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Adobe Acrobat update allows for mobile PDF editing, better file compression

Adobe is rolling out updates to Acrobat and Adobe Scan for easier mobile productivity.
Written by James Sanders, Contributor
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Adobe added editing capabilities to the Acrobat Reader mobile app for iOS and Android on Tuesday, as part of a refresh of Adobe's smartphone app portfolio. Given the overall industry trend toward mobile-first computing—and the increasingly large size of smartphone screens—bringing smartphone apps closer to feature parity with their full-size PC equivalent is a natural priority for developers. 

With the update, subscribers to Acrobat Pro Document Cloud can edit text, formatting, and lists, as well as add, resize, and rotate images in PDFs, which is "perfect for making last minute changes on the fly when you have the PDF but not the source file—like fixing a date or a typo on a contract or swapping out an image or text on a presentation," according to a blog post by Adobe group product marketing manager Lisa Croft.

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Adobe also introduced the ability to search within PDF content, allowing users to search for and find textual information inside documents without having to remember the filename. Also introduced is the ability to star PDFs in document cloud—essentially identical to favoriting emails in the Gmail app—as well as using @mentions in the comment tool to bring a question about content to their attention. Compressed and password-protected PDF export "with one click" was also added.

Cleaner text in Adobe Scan documents

Adobe Scan, an app that allows users to create PDFs of documents scanned virtually using a smartphone camera, received improvements to the post-processing tools. Using an automated tool, imperfections in physical paper including creases, folds, stains, smudges, and errant pen marks can be removed using imaging methodology reminiscent of Photoshop. Manual touch-up tools are available for imperfections that remain, though Adobe's aim is to minimize the need for touch-ups as much as possible.

The Adobe Scan app is touted as being handy for capturing data from business cards, as well as avoiding the need to lug around a portable scanner while on the go. The app uses optical character recognition (OCR) to scan documents photographed through the app.

Pricing for Acrobat Pro DC is $24.99 per month with no annual commitment, or $14.99 per month for one year, also billable as an annual upfront of $179.88. Adobe Scan is available freely in the iOS App Store and Google Play. 

In addition, earlier this month, Adobe announced an integration with Box, allowing users to edit and collaborate on PDFs directly from Box. This integration will be "delivered over the next several months," according to Croft. 

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This article was originally published on TechRepublic.

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