Adobe Systems has announced the availability of Adobe Acrobat Business Tools software, a new application designed to improve the productivity of Adobe PDF users. The software provides a host of capabilities that simplify document review and approval, improve communication and the transition of paper-based processes to more efficient electronic workflows.

Acrobat Business Tools is a part of Adobe ePaper Solutions. ePaper Solutions help managers find more efficient ways to integrate their paper and digital workflows. Adobe Acrobat Business tools is available through volume licensing or to individual users as an electronic software download from the Adobe.com website. Designed for broad deployment across organisations, Acrobat Business Tools offers Acrobat Reader users productivity features that go beyond simple viewing and printing of Adobe PDF files. The software includes several of the award-winning web and collaboration features found in Adobe Acrobat 4.0 software. It is also as easy to install and support as the Acrobat Reader.

Acrobat Business Tools enables users to:

* Complete and save electronic forms: Acrobat Business Tools enables companies to expand their use of Adobe PDF forms by giving users the capability to fill-in electronic forms and save them locally.

* Review and annotate documents: The software allows business users to efficiently annotate Adobe PDF files with electronic notes, highlighting, underlining, circling, and strike-through capabilities or make handwritten marks with the mouse-controlled Pencil tool.

* Capture and download fully formatted web pages: Users can download, annotate, scale, reliably print and easily distribute fully formatted web pages within one application. Acrobat Business Tools includes the Web Capture tool from Acrobat 4.0, allowing users to convert live web pages into Adobe PDF files that preserve the pages' graphics, fonts, colours and active hyperlinks.

* Digitally sign and authorise documents: Acrobat Business Tools supports digital signatures which can be used to authenticate and safeguard information by allowing authors and key personnel to 'sign' electronic documents. A digital signature can also verify that a document has not been altered since it was sent.

* Re-use information within tables: For Windows users, the Table Picker feature within Acrobat Business Tools enables users to copy and paste text and tables between Adobe PDF files, preserving the structure of Microsoft Word and Excel files.

Adobe ePaper Solutions

An Adobe ePaper document is an electronic 'container' that maintains the essential attributes of a printed page, while leveraging the power and extensibility of the latest digital technologies. Based on Adobe's experience working with corporations and nonprofit organisations, Adobe ePaper Solutions form an intelligent bridge between paper documents and the multiplying kinds of electronic information that populate the corporate knowledge landscape. Adobe ePaper Solutions are based on Adobe Acrobat software, Adobe PDF and the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to make any document, whether originally in paper or electronic form, accessible to anyone who needs it.

Workgroup Distribution

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