User Guide Cancel

What's new in Acrobat

  1. Acrobat User Guide
  2. Introduction to Acrobat
    1. Access Acrobat from desktop, mobile, web
    2. What's new in Acrobat
    3. Keyboard shortcuts
    4. System Requirements
  3. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Opening and viewing PDFs
      1. Opening PDFs
      2. Navigating PDF pages
      3. Viewing PDF preferences
      4. Adjusting PDF views
      5. Enable thumbnail preview of PDFs
      6. Display PDF in browser
    3. Working with online storage accounts
      1. Access files from Box
      2. Access files from Dropbox
      3. Access files from OneDrive
      4. Access files from SharePoint
      5. Access files from Google Drive
    4. Acrobat and macOS
    5. Acrobat notifications
    6. Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs
    7. Asian, Cyrillic, and right-to-left text in PDFs
  4. Creating PDFs
    1. Overview of PDF creation
    2. Create PDFs with Acrobat
    3. Create PDFs with PDFMaker
    4. Using the Adobe PDF printer
    5. Converting web pages to PDF
    6. Creating PDFs with Acrobat Distiller
    7. Adobe PDF conversion settings
    8. PDF fonts
  5. Editing PDFs
    1. Edit text in PDFs
    2. Edit images or objects in a PDF
    3. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    4. Edit scanned PDFs
    5. Enhance document photos captured using a mobile camera
    6. Optimizing PDFs
    7. PDF properties and metadata
    8. Links and attachments in PDFs
    9. PDF layers
    10. Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs
    11. Action Wizard (Acrobat Pro)
    12. PDFs converted to web pages
    13. Setting up PDFs for a presentation
    14. PDF articles
    15. Geospatial PDFs
    16. Applying actions and scripts to PDFs
    17. Change the default font for adding text
    18. Delete pages from a PDF
  6. Scan and OCR
    1. Scan documents to PDF
    2. Enhance document photos
    3. Troubleshoot scanner issues when scanning using Acrobat
  7. Forms
    1. PDF forms basics
    2. Create a form from scratch in Acrobat
    3. Create and distribute PDF forms
    4. Fill in PDF forms
    5. PDF form field properties
    6. Fill and sign PDF forms
    7. Setting action buttons in PDF forms
    8. Publishing interactive PDF web forms
    9. PDF form field basics
    10. PDF barcode form fields
    11. Collect and manage PDF form data
    12. About forms tracker
    13. PDF forms help
    14. Send PDF forms to recipients using email or an internal server
  8. Combining files
    1. Combine or merge files into single PDF
    2. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    3. Add headers, footers, and Bates numbering to PDFs
    4. Crop PDF pages
    5. Add watermarks to PDFs
    6. Add backgrounds to PDFs
    7. Working with component files in a PDF Portfolio
    8. Publish and share PDF Portfolios
    9. Overview of PDF Portfolios
    10. Create and customize PDF Portfolios
  9. Sharing, reviews, and commenting
    1. Share and track PDFs online
    2. Mark up text with edits
    3. Preparing for a PDF review
    4. Starting a PDF review
    5. Hosting shared reviews on SharePoint or Office 365 sites
    6. Participating in a PDF review
    7. Add comments to PDFs
    8. Adding a stamp to a PDF
    9. Approval workflows
    10. Managing comments | view, reply, print
    11. Importing and exporting comments
    12. Tracking and managing PDF reviews
  10. Saving and exporting PDFs
    1. Saving PDFs
    2. Convert PDF to Word
    3. Convert PDF to JPG
    4. Convert or export PDFs to other file formats
    5. File format options for PDF export
    6. Reusing PDF content
  11. Security
    1. Enhanced security setting for PDFs
    2. Securing PDFs with passwords
    3. Manage Digital IDs
    4. Securing PDFs with certificates
    5. Opening secured PDFs
    6. Removing sensitive content from PDFs
    7. Setting up security policies for PDFs
    8. Choosing a security method for PDFs
    9. Security warnings when a PDF opens
    10. Securing PDFs with Adobe Experience Manager
    11. Protected View feature for PDFs
    12. Overview of security in Acrobat and PDFs
    13. JavaScripts in PDFs as a security risk
    14. Attachments as security risks
    15. Allow or block links in PDFs
  12. Electronic signatures
    1. Sign PDF documents
    2. Capture your signature on mobile and use it everywhere
    3. Send documents for e-signatures
    4. Create a web form
    5. Request e-signatures in bulk
    6. Collect online payments
    7. Brand your account
    8. About certificate signatures
    9. Certificate-based signatures
    10. Validating digital signatures
    11. Adobe Approved Trust List
    12. Manage trusted identities
  13. Printing
    1. Basic PDF printing tasks
    2. Print Booklets and PDF Portfolios
    3. Advanced PDF print settings
    4. Print to PDF
    5. Printing color PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    6. Printing PDFs in custom sizes
  14. Accessibility, tags, and reflow
    1. Create and verify PDF accessibility
    2. Accessibility features in PDFs
    3. Reading Order tool for PDFs
    4. Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features
    5. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels
    6. Creating accessible PDFs
    7. Cloud-based auto-tagging
  15. Searching and indexing
    1. Creating PDF indexes
    2. Searching PDFs
  16. Multimedia and 3D models
    1. Add audio, video, and interactive objects to PDFs
    2. Adding 3D models to PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    3. Displaying 3D models in PDFs
    4. Interacting with 3D models
    5. Measuring 3D objects in PDFs
    6. Setting 3D views in PDFs
    7. Enable 3D content in PDF
    8. Adding multimedia to PDFs
    9. Commenting on 3D designs in PDFs
    10. Playing video, audio, and multimedia formats in PDFs
    11. Add comments to videos
  17. Print production tools (Acrobat Pro)
    1. Print production tools overview
    2. Printer marks and hairlines
    3. Previewing output
    4. Transparency flattening
    5. Color conversion and ink management
    6. Trapping color
  18. Preflight (Acrobat Pro)
    1. PDF/X-, PDF/A-, and PDF/E-compliant files
    2. Preflight profiles
    3. Advanced preflight inspections
    4. Preflight reports
    5. Viewing preflight results, objects, and resources
    6. Output intents in PDFs
    7. Correcting problem areas with the Preflight tool
    8. Automating document analysis with droplets or preflight actions
    9. Analyzing documents with the Preflight tool
    10. Additional checks in the Preflight tool
    11. Preflight libraries
    12. Preflight variables
  19. Color management
    1. Keeping colors consistent
    2. Color settings
    3. Color-managing documents
    4. Working with color profiles
    5. Understanding color management
  1. Acrobat User Guide
  2. Introduction to Acrobat
    1. Access Acrobat from desktop, mobile, web
    2. What's new in Acrobat
    3. Keyboard shortcuts
    4. System Requirements
  3. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Opening and viewing PDFs
      1. Opening PDFs
      2. Navigating PDF pages
      3. Viewing PDF preferences
      4. Adjusting PDF views
      5. Enable thumbnail preview of PDFs
      6. Display PDF in browser
    3. Working with online storage accounts
      1. Access files from Box
      2. Access files from Dropbox
      3. Access files from OneDrive
      4. Access files from SharePoint
      5. Access files from Google Drive
    4. Acrobat and macOS
    5. Acrobat notifications
    6. Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs
    7. Asian, Cyrillic, and right-to-left text in PDFs
  4. Creating PDFs
    1. Overview of PDF creation
    2. Create PDFs with Acrobat
    3. Create PDFs with PDFMaker
    4. Using the Adobe PDF printer
    5. Converting web pages to PDF
    6. Creating PDFs with Acrobat Distiller
    7. Adobe PDF conversion settings
    8. PDF fonts
  5. Editing PDFs
    1. Edit text in PDFs
    2. Edit images or objects in a PDF
    3. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    4. Edit scanned PDFs
    5. Enhance document photos captured using a mobile camera
    6. Optimizing PDFs
    7. PDF properties and metadata
    8. Links and attachments in PDFs
    9. PDF layers
    10. Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs
    11. Action Wizard (Acrobat Pro)
    12. PDFs converted to web pages
    13. Setting up PDFs for a presentation
    14. PDF articles
    15. Geospatial PDFs
    16. Applying actions and scripts to PDFs
    17. Change the default font for adding text
    18. Delete pages from a PDF
  6. Scan and OCR
    1. Scan documents to PDF
    2. Enhance document photos
    3. Troubleshoot scanner issues when scanning using Acrobat
  7. Forms
    1. PDF forms basics
    2. Create a form from scratch in Acrobat
    3. Create and distribute PDF forms
    4. Fill in PDF forms
    5. PDF form field properties
    6. Fill and sign PDF forms
    7. Setting action buttons in PDF forms
    8. Publishing interactive PDF web forms
    9. PDF form field basics
    10. PDF barcode form fields
    11. Collect and manage PDF form data
    12. About forms tracker
    13. PDF forms help
    14. Send PDF forms to recipients using email or an internal server
  8. Combining files
    1. Combine or merge files into single PDF
    2. Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages
    3. Add headers, footers, and Bates numbering to PDFs
    4. Crop PDF pages
    5. Add watermarks to PDFs
    6. Add backgrounds to PDFs
    7. Working with component files in a PDF Portfolio
    8. Publish and share PDF Portfolios
    9. Overview of PDF Portfolios
    10. Create and customize PDF Portfolios
  9. Sharing, reviews, and commenting
    1. Share and track PDFs online
    2. Mark up text with edits
    3. Preparing for a PDF review
    4. Starting a PDF review
    5. Hosting shared reviews on SharePoint or Office 365 sites
    6. Participating in a PDF review
    7. Add comments to PDFs
    8. Adding a stamp to a PDF
    9. Approval workflows
    10. Managing comments | view, reply, print
    11. Importing and exporting comments
    12. Tracking and managing PDF reviews
  10. Saving and exporting PDFs
    1. Saving PDFs
    2. Convert PDF to Word
    3. Convert PDF to JPG
    4. Convert or export PDFs to other file formats
    5. File format options for PDF export
    6. Reusing PDF content
  11. Security
    1. Enhanced security setting for PDFs
    2. Securing PDFs with passwords
    3. Manage Digital IDs
    4. Securing PDFs with certificates
    5. Opening secured PDFs
    6. Removing sensitive content from PDFs
    7. Setting up security policies for PDFs
    8. Choosing a security method for PDFs
    9. Security warnings when a PDF opens
    10. Securing PDFs with Adobe Experience Manager
    11. Protected View feature for PDFs
    12. Overview of security in Acrobat and PDFs
    13. JavaScripts in PDFs as a security risk
    14. Attachments as security risks
    15. Allow or block links in PDFs
  12. Electronic signatures
    1. Sign PDF documents
    2. Capture your signature on mobile and use it everywhere
    3. Send documents for e-signatures
    4. Create a web form
    5. Request e-signatures in bulk
    6. Collect online payments
    7. Brand your account
    8. About certificate signatures
    9. Certificate-based signatures
    10. Validating digital signatures
    11. Adobe Approved Trust List
    12. Manage trusted identities
  13. Printing
    1. Basic PDF printing tasks
    2. Print Booklets and PDF Portfolios
    3. Advanced PDF print settings
    4. Print to PDF
    5. Printing color PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    6. Printing PDFs in custom sizes
  14. Accessibility, tags, and reflow
    1. Create and verify PDF accessibility
    2. Accessibility features in PDFs
    3. Reading Order tool for PDFs
    4. Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features
    5. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels
    6. Creating accessible PDFs
    7. Cloud-based auto-tagging
  15. Searching and indexing
    1. Creating PDF indexes
    2. Searching PDFs
  16. Multimedia and 3D models
    1. Add audio, video, and interactive objects to PDFs
    2. Adding 3D models to PDFs (Acrobat Pro)
    3. Displaying 3D models in PDFs
    4. Interacting with 3D models
    5. Measuring 3D objects in PDFs
    6. Setting 3D views in PDFs
    7. Enable 3D content in PDF
    8. Adding multimedia to PDFs
    9. Commenting on 3D designs in PDFs
    10. Playing video, audio, and multimedia formats in PDFs
    11. Add comments to videos
  17. Print production tools (Acrobat Pro)
    1. Print production tools overview
    2. Printer marks and hairlines
    3. Previewing output
    4. Transparency flattening
    5. Color conversion and ink management
    6. Trapping color
  18. Preflight (Acrobat Pro)
    1. PDF/X-, PDF/A-, and PDF/E-compliant files
    2. Preflight profiles
    3. Advanced preflight inspections
    4. Preflight reports
    5. Viewing preflight results, objects, and resources
    6. Output intents in PDFs
    7. Correcting problem areas with the Preflight tool
    8. Automating document analysis with droplets or preflight actions
    9. Analyzing documents with the Preflight tool
    10. Additional checks in the Preflight tool
    11. Preflight libraries
    12. Preflight variables
  19. Color management
    1. Keeping colors consistent
    2. Color settings
    3. Color-managing documents
    4. Working with color profiles
    5. Understanding color management

Learn about new features and enhancements in the September 2023 release of Acrobat on the desktop.

Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat Pro with online services is the complete PDF solution for working with your most important documents across desktop, web, and mobile devices. Update your Acrobat desktop and mobile apps, or sign in to Acrobat online to experience the new features and improvements.

Note:

To experience the new features immediately, update your Acrobat—on the Help menu, select Check for updates and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the update process.

Enhancements in new Acrobat

Reposition quick tools

It's now possible to drag the quick tools bar and place it as desired. To do so, select and hold the quick tool drag handle at the top with your mouse cursor and then drag it to the desired location. This helps bring the tools closer to the working area in large screen monitors or adjust the tool layout so as not to overlap with the document reading area.

Drag the quick tools bar

Undo redo option in the top menu bar

When you perform any operation on the PDF, Acrobat now provides options to undo or redo changes. These options are conveniently located at the top menu bar for easy access.

Undo redo option in the top menu bar

Support for page labels

In the previous version, page labels could only be viewed below the page thumbnails and not in the right navigation pane. However, in this release, you can now view the page labels and numbers in the right navigation pane.

Page labels on the right pane

Additionally, the heads up display bar in a PDF also displays the page labels.

Page labels in heads up display

Enhanced page navigation, zoom, and display

The options to page navigation, display, and zoom are now optimized in this release to provide a seamless and intuitive viewing experience. Previously, accessing these features required using the hamburger menu    (Windows) or the View menu (macOS). Now, these options are consolidated into a button in the bottom right rail. Key changes include:

  • Single-click access: Easily find display, navigation, and zoom options via the bottom right rail button, reducing the need for the hamburger   or the View menu.
  • Default and expanded views: Initially, you see a condensed list of options. Select More to see additional inline options.
  • Icon updates: Tool selection updates its corresponding icon in the right rail.
  • Tooltips: Each tool features a descriptive tooltip for clarity.
  • Scrolling: A scrollbar activates when menu content exceeds its maximum height.
Page navigation, display and zoom settings on the right pane

Prompt to use Scan & OCR tool for a scanned PDF

When you open a scanned PDF, Acrobat detects and prompts you to use the Scan & OCR tool to convert the document into an editable PDF. To run OCR, select Start in the top bar prompt.

Note:

This feature is rolled out as an experiment and isn't available to all users.

Prompt to use Scan & OCR tool for a scanned PDF

Drag and drop to combine files

You can now drag multiple files directly into a PDF to combine them in Acrobat. When you drag and drop these files, the Open or combine files dialog box appears, prompting you to choose whether to Open the files or Combine them.

Pinned annotation tools for quick access and use

In this release, the annotations you use are pinned by default for quick access. This means you no longer need to repeatedly choose sub-tools from the quick tools panel.

Pin annotations

New in-app Acrobat help

You can now access how-to instructions, videos, tool tours, and more directly within Acrobat's newly integrated help section, eliminating the need to visit external web pages for assistance.

Note:

Currently, the in-app help is available for Edit and Request e-signatures tools only in both old and new Acrobat experience.

When you use the Request e-signatures tool and require assistance, select Get help with e-signatures option in the Request e-signatures dialog box. A Help window appears, presenting a curated list of helpful articles.

Select the topic relevant to your needs, and the Help window displays the necessary steps. If a video tutorial is available, you can select it for playback.

Request signatures improvements

Improved request signatures experience for Teams and Enterprise users

Acrobat Teams and Enterprise users can now send documents for signature, even when logged in with a personal account. In the Request e-signatures dialog box, Acrobat shows a message at the top indicating that the document is now sent for signature using the org ID, not the personal ID.

Acrobat displays message informing that the org id is used to send document for signature

Send agreement to self to sign or preview recipient experience

Now, you have the option to include yourself as a signer on an agreement. Acrobat prompts you to explore the send and sign process by making yourself the signer.

Once you've sent the document for signature, the confirmation screen in Acrobat presents these new choices:

  • Sign this agreement: Choose this option to sign the agreement yourself or to view the recipient's signing experience.
  • Resend this agreement: By choosing this, you'll be redirected to the Request e-signatures dialog box, allowing you to add more signers to the agreement.
Note:

Both options are visible when you're the sole signer of the document.

Enhanced tool suggestions for PDF forms

Upon opening a PDF form in Acrobat, the software identifies the form fields. Depending on the form type, it will recommend using either the Fill & Sign tool or the Request e-signatures tool. For forms that could use both tools, Acrobat offers a choice between them.

Prompt to Fill and Sign form
Prompt to fill and sign the form

Prompt to request e-signatures
Prompt to request e-signatures

Prompt to Fill and Sign the form or Request signatures
Prompt to fill and sign the form, or request e-signatures

Rate and provide feedback for request signatures experience

Acrobat now prompts you to share feedback on the request e-signatures experience.

Feedback for request signatures experience

Choose the desired response and provide feedback.

Positive feedback for request signatures
Feedback on what worked well

What didn't work well feedback for request signatures experience
Feedback on areas of improvement.

Acrobat enhancements for team admins

Team admins in Acrobat now have direct access to the admin console within the program, allowing them to add, remove, or modify users.

Go to admin console, assign licenses and more from your Acrobat profile

Additionally, we've revamped the onboarding experience for a quicker and smoother start for team admins.

Get started onboarding experience for Team Admins

Copy, clone, and reset form fields

While designing a form, when you add a form field, Acrobat now provides you with two options – Copy Field and Clone Field. These options speed up the process when you have repeated fields. To use these options, do the following:

  1. Add a form field to the PDF form.

  2. Right-click the form field and do any of the following:

    • Copy Field – Copies fields with the same properties but different filed names.
    • Clone Field – Clones the field and its values. Changing the field value of one field will simultaneously update the values of other cloned fields.
    • Repeat Field on All Pages – Select to add the selected form field to all the pages in the PDF.
    Copy, clone, or repeat fields on the form

    To delete all the fields added to the form, right-click on the PDF and select Delete All Locations.

    Delete all fields added to the form

Stylize a PDF using Adobe Express

In this release, we have introduced Stylize this PDF tool. To give a professional look to your PDF, use this feature and do the following:

Note:

Currently, the feature is available only to Type 1 ACP users with the English locale in the new Acrobat experience.

  1. Open a PDF and select All tools > Stylize this PDF.

  2. Your PDF is saved to cloud storage, and the Adobe Express web app launches in your default browser.

  3. Adobe Express uses the same login credentials you used in the Acrobat app. Use the online tools to refine and give your PDF a polished appearance.

Design tools to stylize the pdf

  • Stylize this PDF: Upload and modify your PDF in Adobe Express web application.
  • Design a New Page: Start with a blank page and design it as you see fit before adding it to your PDF.
  • Add Stock Images: Browse and insert premium images from Adobe Stock into your PDF.

New scroll framework migration on macOS

In the latest release, we've adopted the new NSScrollView framework on macOS, offering a modern scroll experience that appears while in use and eliminates extra space needs. The update enhances performance by about 70%, redrawing only the active scroll area for increased efficiency. For more information, see Acrobat scroll framework upgrades for macOS.

Persistent scrollbars (previous experience)
Persistent scrollbars (previous experience)

Scroll bar appears when required
Scrollbar appears only when required (new experience)

Create and share PDFs from Word, Powerpoint, and Excel

In the previous versions, converting and sharing PDFs from Microsoft apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel required multiple steps. With this release, a Convert to PDF & Share feature is available. This option converts the file to a PDF in Acrobat, generates a shareable link, and copies it. You can share the copied link with your desired recipients.

When you select the Create PDF and share via Outlook option, it generates a PDF and places its shared link in the body of the drafted email, ready to be sent to other recipients.

New option in the Home tab

Similarly, the Create PDF and share options are also provided in the Home tab of MS Office applications.

Create PDF and share options in PowerPoint
Create PDF and share options in PowerPoint

New option in File menu

From the File > Share > Send Adobe PDF for Review menu of the Microsoft application, you can now directly Create PDF and share link.

Send Adobe PDF for Review in PowerPoint
Send Adobe PDF for review in PowerPoint

Also from the File > Share > Email menu of the Microsoft application, you can now directly Create PDF and share via Outlook.

Create PDF and share via Outlook
Create a PDF and share via Microsoft outlook

New contextual tools while editing PDF

When editing a PDF, Acrobat provides the following contextual tools:

For text selection

  • Adjust font size (increase or decrease)
  • Underline
  • Strikethrough
  • Highlight
  • Copy with formatting
  • Cut text
Options for text-selection

Additionally, right-clicking the selected text includes:

  • Copy with formatting
  • Highlight
  • Export selected text
  • Redact text
Text selection context menu option

For image selection

  • Crop
  • Rotate
  • Delete
  • Export
  • Replace
  • Redact
Options when you select an image

Additionally, right-clicking an image now includes the Redact Image option.

Redact image from the context menu

Reflowable editing support for PDFs containing asides and footnotes

In a document, asides are sections of content that are somewhat tangential to the primary content on a page. These sections typically have distinct backgrounds or borders with font styles and layouts that vary from the primary content. In this release, PDFs with asides are also qualified for editing. You can perform the operations like select, delete, cut, copy, and paste text, or resize the text box to reflow the content.

Note:

Currently, Acrobat doesn’t resize entire asides, or handle asides located in the center of the PDF or those that are particularly large.

Footnote in the middle of the document
A footnote in the middle of the document

A Footnote at the bottom of the document
A footnote at the bottom of the document

Similarly, you can edit, cut, copy, paste, resize, or move text in the footnotes of a PDF.

Note:

Moving and resizing of bottom footnotes is not yet supported.

Enhanced screen reader capabilities with new cloud-based service

Acrobat now offers a cloud-based service enhancing screen reading for eligible PDFs. The cloud service understands the document's structure tags and reading sequence when you access a PDF using assistive tools. After analyzing, it prompts you to decide whether to use the enhanced cloud functionality. The new cloud-based service gives more accurate detailed results and automatically recognizes texts in scans, including:

  • Heading levels across the document.
  • Tables, with or without borders.
  • Lists, including a list of lists.
  • Reading order in a multicolumn layout.

To use the cloud-based service, enable the screen reader when a PDF is open in Acrobat and do the following:

  1. In the Prepare document for screen reader dialog, select the Change screen reader options to change the reading option, else select Continue.

    Prepare document for screen reader settings

  2. Do the following in the Reading options for assistive technology dialog box, and then select Confirm.

    • Select Read the entire document, or Read current visible pages only from the Screen Reader Options drop-down list.
    • Select Infer reading order from the document from the Reading Order drop-down list.
    • Select the check box Make document more accessible using cloud-based service.
    Reading options for assistive technology

    Note:

    Although the PDF is processed in the cloud, it isn't stored there.

Feedback for editing PDF experience

Acrobat now prompts you to share feedback on your PDF editing experience. Choose the desired response when prompted and provide feedback.

Feedback prompt after auto-adjust layout
Feedback prompt after auto-adjust layout

Feedback prompt for overall edit experience
Feedback prompt for overall edit experience

PDFMaker support for Microsoft Visio 64-bit

Acrobat PDFMaker is now compatible with the 64-bit Microsoft Visio in MS Office versions of 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Troubleshoot Acrobat crash

In the Acrobat crash dialog, select Learn more for steps to troubleshoot the Acrobat crash.

Select Learn More for steps to troubleshoot the crash issue

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