Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2024: Overview and Features

What is Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2024?

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2024 is a family of application software and web services developed by Adobe Inc. It allows users to view, create, manipulate, print, and manage Portable Document Format (PDF) files. This family includes:

• Acrobat Reader (formerly Reader)

• Acrobat (formerly Exchange)

• Acrobat.com

The basic Acrobat Reader is freeware available for desktop and mobile platforms. It supports viewing, printing, resizing, and annotating PDF files. Additional premium services are available through paid subscriptions.

The commercial Acrobat version for Windows and macOS supports creating, editing, converting, digitally signing, encrypting, exporting, and publishing PDF files. The Acrobat.com service offers enterprise content management and file hosting.

Purpose of Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat’s primary function is to create, view, and edit PDF documents. Key features include:

• Importing popular document and image formats and saving them as PDFs

• Importing content from scanners, websites, or the Windows clipboard

• Modifying paragraphs and images within PDFs without repagination

• Cropping pages, rearranging page order, and managing hyperlinks

• Digitally signing, adding comments, and redacting content

• Ensuring compliance with standards like PDF/A

History of Adobe Acrobat

Early Competition and Product Evolution

Adobe Acrobat was launched in 1993 and competed with several products/formats such as:

• Common Ground (No Hands Software)

• Envoy (WordPerfect Corporation)

• Folio Views (NextPage)

• Replica (Farallon Computing)

• WorldView (Interleaf)

• DjVu (AT&T Laboratories)

Initially, Acrobat products were named Acrobat Reader, Acrobat Exchange, and Acrobat Distiller. Over time, naming evolved: Acrobat Exchange became Acrobat, and Acrobat Reader shortened to Reader.

In 1999, Acrobat.com introduced web services but was later downgraded to a single service name rather than the entire family.

Document Cloud Introduction

In April 2015, Adobe launched the Document Cloud branding, introducing cloud storage and software-as-a-service (SaaS) with the “DC” suffix. This replaced earlier naming conventions and brought major GUI updates.

• Acrobat Reader was renamed back from Reader to Acrobat Reader

• Acrobat.com was discontinued, with its features merged into desktop and mobile apps

• Two update tracks: Classic (quarterly, no new features) and Continuous (frequent, automatic updates)

The last pre-DC version was Acrobat XI, with support ending in 2017.

Recent Innovations

In 2020, Adobe introduced Liquid Mode, an AI-powered feature designed to improve PDF readability on mobile devices using Adobe Sensei technology.

Adobe Acrobat Family Products

Current Services

• Acrobat.com: Web-based PDF editing and management (requires Adobe ID)

• Acrobat Distiller: Converts PostScript files to PDF

• Acrobat Pro: Full professional version for Windows and macOS

• Acrobat Reader: Free PDF viewer for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android

• Acrobat Standard: Standard editing tools for Windows

• Document Cloud: Online storage and PDF management (Adobe ID required)

• Fill & Sign: Fill and sign PDFs on multiple platforms

• Scan: Mobile scanning and cropping for iOS and Android

• Sign: Digital signature solution for mobile platforms

Discontinued Services

• Acrobat Approval (electronic forms deployment)

• Acrobat Business Tools (collaboration and review)

• Acrobat Capture (OCR document conversion)

• Acrobat Distiller Server (high-volume PostScript to PDF conversion)

• Acrobat eBook Reader (PDF e-book reader)

• Acrobat Elements (basic PDF creation)

• Acrobat InProduction (pre-press tools)

• Acrobat Messenger (document conversion and sharing)

• Acrobat Reader Touch (Windows Touch PDF viewer)

• FormsCentral (web form filling, replaced by Experience Manager Forms)

• Send & Track (file sending and tracking service)

Hidden Helper Tools

• Acrobat Synchronizer: Maintains accuracy of imported Acrobat files

• RdrCEF (Adobe Reader Cloud Extension Feature): Manages cloud connectivity features for Acrobat