Here are the new features in Adobe Acrobat 8.0:
View, navigate, and search
The Quick Start window gives you an overview of Adobe? Acrobat? 8 Professional of the main features and click the link to start a task or learn more about the feature. See Open in Quick Start Window.
Maximized workspace View PDFs with a new visually designed workspace, navigation panel, and toolbar. User interface elements have been removed to maximize space. See Customizing Workspaces.
Customizable Toolbar Easily hide or show individual tools by right-clicking or Control-clicking the toolbar, or use the More Tools dialog to customize the toolbar. See Showing and Arranging Toolbars.
Search enhancements Find words or use advanced search tools, all from the same integrated toolbar. Display search results in a floating, resizable window. Search for documents in PDF portfolios. See an overview of search features.
Embedded PDF search index To speed up searches, embed a search index directly in the PDF. See Create and manage indexes in PDFs.
PDF creation, merging and editing
Create PDF from blank pages Create blank PDF pages and enter text into the pages. Use formatting controls to format text. Lock the document so that it cannot be edited. See Create a PDF from a blank page.
PDF Package Collects PDF files (including PDF forms) and non-PDF files into a single package. Files are not modified when packaged, so signatures and security settings remain unchanged. Documents within the package are displayed in the same window. Easily add, remove or release documents from packages. Search and print the current or selected document, or documents in all packages. See About PDF Portfolios.
Merge files user interface Merge files into a single PDF with consecutive pages, or integrate files into a PDF package. Choose simple options to control the size of your PDF results. See Merge different types of files.
Convert Mail Merge to PDF in Microsoft Word Convert Word mail merge documents to PDF and send them via email. See Create PDF from Word email merge.
Microsoft Excel Worksheet Enhancement (Windows) Select and sort worksheets to convert. Convert all links and bookmarks. Create PDF/A compliant files. See application-specific PDFMaker settings.
Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Enhancements (Windows) Convert overlapping shapes and graphics, action buttons, action settings, and speaker notes. Convert the background to a separate, non-printing layer. Create PDF/A compliant files. See application-specific PDFMaker settings.
Email Conversion Enhancement Convert emails or complete email folders from Lotus Notes to PDF. Create PDF portfolios of emails from Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes. Convert email archives to PDF Portfolios and automatically archive emails on a schedule in Outlook for Windows. See Convert email to PDF (Windows), Convert old Outlook PDF archives to PDF Portfolios (Windows) and Set up automatic email archiving (Windows).
Scan enhancements Scan to PDF or PDF/A from a variety of scanner models. Add metadata when scanning. Optimize scanned PDFs. See Scan paper documents to PDF.
PDF/A-compliant files Create PDF/A-compliant files when scanning paper documents and creating PDFs from Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat Distiller, and Acrobat preflight tools.
Bates Numbering Applies an identification tag to a batch of related documents - typically legal documents related to court cases. Bates numbers appear as headers and footers on each page of a batch of PDFs. See Adding a Bates numbered header or footer.
Document inspection Check PDF metadata, comments, attachments, hidden data, form fields, hidden layers or bookmarks. Delete some or all information. See Checking PDF hidden content.
Header, Footer, Watermark and Background Save header, footer, watermark and background options as named settings for reuse later. Delete or update existing headers, footers, watermarks and backgrounds. Shrink content to fit header and footer. Preview changes in real time. Set underline text. See Add and edit headers and footers.
Review and Comment
Acrobat Connect Meetings Access the real-time web-based collaboration capabilities of Acrobat Connect (sold separately). Click Start Meeting to expand document review to real-time communication with others over the Internet. Acrobat Connect uses Adobe Flash? CS3 Professional and Personal Meeting Rooms for screen sharing, voice and video conferencing, whiteboarding and more. When you click the "Start Meeting" button for the first time, you can create a free trial account. Each time going forward, you can go directly to your Acrobat Connect Personal Room. (Acrobat Connect is not available in all languages.) See Meetings.
***Shared Review Initiate a review where comments are stored on a central server, allowing all participants to view comments in real time. No additional server software is required. Enjoy reviewing using a folder on a network server, a Windows SharePoint workspace, or a Web folder on a Web server. Comments are collected automatically, even when Reader is not running, and can be added automatically when disconnected from the Internet. A notification will tell the reminder that there are new notes. Comments from reviewers outside the firewall can be merged into shared reviews, and you can enable Reader users to participate in reviews. See Get started with your review.
Review Tracker Provides detailed information about all active reviews. For shared reviews, details include the number of comments from reviewers, review deadlines, server status, unread reviews, and updated shared review summaries. See Tracking PDF Reviews.
Annotation and Markup Tool Enhancements View and accurately place annotations and cloud markers for your applications. The Label Wizard automatically moves the labels you position. The selected annotation is highlighted for easy viewing when zoomed out. Rotate the stamp to select all tools from a separate, integrated toolbar. See comments.
Forms
Simple form creation (Windows) Use wizards to create PDF forms from templates, existing electronic documents, paper forms, or tabular data. Customize the form with contact information and logo. Edit in Adobe LiveCycle Designer?. See Creating and editing forms.
PDF background artwork Import PDF into LiveCycle Designer as background artwork on your form. Add form fields on top of the background. See LiveCycle Designer Help.
Form Tracker Track the forms you initiate or fill out. See About Form Tracker
Exporting and Compiling Form Data Aggregates returned forms into a PDF portfolio. Export form data to a spreadsheet. See Submitting a Form and Exporting Records from a PDF Data Group
Form Field Identification Automatically identifies form fields on non-interactive PDF documents and converts them into interactive fields that can be filled out electronically. See Create a new form.
Reader Enabled Permissions Enable Reader 7 and 8 users to fill in, digitally sign, and save forms and other PDFs locally. See Enabling Rdader users to save form data.
Digital Signature
Roaming ID Signing service that stores your private key on a server. Authenticate to the server from Acrobat and allow documents to be signed using the certificate you store on the server. See Setting up a roaming ID account.
Signature Preview Mode and Consistency Checker View document content before signing to remove transparency, scripts, fonts, and other dynamic content that may modify the document's appearance. Acrobat automatically runs the "Document Integrity Checker", which now includes a "valid signature" consistency check before starting signature preview mode. See Signing with Preview Document Mode.
Certificate enhancements Predetermine signing certificates. Configure chain mode for certificate verification. See ***Sharing and Managing Certificates.
Seed value Specifies the choices a user can make when signing a document. See Customizing Signature Properties Using Seed Values ??in Customizing Signature Properties with Seed Values.
Signing in Reader allows Reader users to draw signature fields. See Before You Validate a PDF. < /p>
Architecture, Engineering and Construction
Batch Conversion/Direct Conversion Convert multiple AutoCAD files to multiple PDF files from Autodesk AutoCAD.
Improved speed of converting AutoCAD files to PDF. See Convert AutoCAD files to PDF (Windows).
DWG/DWF support 2D measurement tool enhancement If the start or end point is moved, the measurement is recalculated. Measure alignment lines, intersections or corners. See Measure the height, width, or area of ??an object.
Legal Affairs
Redacted Tool Mark text, images and sensitive areas as redacted. Apply ciphertext permanently. Modify redaction markup appearance, including color and code. See Mark sensitive content as redacted.
Search and mark redacted text From the search function, mark some or all search results as redacted text. See Search for words and Redact words.
Bates Numbering Applies an identification tag to a batch of related documents - typically legal documents related to court cases. Bates numbers appear as headers and footers on each page of a batch of PDFs. See Adding a Bates numbered header or footer.
Professional Creation
Color Management Improvements In the Adobe Creative Suite, you can synchronize screen color settings across applications with just one click. See Synchronize color settings between Adobe applications.
***Share Transparency Merge Presets Define merge presets in one Adobe application, such as Acrobat, and then easily integrate them with other applications, such as Adobe Illustrator? and Adobe InDesign?. *Enjoy merged presets. See Create a merge preset.
Preflight Locate, modify or delete PDF elements using custom revision profiles. Create a detailed inventory of PDF content, including Extended Metadata Platform (XMP) metadata. Perform advanced analysis of CoS objects and fonts. Convert to and validate PDF/X-4 and PDF/A files. Edit quick batches for automated preflight analysis. See Correcting Problem Areas and Advanced Inspections.
Booklet printing Print pages into a simple booklet, such as two pages, bound. See Printing Booklet.
Metadata in documents and objects Maintain and access document and object-level metadata. See Document Properties and Metadata.
TouchUp Object Tool Enhancements View and change the color space of selected objects. Scale, rotate, or crop objects. See Moving or editing objects.
Other New Features
FIPS Mode Version 8.1 of Acrobat provides FIPS mode to limit data protection to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 approved use of RSABSAFE Crypto -C 2.0 encryption model cooperates with FIPS 140-2 to verify the algorithm of certificate 608. See Encrypt PDFs in FIPS mode (Windows).
Microsoft Windows Vista? Acrobat version 8.1 is supported on Microsoft Windows Vista.
Installing Acrobat on 64-bit versions of Windows Acrobat version 8.1 supports 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Version Cue 2.0 Manage files and versions as a single user or as a member of a small workgroup. Integrate with Adobe Bridge to manage files for your Creative Suite projects. See Adobe Version Cue.
Digital Publications Read and organize e-books and other publications with Adobe? Digital Editions (stand-alone product). When you first click the "Digital Publications" menu item, you can download and install the Adobe Digital Editions software. After installation, select Digital Publications to open directly to the Adobe Digital Editions bookshelf. See Adobe Digital Editions.
Print over the Internet Print documents to FedEx Kinko offices in the United States. See Printing over the Internet.
2D Measurement Tool Enhancements Measurements are recalculated if the start or end point is moved. Measure alignment lines, intersections or corners. See Measuring the height, width, or area of ??an object.