« Previous | Next »
Collaborate with Adobe’s Acrobat.com
Published on 02/06/08
by Colin Loretz
Adobe has released a suite of web tools that allow users to collaboratively write, share, and publish documents online. The tools include Adobe Buzzword, ConnectNow, Create PDF, Share, and My Files.
The features for each are below:
Buzzword
Shared document authoring
Ability to export to PDF
Rich document styling
Adobe Connect Now
Screensharing: Share your desktop and invite attendees
Webcam: Show off your face to your attendees
Shared Notes: Share notes with other attendees
Annotations: Write annotations on the screen (will freeze-frame the screen during screen share)
Chat: Private/public chat capability
Create PDF
Upload up to 5 files and create a PDF to be downloaded or saved to the web for access via “Your Files”
Share
Upload or create documents to share with others
Your Files
Store your files online to access anywhere
Acrobat.com on the desktop
If you want to have these tools on your desktop, you can download the Acrobat.com suite and run it using Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR).
Personally, I enjoy using Buzzword for writing long documents, like business plans, which require multiple people. I know some people (like mehwolfy) have had issues with disappearing documents on both Google Docs and Zoho Writer and hopefully the same problem won’t plague Acrobat.com. I’ve been using Buzzword since it was a standalone application released last year and none of my documents have gone astray.
The Buzzword WYSIWYG interface is great for creating stylized documents. Check it out below.
As far as presentations, Acrobat.com doesn’t allow you to create presentations like you would in Google Docs but you can create or share PDFs. I typically create my slides in Photoshop and then export the layers to a PDF. Why? Check it out for yourself: Open a PDF in Acrobat Reader and go to View > Full Screen Mode. Voila! you have a presentation without the hassles of different operating system or program verions (.ppt vs .pptx anyone?).
And finally, as a Flex developer, I have to point out that Acrobat.com is built in Flex. One can only hope that the Buzzword WYSIWYG editing interface will be released as a Flex component in the near future to add rich document editing functionality to more web applications.
That's it. What Next?
Please leave your comment so we know what you think about this article. Trackback URL: Collaborate with Adobe’s Acrobat.com.
Leave a Reply