Whatever happened to the page? New Adobe Applications boost collaboration and workflow

can be selected and automatically reformatted for the Web. The irony is that it is exactly for everybody else instead of
Creative Suite users.

Acrobat: preserving the art in article

Although bundled in CS3, one Adobe application is notably improved but in some ways not as integrated with the CS design tools as the other applications. CS3 comes with Version 8 of Acrobat Professional, originally released last fall.

Acrobat 8 improves the process of “pre-flight” review and digital formatting of designs and CS documents, as it does with any other computer file that can be printed, into portable document format (PDF), which preserves the integrity of the creator’s original work in terms of both design fidelity and content security.

Traditionally, this function for CS applications focuses on fidelity as documents are carefully prepared for printing, with many of the technical specifications for ultimate output built in. On the other hand, most knowledge workers are probably more familiar with the ability to create PDFs with the single click of a toolbar button in Microsoft Office apps, protecting the integrity of an original work that doesn’t need the original application to view it.

The evolution and increasing use of PDF files has been accelerated by including tracking, review and collaboration tools into Acrobat products—even the free Reader. Version 8 takes that to new levels. Some examples:

• New “Combine Files” feature lets users assemble portable documents from multiple files but control the security settings separately, so that users cannot access or even see pages for which they don’t have permission.
• Shared Review lets multiple reviewers use enhanced commenting and annotation tools and then see feedback if the document is in a shared folder or workspace.
• Acrobat Connect, the subscription service for online meetings mentioned previously, makes a computer desktop visible to others in real time, to let them collaborate as if they were looking over your shoulder, using audio and video conferencing, whiteboarding and other virtual meeting features.

A new addition to the Version 8 line is Acrobat 3D, which extends PDF files images from computer-aided design applications that define three-dimensional spaces. It’s currently aimed at customers in the manufacturing, architecture, engineering and construction fields. Users can zoom and rotate through as they review and comment, but 3D includes security features meant to prevent improper copying of proprietary designs. However, as the virtual worlds of game spaces become fertile ground for corporate expansion, the ability to preserve integrity of 3D creations will become increasingly important there as well.

Text and context

While professionals who spend their days creating and managing digital media are knowledge workers, too, there is another implication for knowledge management.

Businesses want to create rich Web presences, but the same tools can be used to more efficiently and effectively share knowledge with all the contextual richness that video, audio and graphics can provide.

At the same time, all of those forms of rich-media content are now flowing to (and from) knowledge workers via multiple devices with different resolution, screen size, bandwidth and processing power. Later this year, Adobe will release Creative Suite 3 Production Premium, adding the audio and visual production tools to take online design, development and presentation to the next level.