Adobe announces Acrobat 9

Adobe has updated the Acrobat product line, announcing version 9 of its PDF-creation software.

Though the product won't be on sale for a few weeks yet, Adobe has said that Acrobat 9 will "fundamentally change" how we use PDF files.

PDF (portable document format) files traditionally let you create documents with text and images. The file sizes are typically quite small which makes them useful for distributing and archiving.

Changes in the new version include support for collaborative creation and editing of PDF documents and support for video by integrating Adobe's Flash technology, which it acquired after buying Macromedia, into Acrobat 9.

Adobe's Stephen Partridge said that it meant PDFs could be "not just a static piece of information, but an interactive experience".

There are three versions: Acrobat 9 Standard, costing £265; Acrobat 9 Pro, costing £425; and Acrobat Pro Extended, costing £619.

Owners of previous versions of Acrobat can upgrade to the new products at a cost of £85, £145 and £205 respectively.

A new version of the free PDF-reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader 9, will be launched at the same time. Adobe claims that nine out of 10 PCs worldwide have a version of Acrobat Reader installed on them.

A website, Acrobat.com, will let you store and share PDFs as well as communicate with people you are working on documents with. Signing up is free and the site is live now.

www.adobe.com/acrobat
www.acrobat.com