotcha. You’re right…I’ve done something similar, but it was through a service. I do most of my practice in Cook County, IL, and we’re way behind the times when it comes to online court access and such. We don’t even have access to documnets online, much less online filing similar to the federal system. Someday our clerk’s office will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.