Adobe Acrobat is a program that creates Portable Document Format (PDF) files from documents originating in any program that has a File/Print option, such as MS Word, Adobe Pagemaker, Corel Word Perfect, American Greetings' CreataCard 8 Platinum, even Notepad; and it keeps the original formatting. PDF files can be read cross-platform by computers using the Macintosh, Windows 95 or later, and Unix operating systems with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. These files, with the .pdf extension, have become a standard because they can be printed out, put on a CD ROM, attached to an email, or uploaded to a website with assurance that they will be seen exactly like the original. With options for password protection, PDF documents can be edited, notes pasted, highlights and comments made, and electronic signatures entered. Links are active and interactive forms can be filled in on the web or downloaded and printed. Document summaries can be entered into a database and searches made using Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT that allow the searcher to limit the search. Even HTML files can be converted to PDF's with the links still clickable. Web pages, even complete websites, can be downloaded.

Copy shops, publishers, and other businesses use Adobe Acrobat. When I visited commercial print shops about producing ICON's brochures, I was told that if I could give them the file in PDF format, it could go directly to print and because it would save them time, it would save us money.

With a CD writer, any collection or group of files, business reports, photos, catalogs, etc. can be reproduced for distribution much cheaper than hardcopy brochures and catalogs. With Acrobat Reader software, customers or potential customers can view the PDF files distributed on a CD ROM.

Adobe Acrobat basically has two parts-the writer and the distiller. The writer opens and edits existing PDF files or scans something on paper to create a PDF. To make a PDF from a scanned document, in Acrobat click on File/Import/Scan.

The distiller acts like a virtual printer and it shows in the Printers window. From most any document-making program or image creating application, the distiller can be used to make a PDF file. By clicking on File/Print, selecting Acrobat Distiller as the printer, clicking in the Print to file box and OK the file is converted and saved in PDF format.

Four sections of tools are included in Acrobat: Menu and tool bars are across the top, at the bottom of the window is the Status bar that tells number of pages and allows movement from page to page, and four tabs on the left side (Bookmarks, Thumbnails, Comments, and Signatures) make up the Navigation Pane. Bookmarks are like links or shortcuts to pages in the document, Thumbnails are small previews of the pages of the document, Comments are annotations in text, graphics or audio format and can be complete external files attached, and Signatures are secure electronic author's names.

Adobe Acrobat 5.0 includes complete documentation in a detailed 287-page Help file in PDF format. There are many tutorials on the web and also in books. Acrobat needs 120 MB of hard-drive space and at least 32 MB of RAM memory.