Adobe launches Acrobat 9

Adobe Systems has released Acrobat 9, which it describes as a significant upgrade to previous versions.

The company emphasizes deep support for Adobe Flash, allowing users of Version 9 to include Flash Player compatible video and application files in PDF documents. Recipients simply need free Adobe Reader 9 software to consume the content. The new software also includes the ability to unify a wide range of content into a single document with the new concept of PDF Portfolios.

PDF Portfolios enable business professionals to assemble multiple media types, such as documents, video, audio and even 3-D objects, into one, compressed PDF file. Users can then choose among several professional layouts—or create their own—to integrate content, define navigation and add polish and branding, says Adobe. In addition, Acrobat 9 provides access to capabilities for collaborating live within a PDF document, which has been made possible by working with Acrobat.com, a new suite of hosted services Adobe introduced as public beta.

The Acrobat 9 family consists of Acrobat 9 Standard, Acrobat 9 Pro and the new Acrobat 9 Pro Extended software.