Adobe Acrobat

Have you ever wanted to send a bunch of photographs in one email as a slide show
that will work on anyone’s computer? Try creating a pdf slideshow presentation:

1. Organize desired photos by giving each image a descriptive name and
   placing them all in one folder with no other files in the folder.
2. From Acrobat, choose File/Create PDF/From Multiple Files.
3. Click on Add Files, browse to your images and select them (Ctrl-A selects all
   the files within the folder or choose to Add Folder and add the entire folder in one swoop).
4. Click the radio button at the bottom of the screen that says Small File Size
   so the end file will be small enough to email easily.
5. Choose to merge the files into a single pdf; click Create; click Save; name your file.
6. Change the document opening options: File/Properties/Initial View Tab to the following:

Hide whatever you wish to hide under the User Interface Options. Save and close your PDF.

Open it again to try it out. Click to move from slide to slide.

Now email it to your friends!

Additional information pertaining to my last post about working in the Cloud with Acrobat.com:

Acrobat.com is using its own proprietary software for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and databases. It is a great way for a group of people to work together on the same project without anyone having to buy software. Adobe’s online software allows you to work on the exact same document at the exact same time as others; each individual can see what the others are doing. This would be a fabulous solution for a small company that didn’t want to spend money on offices or software. All employees could work from home and still work together. Many community projects would benefit from this service, too. I don’t know if the simultaneous editing works with the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite, though. I will test it out and report. It would be great to work in PhotoShop or InDesign or Illustrator simultaneously with someone.

If the end result must be sent to a client in Word format, the proprietary software won’t work. If the end result can be a pdf, this will work well. I don’t see law firms doing this. They have way too much invested in the Microsoft Office suite of products. I wonder how well Acrobat’s word processor handles a table of authorities and a table of contents on 28-line pleading paper with an embedded logo. Does it link with a macro package or your Outlook Contacts? I shall report back when I have tested this.

It would still be a productive product for groups within a larger organization to work on specific projects…web content, pdf projects, marketing materials, newsletters all come to mind. And Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations etc. can still be stored in the workspaces. They just cannot be accessed simultaneously.

I think it’s time to Climb the Clouds (Sly and the Family Stone).