New features summary

A new version number for Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat Reader Continuous

Starting in November 2017, all customers on the Acrobat Continuous track will move from 17.xx to 18.xx after the latest patch is deployed. There will be no change for customers on the Acrobat Classic track.

E-signature improvements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

The Send for Signature service has been improved for those requesting signatures, with a simplified landing page. A new guided experience also makes it easy to add form fields using the Adobe Sign form field creation experience.

Go to Tools > Send for Signature to display the simplified interface.

For more information, see Send PDF documents for signature.

Accessibility improvements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

Show role mapped tags

Acrobat now automatically shows PDF standard tags in the tag tree instead of the original or source tag when it has been role mapped. If you want to switch back to the source tag view, you can use the Apply Role Mapping To Tags option available under the options drop-down menu in the Tags panel.

Easy remediation of tables

You can now easily remediate tables by associating header cells to multiple row or column cells. Data cells without headers will be highlighted automatically.

• Bulk editing of associated header cell id properties: You can now easily remediate tables by associating header cells with multiple row or column cells at a time.
• Highlight cells with missing header relationship: Data cells without headers will be highlighted automatically upon invoking the table editor tool.
  Choose Tags in the left navigation pane, right-click the table tag for which you want to update the table structure, and then choose Table Editor. All of the data cells without headers will be highlighted automatically in the color set in the Show cell with missing header option (default color is pink).

Auto-generate header cell IDs

You can now easily generate cell IDs for all the header cells. When you try to associate any header ID to any cell, a message pops up asking you to generate IDs for the header cells if any header cells don’t have an ID.

Alternatively, you can select any cell in the Table Editor mode, and then choose Auto Generate Header Cell IDs from the right-click context menu.

Export PDF improvements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

The following improvements have been made to the Export PDF feature (Tools > Export PDF):

• Export PDF to Word: Tables and table of contents (TOC) detection are improved.
• Export PDF to PowerPoint: Issues around word spacing, textbox formation for chart labels, and list bullet appearance are fixed.
• Performance and memory handling are improved to better address insufficient memory errors.

Create PDF add-on made compatible with the latest Firefox versions

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat Classic, Acrobat 2017

The Create PDF add-on for Firefox has been migrated to the new web extension-based model mandated by Firefox. The updated add-on is similar in experience and functionality to the existing Chrome extension and supports the following options: Convert webpage to PDF, Add to existing PDF, and Open a PDF in Acrobat from Firefox.

UI enhancement for automatic OCR

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

The Convert to Text and the Revert to Image buttons are now removed and replaced with a single Recognize text checkbox.

Go to Tools > Edit PDF. The checkbox is displayed in the right pane under the Scanned Documents section.

For more information, see Edit scanned PDFs.

Improved scan troubleshooting

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

A Learn More option has been added for all the error messages related to scanning. Clicking the option takes you to a troubleshooting page for resolution of the problem.

Compare files enhancements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

Previously, the file comparison results for scanned files were not accurate because the comparison was run in image comparison mode for these files. Now, the Compare Files tool shows a warning to the user that "Selected document is a scanned PDF and contains no text. Acrobat will perform image to image comparison only." Also, if an input file has text recognition already performed, the Compare Files tool delivers better results.

Save PDFs opened from email attachments

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

The Save button is now enabled for PDFs opened from email attachments so you can save them in your local folder.

Copy content in the Comments list

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

To copy the content of a comment in the Comment list, you can now use the Keyboard shortcuts Shift+C or choose Copy from the right-click options menu.

Preflight enhancements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017

Cross library search for profiles, checks, and fixups

Now you can search across all the libraries at once for profiles, checks, or fixups.

If you wish to search all libraries at once, first click the library symbol before the search box and then enter your search term in the search box.

If the search box is empty, you can see all profiles in a single view. You can also search within a single library when you deselect the library symbol. Only profiles located in the currently selected library are shown.

PDF/A compatibility with veraPDF

veraPDF is a European Union (EU) project that was executed under the lead of the PDF Association. veraPDF is a purpose-built, open source, file-format validator covering all PDF/A parts and conformance levels. Now, Acrobat preflight tools can find and report issues that are not compatible with the veraPDF tests.

PDF 2.0 support

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat Classic, Acrobat 2017

Acrobat now provides support for:

• Viewing PDF Files with version 2.0.
• Retaining 2.0 as the version in Save workflows, except where a downgrade is explicitly requested (for example, when using compatibility settings in Save As Optimized PDF or Reduced Size PDF).

Named user support in Windows Terminal Server

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat Classic, Acrobat 2017

Administrators can now deliver secure remote access to Acrobat with named user support on Windows Terminal Server (WTS). They can grant their employees access to the Acrobat functionality they need while ensuring compliance and centralizing user license management on WTS.

August 2017 release of Acrobat

Multi-monitor scaling

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat 2017, Acrobat Reader Continuous, and Acrobat Reader 2017

Acrobat and Reader now provide better support for multiple monitors. When you move Acrobat or Reader between screens — from your laptop to your desktop monitor — and it automatically scales to match the scaling factor and resolution of whatever screen you're working on.

Accessibility tool improvements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Acrobat now keeps the tag tree view and navigation intact when you save your PDF. It even auto-adjusts when you add, move, or remove pages, which saves you time.

Also, you can now access the Table Editor tool directly from the tag tree:

• Choose Tags in the left navigation pane, right-click the table tag for which you want to update table structure, and then choose Table Editor.
• From the Touch Up Reading Order tool, click anywhere within the table boundaries to enable the Table Editor option.

Improved tagging for insert, delete, move, and replace pages

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous, Acrobat Classic, and Acrobat 2017

While performing page specific operations, the tags tree is now updated correctly.

• Insert pages: When inserting pages, tags of the document being inserted were always added at the end of the tag tree irrespective of the location of the insert operation. This has been fixed now and tags are inserted at the correct location.
• Move pages: In Organize Pages tool and the Pages Panel, when pages were re-arranged, only the content was moved and tags were left as is. We now move the tags at the correct location along with the page content.
• Replace pages: When a page replace operation was done, tags of the page being replaced used to get deleted from the document, but the tags for the new pages being inserted were not added. This is fixed now.

Customer experience improvements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous and Acrobat 2017

We have made the following experience improvements based on the top customer issues or asks:

• Pen tool cursor changes to a dot (with default color).
• Improved text selection experience inside a highlighted area.
• Last used location becomes the default save location.
• Support for the Remove Hidden Information tool in Acrobat Standard.
• A new preference to show rulers.

Last used location becomes the default save location

A document's open location becomes the default save location in the Save As dialog box, provided the document is not opened from a temporary folder.

Support for the Remove Hidden Information tool in Acrobat Standard

The Remove Hidden Information tool is now available in Acrobat Standard. To access the tool, go to Tools > Protect > Remove Hidden Information.

A new preference to show rulers

A new preference­­­—Show rulers when opening documents—is added to enable or disable the rulers in Acrobat and Reader. When the preference is selected, the rulers are displayed for each PDF that you open. By default, the preference is not selected.

To show the rulers:

• Go to Edit > Preferences > Units & Guides, and then select the Show rulers when opening documents check box under Rulers. Click OK.
  

Set default font for Add Text Box and Text Callout annotations

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Helvetica is used as the default font family for a new Add Text Box or Text Callout annotation. Now, you can change the default font family for these two annotations using the Text Properties menu. The changes are saved as the new default font family and applied to the annotations that you add from now onwards.

Discard checkout on closing a SharePoint document or quitting application

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Currently, if you open a SharePoint document in Acrobat with the Checkout and Open option, and then subsequently close the document or quit Acrobat without making any changes to the document, the document remains checked out in SharePoint.

Now, when you close the document or quit Acrobat, you see the prompt, as shown below, asking you to discard the checkout.

Access Adobe Scan files in the Home view

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Now you can view files that you scan using the Adobe Scan mobile app in the File Lists of the Home view of Acrobat and Reader.

RSA-PSS signature scheme support

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

With current DC release, Acrobat begins RSA-PSS signing support. RSA-PSS is a new signature scheme that is based on the RSA cryptosystem and provides increased security assurance. For more details, see Raising the standard for RSA signatures. Support currently includes:

• Acrobat and Acrobat Reader
• Signature validation (Windows and Mac)
• Signature creation with digital ID files on Windows and Mac (PFX/P12)
• Signature creation with digital ID imported to Windows Certificate Store and devices, such as smart cards supporting Cryptography API: Next Generation (CNG). CNG is designed to replace the legacy CryptoAPI. In addition to increased security, CNG is extensible and cryptography agnostic. For more detail and a list of features, see CNG features.

Currently, the feature is controlled by registry and there is no user interface. For more information, click the link below - How to enable the RSA-PSS signing support.

April 2017 release of Acrobat

A new version number for Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

  Available for: Acrobat Continuous and Acrobat Reader Continuous

With April 2017 release, all customers on the Continuous track will move from 15.xx to 17.xx after the patch is deployed. There will be no change for customers on Classic track.

For more information, see the blog post - Acrobat’s getting a new version number (Reader too!).

Create rich PDFs from Microsoft Office formats on Mac

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

You can now convert Microsoft Office documents to high-quality tagged PDFs on Mac OS. In addition to a local conversion, Acrobat now uses Adobe Create PDF cloud service to convert the documents to PDFs.

The created PDFs are high-quality and provide exceptional visual fidelity. They are well tagged for accessibility. They also include link recognition, so that hyperlinks, internal document links, and tables of contents are created as live links.

How does it work from within a Microsoft Office application?

Steps to reset preferences

Later, if you don’t want to use the cloud service for creating PDFs, you can change your preference.

• Click Preferences on the Acrobat ribbon, select the Prompt for using Adobe Create PDF cloud service check box in the Acrobat Create PDF Settings dialog box, and then click OK. 

How does it work from Acrobat?

In Acrobat, the following create PDF workflows are supported for creating PDFs using the cloud service:

• Create from the File menu – File > Create > PDF from file .
• Create using the Create PDF tool – Tools > Create PDF > Single File.
• Drag-and-drop.

Using the service, Acrobat can convert only one document to PDF at a time.

Easily copy highlighted text

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Copying highlighted text is now easy using the right-click menu.

Sign PDF files with DirectInk

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

New support for DirectInk in the Signatures Panel of the Certificates app offers a more natural experience and gives you more control of how your signature looks when signing on Windows 10 devices.

Run OCR on scanned documents with live text

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Acrobat can now run OCR on a scanned PDF that contains images with live text on them. Earlier, if you would run OCR on such a PDF, you would see the error message – “This page contains renderable text.”

Accessibility enhancements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous and Classic

Expanded tags view in the tags panel

Acrobat now expands the tags tree at the container level on opening the tags panel, by default. It doesn’t override any previous view, but it works as the first default view. The expanded view lets you easily review and fix the document structure.

Delete all empty tags in one click

You can now delete all empty tags in one click. The new Delete Empty Tags option under the Tags menu allows you to delete all empty tags form the subtree of a selected tag. (It doesn’t delete the valid tags, such as TD, TH, and Link – OBJR.)

Preflight enhancements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

• Preflight Libraries: Preflight Profiles, Fixups, and Checks are now well organized in Libraries.
  For more information, see Preflight Libraries (PDF | 711 KB).
• Preflight Variables: Variables allow you to dynamically adjust Profiles, Checks, and Fixups when they are applied. Variables can be used when editing Profiles, Checks, or Fixups wherever the orange triangle shows up. It is also possible to filter for existing objects using Variables.
• Preflight supports the new Ghent PDF Workgroup Specification 2015: The new GWG specifications are based on PDF/X-4, and support native transparency as well as media neutral RGB workflows.
• PDF/UA validation in Preflight: Preflight now makes it possible to fix common accessibility problems and to validate against the international standard for Universal Accessibility PDF/UA.

Deploy Acrobat Reader from an internal update server

  Available in: Acrobat Reader Continuous and Classic

IT admins can now manage and deploy Acrobat Reader on their own internal update server with Adobe Update Server Setup Tool (AUSST). This tool enables enterprise IT managers to deploy products and updates at their own pace, choosing when to roll out updates to their employees. It supports both Windows and Mac updates.

For more information, see Using Adobe Update Server Setup Tool.

Deploy Acrobat and Acrobat Reader using Remote Update Manager

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous and Classic, Acrobat Reader Continuous and Classic

IT admins can now deploy the latest updates of Acrobat Pro, Standard, and Reader to client machines without pushing updates manually using Remote Update Manager (RUM). RUM can be used with the Adobe Update server or now with an internal Adobe Update server if using Adobe Update Server Setup Tool (AUSST).

For more information, see Using Adobe Remote Update Manager.

January 2017 release of Acrobat

Draw your signature to create a digital ID

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

In addition to image and text, you can now also draw your signature to add it to your digital identity and use it for signing documents. You can use your fingers or a hardware pen to draw the signature.

Automatic configuration for SharePoint-based shared review

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

For a SharePoint-based shared review, Acrobat now automatically creates a new document library within your SharePoint server’s subsite to initiate the shared review. Alternatively, you can also choose a subsite and the respective document library to host the shared review.

Support for date and image fields in Acrobat forms

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

You can now add an image field and a date field while preparing your form in Acrobat using the Prepare Form tool. While filling in the form, the corresponding fields become clickable – users can click the field and select an image or a date.

Using the image field

While you are preparing the form in Acrobat, click the Image Field icon in the toolbar, and then click the location in the document where you want to place the field.

You can rename the field or specify values of the field’s properties as you do for any other field. To open the Properties dialog box, click the All Properties link or double-click the field.

Using the date field

While you are preparing the form in Acrobat, click the Date Field icon in the toolbar, and then click the location in the document where you want to place the field.

You can rename the field or specify values of the field’s properties as you do for any other field. To open the Properties dialog box, click the All Properties link or double-click the field.

For more information on forms, see Creating and distributing PDF forms.

Enhancements to the Radio button in Acrobat forms

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous and Classic

The following enhancements have been made to the default behavior of the Radio buttons in Acrobat forms:

• Multiple copies of the radio buttons are placed in the same group by default. You can change this behavior and place each radio button in a separate group by selecting the Copy radio buttons in different groups check box.
• Duplicating radio buttons across the pages now creates separate groups per page.
• In the Properties dialog box, when multiple radio buttons are selected, you now have the option to change the group name in a single click using the Group Name field.

Compare files enhancements

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous and Classic

Improved image comparison accuracy

The compare files used to highlight the entire image for any changes to the image in the new file. Now it precisely highlights the location of change within the image instead of highlighting the entire image.

Reply, delete, filter, and edit for annotations in the compare reports

• The reply feature is now available in each pop-ups highlighting the changes in the compare report. When you click the Reply link in a pop-up, it takes you to the RHP where you can add appropriate text.
• You can now delete a compare annotation from the report using right click or by pressing the Delete key on your keyboard.
• In the RHP, you can now filter the changes by a particular status.
• You can also edit the text of a compare annotation in the RHP.

For more information, see Compare two versions of a PDF file.

Retain the last LHP (Left Hand Pane) state across Acrobat launches

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

Now you can explicitly pin the LHP entry from the right-click context menu after opening the relevant LHP field.

LHP (Left Hand Pane) and toolbar controls included in the tools search

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

The LHP and toolbar controls are now included in the tools search.

Improved experience with DirectInk

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous

You can now use your pen or stylus directly on the document without selecting a tool.

Support for named user deployment in virtual environments

  Available in: Acrobat Continuous and Classic

IT admins can now deliver secure access to Acrobat with new support for named user licensing in Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, and VMware Horizon virtual environments.

For more information, see Imaged OS deployments (named user).