This PDF will self-destruct...

02.12.2004
Von Louis Chua

Keep your eye on that PDF -- it could self-destruct, or get revoked.

These new features are part and parcel of Adobe Systems Inc."s positioning of Acrobat as the center of intelligent document workflow, with the demonstration of its soon-to-be launched Acrobat 7.

Raymond Lee, Adobe"s South East Asia group manager and Taiwan country sales manager, emphasized Adobe"s goal of moving beyond static PDF (portable document format) files with Acrobat 7. This goal has been evident since Acrobat 6, when Adobe split its Acrobat product into three versions ? standard, professional and elements.

In terms of security, fewer steps will be needed to set document-level security settings with Acrobat 7, and companies can set up company-wide document creation policies. Coupled with Acrobat LifeCycle Policy Server, document creators will be able to dynamically control who can view a PDF document, and determine whether the recipient can modify, copy, print or forward the document.

Moreover, these permissions can be changed after the document has been distributed. Adobe Policy Server provides the assurance that only intended recipients can open a protected document inside and outside the firewall.

Documents can be made to expire on a specific date, or if need be, can be revoked immediately, regardless of how many copies have been distributed. Because Adobe Policy Server enforces usage policies, documents do not need to be redistributed if a policy is changed.

Another important feature with the latest release is the ability of any user to participate in the electronic review of a PDF document using commenting tools in the free Adobe Reader 7.0 software. Previously, only users of the professional version could input comments into the PDF document. Acrobat 7.0 also offers tighter integration with Microsoft Office Suite, allowing reports, charts and database from Microsoft Access and Visio be made into PDFs with formatting preserved. For Microsoft Outlook, Acrobat can even turn messages within a folder into a single PDF so that email correspondence can be kept together within a document for circulation, archiving and audit trail purposes.

"For example, my email exchanges and attachments with Apple can be turned into a single PDF document preserving the format," said Lee. "The emails will be grouped by date and sender."

Acrobat 7.0 will also offer a PDF Organiser interface with search and history features for heavy users who tend to lose track of their PDFs. Lee quoted research indicating that 25 per cent of enterprise documents are misplaced and will never be found. Hence, a better way of tracking documents is needed and can be provided by the PDF Organiser.

The Acrobat family will be available at the end of the year, while the Adobe Policy Server will be shipped on December 17.